Tyler O'Neill (Maple Ridge, BC) won the Echlin award for a second-straight year. ...

By George Farelli
Canadian Baseball Network
Maybe now the comparisons will end.

Tyler O’Neill (Maple Ridge, BC) has been compared to Brett Lawrie (Langley, BC) since O’Neill was in grade 11 and visited the 2012 Canada Cup at Labatt’s Park in London.

Both are barrel-chested, both have chests the size of the red mailbox on the corner and both are right-handed hitters who like to swing the bat.

The 5-foot-11, 210 pound O’Neill hit 24 homers this season for the double-A Jackson Generals adding to 56 in the previous two seasons. That gives him 70 long balls in his first four pro seasons covering 325 games.

The six-foot, 210-pound Lawrie hit 50 homers his first four pro years in 494 games, which included time in the majors. Lawrie went deep 20 times with the Toronto Blue Jays in 168 games.

O’Neill’s prowess in the Seattle Mariners system earned him the Randal Echlin Memorial award which is emblematic of the Canadian Baseball Network’s top offensive Canadian minor leaguer.

The honor makes O’Neill an Echlin winner in back-to-back seasons, the first to do so since Lawrie, who won as a Milwaukee Brewers minor leaguer in 2010 and the next year with the Toronto system shared honors with Taylor Green (Comox, BC).

Oh ... never mind ... stay with the comparisons if you want.

Fact is O’Neill is a pretty special hitter.

O’Neill beat out Josh Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) and Eric Wood (Pickering, Ont.). Naylor started the season with the class-A Greensboro Grasshoppers in the Miami Marlins system and finished at class-A Lake Elsinore Storm part of the San Diego Padres. Wood was with the double-A Altoona Curve in the Pittsburgh Pirates chain.

The Canadian Baseball Network pitcher of the year honors were shared by RHP Jameson Taillon (The Woodlands, Tex.) and RHP Nick Pivetta (Victoria, BC).

Taillon made 10 starts at triple-A Indianapolis Indians going 4-2 with a 2.04 ERA before being promoted to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Taillon walked 14 and struck out 61 in 61 2/3 innings. Pivetta, who won this honor in 2014 combined to go 12-8 with a 3.27 ERA in 27 starts at double-A Reading and triple-A Lehigh Valley walking 51 and fanning 138 in 148 2/3 innings.

They finished ahead of RHP Michael Soroka (Calgary, Alta.) class-A Rome Braves of the Atlanta Braves, LHP Rob Zastryzny (Edmonton, Alta.) who pitched for the triple-A Iowa Cubs and double A Tennessee Smokies before being promoted to the Chicago Cubs and LHP Ryan Kellogg (Whitby, Ont.) with the class-A South Bend Cubs, who is also a Cub farmhand.

So the best of the 87 Canucks in the minors are O’Neill, Taillon and Pivetta.

The top offensive hitter of the 43 in independent ball and 19 in foreign lands are INF Carter Bell, (Courtenay, BC) with the Joliet Slammers of the Frontier League while the top pitcher is Karl Gelinas (Iberville, Que.) with the Quebec Capitales of the Can Am League.

Bell hit .312 with 29 doubles, a triple, 13 homers and knocked in 73 runs, while Gelinas was 8-6 with a 3.48 ERA in 21 starts. Gelinas walked 16 and fanned 123 in 137 innings.

OF Michael Crouse (Port Moody, BC) of the New Britian Bees and Lancaster Barnstormers of the Atlantic League and 1B Jordan Lennerton (Langley, BC) Quebec Capitales gave Bell the most competition.

Gelinas won for the fourth straight year besting teammates RHP Jon Fitzsimmons (London, Ont.) and RHP Jasvir Rakkar (Brampton, Ont.)

Canadian Baseball Network offensive player of the year in the minors, Randy Echlin award _ OF Tyler O’Neill (Maple Ridge, BC), drafted in the third round of the 2013 draft by Mariners scout Wayne Norton (Port Moody, BC) for a $650,000 US signing bonus.

Already O’Neill, 21, has been honored before earning the second straight Canadian Baseball Network’s Echlin award as he was:

_ Batting .313 (15-for-48) in 11 games for the Peoria Javelinas with three homers and nine RBIs, he was named to the Arizona Fall League Fall Stars game.

_ Brought to Safeco Field to be honored as the organization’s Ken Griffey Minor League Hitter of the Year after his successful year at double-A Jackson.

_ Tabbed as MVP of the Southern League.

_ Elected to the league’s end-of-season all-star team.

_ Capped his summer by hitting .429 with three RBIs in Jackson’s three-game sweep of Mississippi to earn MVP finals accolades.

RHP Jameson Taillon (The Woodlands, Tex.) whho started for Canada in the 2013 WBC ...

