FLUSHING, NY — The New York Mets today announced that Daniel Murphy and Nick Evans were named the Sterling Minor League Organizational Co-Players-of-the-Year, while lefthanded hurler Jonathon Niese earned Sterling Pitcher-of-the-Year honors.

In addition, the Mets also released the 2008 Sterling Awards, emblematic of the Most Valuable Player for each of their nine minor league affiliates.  Former UNCW Seahawk Brad Holt was given the honor for Brooklynn (A).

Righthanded pitcher and current Mets reliever Brian Stokes was the Sterling Award recipient at New Orleans (AAA) of the Pacific Coast League, infielder Mike Carp received the award for Binghamton (AA) of the Eastern League, righthanded pitcher Dillon Gee at St. Lucie (A) of the Florida State League, infielder Gregory Veloz for Savannah (A) of the South-Atlantic League, righthanded pitcher and 2008 supplemental first round selection Brad Holt received the honor for Brooklyn (A) of the New York-Penn League, shortstop Wilmer Flores was honored with the award for Kingsport (R) of the Appalachian League, infielder Jefry Marte from the Gulf Coast League (R), righthanded pitcher Gonzalez German with the Dominican Summer League and lefthanded pitcher Jhonathan Torres captured the award for the Venezuelan Summer League.

STERLING ORGANIZATIONAL CO-PLAYER-OF-THE YEAR: DANIEL MURPHY
Murphy, who was the 2007 Sterling Award winner for the St. Lucie Mets, hit .308 (110-357) with 56 runs scored, 26 doubles, one triple, 13 home runs, 67 RBI with 39 walks and 14 stolen bases in 95 games with the Binghamton Mets. His .308 average was the third highest in the Eastern League at the time of his promotion. The infielder started at third base for the Northern Division in the 2008 Eastern League All-Star game and appeared in one game with New Orleans prior to his promotion to the Mets on August 2nd.

STERLING ORGANIZATIONAL CO-PLAYER-OF-THE YEAR: NICK EVANS
Evans hit .311 (92-296) with 52 runs scored 18 doubles, seven triples, 14 home runs and 53 RBI while appearing in 75 games with the Binghamton Mets. He was also named to the 2008 Eastern League All-Star team, but did not appear in the game due to his promotion to the New York Mets.

STERLING ORGANIZATIONAL PITCHER-OF-THE YEAR: JONATHON NIESE
The southpaw split time between New Orleans and Binghamton during the 2008 season, prior to his promotion to the Mets on September 1st. In seven starts with New Orleans from July 30th - August 29th, the 21 year-old hurler went 5-1 with a 3.40 ERA. Over his 39.2 innings of work, he allowed 15 runs, earned, on 34 hits, while walking 14 and striking out 32. The Defiance, OH native began the season with Binghamton and made 22 starts with the B-Mets, going 6-7 with a 3.04 ERA. In his first five starts of the season, from April 3rd - April 24th, Niese went 2-1 with a 0.71 ERA after allowing only two earned runs over 25.1 innings.

NEW ORLEANS (AAA) OF THE PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE: RHP BRIAN STOKES
Spent his entire season with New Orleans prior to being promoted to the Mets on August 9th. The 29-year-old hurler went 10-8 with a 4.41 ERA in 23 games, 22 starts with the Zephyrs. Over 130.2 innings, he allowed 74 runs, 64 earned, on 124 hits while walking 48 and striking out 97.

BINGHAMTON (AA) OF THE EASTERN LEAGUE: 1B MIKE CARP
The slugger led the B-Mets with 17 home runs and 79 RBI, while hitting .299 (143-478) with 67 runs scored and 29 doubles. His .403 on-base percentage was fifth best in the League. Carp was named the Eastern League Player of the Week for the week ending April 13th. He hit .474, including back-to-back four hit games on April 11th and 12th at Erie, with four home runs and 13 RBI over this stretch.

