Mighty Mussels’ Alum Louis Varland Recognized by MLB, BBWAA
FORT MYERS, Fla. (November 12, 2026) - Fort Myers Mighty Mussels’ alum Louis Varland was honored by both Major League Baseball and the Baseball Writers Association of America, receiving end-of-season honors on Wednesday night. Varland earned All-MLB First Team recognition from the league office and was named the inaugural BBWAA
FORT MYERS, Fla. (November 12, 2026) - Fort Myers Mighty Mussels’ alum Louis Varland was honored by both Major League Baseball and the Baseball Writers Association of America, receiving end-of-season honors on Wednesday night.
Varland earned All-MLB First Team recognition from the league office and was named the inaugural BBWAA American League Reliever of the Year. Varland dominated throughout 2026, recording a 1.27 ERA with 97 strikeouts in 78 innings of work. He tied for third in the AL in saves with 35. This summer, he became the first Mussels’ era (since 2020) alum to earn an All-Star selection.
Varland becomes the third franchise alum to earn an All-MLB honor, joining RHP Sonny Gray (2023 and 2026) and DH Nelson Cruz (2019-2020). Both Gray and Cruz played in Fort Myers on rehab assignments, while Varland climbed through the Minnesota Twins’ organization as a prospect.
He received 16 of the 30 first place votes from the BBWAA, beating Cleveland's Cade Smith for the inaugural award. Fellow Fort Myers’ franchise alum Jhoan Duran was the runner up in the National League, taking 24 second place votes behind Mason Miller of the Padres, who won unanimously.
MLB has been awarding All-MLB selections since 2019. The BBWAA Reliever of the Year award is a new honor from the writers who vote on awards such as MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year, and Manager of the Year. It is the association's first new award since they added MOY in 1983. This new award is not the only current hardware for relievers. Since 2014, MLB has been awarding its own Reliever of the Year awards, named after Hall of Famers Mariano Rivera (AL) and Trevor Hoffman (NL). Liam Hendriks (rehab assignment) is the lone franchise alum to earn the MLB award, doing so twice in his career.
Varland debuted in the majors with the Twins in 2022 and was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays at the 2025 deadline. A 15th round selection in 2019, Varland spent half of the 2021 season in Fort Myers. The righty compiled a 2.09 ERA with 76 strikeouts in 47.1 innings pitched during his time with the Mighty Mussels.