Canadian Baseball Network pitcher of the year _ RHP Jameson Taillon (The Woodlands, Tex.) and RHP Nick Pivetta (Victoria, BC).
Taillon, 24, was the second pick of the 2010 draft (behind only Bryce Harper) receiving a $6.5 Million US bonus.

Taillon’s father is from St. Andrews West (near Cornwall, Ont.) and his mother grew up in Toronto. So while he was born in Texas, he was eligible to pitch for Canada in the World Baseball Classic and pitched 3 2/3 scoreless against Team USA in Phoenix. Adam Jones had the key hit against the Canuck bullpen to take the lead.

He allowed two runs or less in seven of his 10 starts, pitching six innings or more in all but one. His major-league debut June 8 allowing three runs in six innings in a 6-5 loss to the New York Mets.

Pivetta, 23, was drafted by the Washington Nationals in the fourth round in the 2013 draft from New Mexico Junior College Thunderbirds and received a $364,300 signing bonus.

Pivetta returned to Reading this season after a short stint in 2015 following his trade from the Nationals. He was 7-4 with a 3.31 ERA in 16 starts to earn a spot on the Eastern League all-star team after fanning 80 batters, third-best in the league. He earned Pitcher of the Year honors for the Fightin Phils. Heading into this season, he was ranked as the No. 18 prospect in the Phillies system according to MLB.com.

After allowing nine hits and five runs over 3 2/3 innings in his first start, he compiled a 2.45 ERA in winning four of his next five decisions. He struck out four over seven scoreless innings before Reading walked off with a 2-1 win over Altoona.

Pivetta came over from the Nationals last July in the trade involving Jonathan Papelbon. After the deal, the 6-foot-5 righty posted a 7.31 ERA over 28 1/3 innings for Reading.

Promoted to Lehigh Valley, he made five starts including two scoreless outings against Syracuse (six innings) and Rochester (five frames in his final start).

Canadian Baseball Network offensive player of the year in foreign or independent ball _ INF Carter Bell, (Courtenay, BC) of the Joliet Slammers.

Bell was chosen in the 29th round by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the draft from Oregon State University.

Bell may have only been three years old when Joe Carter hit a walk-off home run in game six of the 1993 World Series to help the Toronto Blue Jays capture their second straight World Series, but it still made a huge impact on his baseball life. He played for the Parksville Royals before heading to Oregon State. Also Bell accompanied Doug Mathieson’s Langley Blaze on an Arizona trip and was on the same team as first-round pick Brett Lawrie.

Bell hit .385 with a double, a homer and four RBIs for the Slammers in the playoffs.

Bell had 21 two-hit games including a 6-5 loss to the Windy City ThunderBolts, a win against the Washington Wild Things, a loss against the Wild Things, a 6-5 win over the Traverse City Beach Bums, a 10-7 triumph against Schaumburg Boomers, a 6-5 loss to Windy City, a 7-2 win against the Evansville Otters, an 8-7 win against the Gateway Grizzlies, a 5-2 win over the Lake Erie Crushhhers, a 3-1 loss to Traverse City, a 5-0 win over Washington, a 9-1 win playing Schaumburg, a 10-7 defeat to Lake Erie, a 2-0 loss to River City Rascals, a 6-5 verdict against Schaumburg, an 11-6 loss to Florence, 6-4 and 9-1 wins over Schaumburg, a 6-2 loss to Gateway, a 4-2 win against Evansville and an 8-5 loss to Evansville.

He had seven three-hit games in an 8-7 loss to the Windy City, a 7-4 win against River City, a 12-9 success against River City, a walk over against the Florence Freedom, a one-run win over Evansville, a 9-5 success against Evansville, a one-run win over Evansville, a 12-4 triumph over the Southern Illinos Miners and a 10-2 win against Schaumburg.

RHP Karl Gelinas (Oberville, Que.) of the Quebec Capitales won for a fourth straight year .... Jacques Lanciault Photo.

Canadian Baseball Network top pitcher of the year in foreign or independent ball _ Karl Gelinas (Iberville, Que.) with the Quebec Capitales of the Can Am Leagues.

Gelinas was selected in the 47th round of the 2002 draft by the Anaheim Angels and reached triple-A Salt Lake City.

This was his 10th consecutive season pitching for Quebec and the last four years when he has won this honor he is a combined 35-20 in with a 3.08 ERA in 68 starts. He went south one spring with the Philadelphia Phillies. He was hoping to get an audition with the Toronto Blue Jays but that ended when Alex Anthopoulos headed to Los Angeles according to a Le Journal de Québec report and he talked to agents about pitching in Japan, but that didn’t work out.

