Yankee Editorial: Slade Heathcott Wins the James P. Dawson Award

Every spring the Yankees give an award to the best rookie in camp. The award is called the James P. Dawson Award, named after James Dawson who worked for the New York Times for 45 years. He covered baseball and boxing up until the day he died in 1953.

This year the James P. Dawson Award goes to Slade Heathcott, as he batted .333, scoring 12 runs, and batting in 7 RBIs in 33 spring training at bats. Heathcott, 24, was tied for fourth in the Grapefruit League with the most runs scored. As the recipient of the award, he will receive a watch from Betteridge Jewelers.

Slade Heathcott was the teams first round pick in the 2009 First-Year Player Draft. Over his six minor league seasons, Heathcott has batted .268, with 20 Home Runs, and 126 runs batted in. This year Heathcott will start the season in Triple A.

Coming into the spring, Heathcott was almost written off by many of his baseball piers. On MLB.com they show each teams top 30 prospects, and Heathcott is not on the list for the Yankees (To see the full list click here.) After this great spring, however things could be turning around for the young outfielder.

The plan for Slade Heathcott this year, was to start in Double A, but with his great spring the plan has changed. He will open with the spring with Scranton/Wilkes-barre Yankees. This offseason Slade Heathcott was taken off the 40 man roster. He has also been plagued by injuries, he is coming off his second knee surgery.

If Slade Heathcott can continue to stay healthy, there is a lot of optimism for the young outfielder. He has all the tools to be a great player, and if he can stay healthy he may very well become part of the teams future plans.

What do you think Yankee fans? Let us know in the comments below!

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