ST. LUCIE (A) OF THE FLORIDA STATE LEAGUE: RHP DILLON GEE
The righthander went 8-6 with 3.25 in 21 starts with St. Lucie prior to his promotion to Double-A Binghamton. Over his 127.1 innings with St. Lucie, he allowed 49 runs, 46 earned, scattering 117 hits and walking 19 while striking out 94. From May 30th - June 25th, spanning five starts, Gee went 4-0 with a 0.99 ERA (four earned runs/36.1 innings). His 19 walks allowed was the fewest among starters with at least 117 innings pitched, and his 3.25 ERA was fifth in the Florida State League. Once he was promoted to Binghamton in early August, the 22-year-old went 2-0 with a 1.33 ERA (four earned runs / 27.0 innings) in four starts.

SAVANNAH (A) OF THE SOUTH ATLANTIC LEAGUE: 2B GREGORY VELOZ
Veloz, who began his second season with Savannah at only 19 years old, posted a .286 batting average (130-455) with 68 runs scored, 25 doubles, three triples, six home runs and 52 RBI over his 111 games with the Sand Gnats. The San Juan de la Maguana, DR native was promoted to St. Lucie in early August and finished the season by hitting .234 (18-77) over the final month of the season.

BROOKLYN (A) OF THE NEW YORK-PENN LEAGUE: RHP BRAD HOLT
Holt went 5-3 with a league-best 1.87 ERA and 96 strikeouts in 14 games with the Cyclones. In 72.1 innings, he allowed just 43 hits, 18 runs, 15 earned, and 33 walks. In addition to leading the NYPL in strikeouts, his strikeout total set a new franchise record for the Cyclones, eclipsing the previous mark of 93, set by Kevin Deaton in 2002. Holt finished the season with a 10.7 strikeouts per nine innings, and was named to the New York-Penn League All-Star Team in mid August. Holt struck out 10 batters in a game on four separate occasions, and tied a Cyclones franchise record with 14 strikeouts in a single game, in just six innings, on July 24th vs. Vermont.

KINGSPORT (R) OF THE APPALACHIAN LEAGUE: SS WILMER FLORES
Flores began his first season in the Mets organization at only 16 years old and hit .310 (76-245) with 36 runs scored, 12 doubles, four triples, eight home runs and 41 RBI in 59 games with the K-Mets. Flores was fourth in the Appalachian League with 76 hits. The Valencia, VZ native was promoted to Brooklyn for the final eight games of the season and became the youngest player in franchise history, hitting .267 (8-30) with three runs scored.

GULF COAST LEAGUE (R): 3B JEFRY MARTE
Marte, who also began his first full season in the Mets organization at 16 years of age, hit .325 (50-154) with 29 runs scored, 14 doubles, three triples, four home runs and 24 RBI over his 44 games with the GCL Mets. His .325 average was sixth best in the Gulf Coast League, while his .532 slugging percentage was second best in the league. He also lead the team with 14 multi-hit games.

DOMINICAN SUMMER LEAGUE (R): RHP GONZALEZ GERMAN
The righthander went 5-2 with a 1.34 ERA in 15 games, 14 starts with the Dominican Summer League Mets. Over his 74.0 innings of work, he allowed 21 runs, 11 earned, on 41 hits while walking 15 and striking out 70. He limited the opposition to a .159 batting average and did not allow a home run in 258 opponents at-bats. The 21-year-old did not lose a decision over the first two months of the season, going 5-0 with a 1.09 ERA from June 3rd - August 2nd.

VENEZUELAN SUMMER LEAGUE (R): LHP JHONATHAN TORRES
The 18-year-old southpaw posted a 5-2 mark with a 3.39 ERA in 13 starts with the Venezuelan Summer League affiliate. Over his 63.2 innings on the mound, he allowed 30 runs, 24 earned, on 63 hits while walking 13 and striking out 42. He allowed two earned runs or less in nine of his 13 starts. The Caracas, VZ native began the season with a 5-0 mark and a 1.77 ERA through his first seven starts, never allowing more than two runs in any of those outings.  

-Courtesy NY Mets; Photo Eric Bartsch