This season he scored his seven wins working seven scoreless against Trois-Rivieres Aigles, pitching six innings giving up one run in a triumph over Trois-Rivieres, working eight scoreless facing the New Jersey Jackals, was on the mound for six innings in a win over the Rockland Boulders giving up two runs, working six innings and giving up one run in a win against Trois-Rivieres. worked seven innings allowing two runs against Shikoku Island and beating New Jersey pitching 5 1/3 innings, allowing four runs.

Gelians holds the record for the most wins (66) in the blue striped uniform. Gélinas is also first place in Capitals history in strikeouts (712), for the number of games he participated (149) and for the number of innings (923 2/3).

So there you have it: the best five Canucks -- Naylor, Taillon, Pivetta, Bell and Gelinas -- of the 130 Canadians with affiliated major-league teams (87) and Indy ball (46) along with foreign leagues (19) this season.

HONOUR ROLL
AFFILIATED PLAYERS
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
(Starting in 2011 the award was named after the The Honourable Mr. Justice Randall Echlin, former head of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame selection committee, a life long fan of the game and a man with a baseball-shaped heart the size of a box of new Rawlings.)
2008 _ Tim Smith (Toronto, Ont.) Rangers.
2009 _ Tyson Gillies (Langley, BC) Mariners.
2010 _ Brett Lawrie (Langley, BC) Brewers
2011 _ Taylor Green (Comox, BC) Brewers and Brett Lawrie (Langley, BC) Jays.
2012 _ Oscar Taveras (Montreal, Que.) Cardinals

2013 _ Sean Jamieson (Simcoe, Ont.) Diamondbacks.
2014 _ Dalton Pompey (Mississauga, Ont.) Blue Jays.
2015 _ Tyler O’Neill (Maple Ridge, BC) Mariners
2016 _ Tyler O’Neill (Maple Ridge, BC) Mariners

PITCHER OF THE YEAR
2008 _ Scott Diamond (Guelph, Ont.) Braves.
2009 _ James Henderson (Calgary, Alta.) Brewers and John Axford (Port Dover, Ont.) Brewers.
2010 _ Scott Mathieson (Langley, BC) Phillies.
2011 _ Mark Hardy (Campbell River, BC) Padres.
2012 _ James Henderson (Calgary, Alta.) Brewers

2013 _ Andrew Albers (North Battleford, Sask.) Twins
2014 _ Nick Pivetta (Victoria, BC) Nationals
2015 _ Adam Loewen (Surrey, BC) Phillies and Shane Dawson (Drayton Valley, Alta.) Blue Jays.
2016 _ Jameson Taillon (The Woodlands, Tex.) and Nick Pivetta (Victoria, BC).

Affliated award winners from
Organizations: Brewers 5, Blue Jays 3, Mariners 3, Phillies 3, Braves, Cardinals, Diamondbacks, Padres, Pirates, Rangers, Nationals and Twins one each.
Provinces: BC 11, Ontario 5, Alberta 3, Quebec and Saskatchewan one each.

INDEPENDENT/FOREIGN LEAGUE PLAYERS
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
2008 — Drew Miller (Medicine Hat, Alta.) Calgary Vipers
2009 — Pete LaForest (Hull, Que.) Quebec Capitales and Colin Moro (Calgary, Alta.) Calgary Vipers.
2010 — Drew Miller (Medicine Hat, Alta.) Calgary Vipers.
2011 – Matt Rogelstad (Port Moody, BC) Edmonton Capitals.
2012 – Sebastien Boucher (Ottawa, Ont.) Quebec Capitales.

2013 – Jonathan Malo (Laval, Que.) Quebec Capitales.
2014 - Sebastien Boucher (Ottawa, Ont.) Quebec Capitales.
2015 - Jim Adduci (Burnaby, BC) Lotte Giants, Korea.
2016 - Carter Bell, (Courtenay, BC) Joliet Slammers.

PITCHER OF THE YEAR
2008 — Michel Simard (Charlesbourg, Que.) Quebec Capitales.
2009 — Aaron Wideman (Mississauga, Ont.) New Jersey Jackals.
2010 – Aaron Cotter (Kitimat, BC) Sioux Falls Pheasants.
2011 – John Mariotti (Toronto, Ont.) Quebec Capitales
2012 – Jeff Duda (Surrey, BC) Quebec Capitales.

2013 – Karl Gelinas (Iberville, Que.) Quebec Capitales
2014 – Karl Gelinas (Iberville, Que.) Quebec Capitales
2015 – Karl Gelinas (Iberville, Que.) Quebec Capitales
2016 – Karl Gelinas (Iberville, Que.) Quebec Capitales

Indy winners from
Provinces: Quebec 8, BC 5, Ontario 3 and Alberta 2.

O'Neill repeat Echlin winner, CBN honors to Pivetta, Taillon, Bell, Gelinas