Carter, Figueroa nab A's honors

OAKLAND, Calif. -- First baseman Chris Carter and left-handed pitcher Pedro Figueroa have been named the Oakland A's Organizational Player and Pitcher of the Year respectively, the club announced today.

Carter received the honor for the second consecutive season after batting .329 with 28 home runs and 115 RBI in 138 games with Double-A Midland and Triple-A Sacramento. He led all of Minor League Baseball with 179 hits, tied for the lead in total bases (310), ranked second in RBIs, tied for second in extra base hits (73) and third in runs scored (115). The 22-year old right-handed hitter topped the A's farm system in runs, hits, doubles (43), RBIs, walks (85), slugging percentage (.570) and extra base hits.

Carter spent most of the season with Midland and was named Texas League MVP after batting .337 with 24 home runs and 101 RBIs in 125 games. He was promoted to Sacramento Aug. 26 and hit .259 with four home runs and 14 RBIs in 13 games with the River Cats. Carter is a .290 career hitter in five professional seasons with 118 home runs and 413 RBIs in 548 games. He was added to the A's 40-man roster Nov. 20.

Figueroa posted a 13-6 record and a 3.38 ERA in 27 starts for Class A Kane County and Class A Advanced Stockton. The 24-year old left-hander ranked second in the A's farm system in wins, third in strikeouts (145), tied for third in innings pitched (152) and fourth in ERA.

Figueroa began the season at Kane County and went 10-2 with a 3.23 ERA in 16 starts. He was promoted to Stockton July 10 and was 3-4 with a 3.56 ERA in 11 starts with the Ports. The Dominican Republic native was signed by the A's as a non-drafted free agent Nov. 20, 2003 and is 24-21 with a 3.72 ERA in 101 career appearances, 63 starts. He has 350 career strikeouts in 399 innings and was also added to the A's 40-man roster Nov. 20.

Previous Oakland A's Organizational Player and Pitcher of the Year
1995--Steve Cox, Derek Manning
1996--D.T. Cromer, Willie Adams
1997--Ben Grieve, Brad Rigby
1998--Eric Chavez, Jay Witasick
1999--Adam Piatt, Tim Hudson
2000--Jose Ortiz, Barry Zito
2001--Esteban German, Mario Ramos
2002--Graham Koonce, Rich Harden
2003--Graham Koonce, Rich Harden
2004--Dan Johnson, Jairo Garcia
2005--Andre Ethier, Dallas Braden
2006--Jeff Baisley, Jason Windsor
2007--Daric Barton, Trevor Cahill
2008--Chris Carter, Trevor Cahill