The New York Yankees today announced that catcher J.C. Escarra is the recipient of the 2025 James P. Dawson Award, given annually to the most outstanding Yankees rookie in spring training.
Escarra, 29, has batted .333/.373/.563 (16-for-48) with 7R, 2 doubles, 3HR, 8RBI and 2BB in 17 spring games. The left-handed batter hit .261 (111-for-426) with 77R, 32 doubles, 3 triples, 12HR, 64RBI, 55BB and 3SB in 124 games with Double-A Somerset and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in 2024. Among Yankees farmhands last season, he ranked first in doubles, was tied for second in runs scored, third in extra-base hits (47), fourth in hits, fifth in total bases (185) and seventh in RBI. The Hialeah, Fla., native was signed by the Yankees as a minor league free agent on January 11, 2024.
The award was established in honor of James P. Dawson (1896-1953), who began a 45-year career with The New York Times as a copy boy in 1908. Eight years later, he became boxing editor and covered boxing and baseball until his death during spring training in 1953.
Two winners of the honor, Tony Kubek in 1957 and Tom Tresh in 1962, went on to win the American League ¡°Rookie of the Year¡± Award. The Dawson Award first was presented to rookie Norm Siebern by Manager Casey Stengel in St. Petersburg, Fla., at the conclusion of spring training in 1956. New York Yankees beat writers vote on the winner.
In conjunction with the award, Escarra will receive a watch courtesy of Oris.
James P. Dawson Award winners:
- 1956¡Norm Siebern OF
- 1957¡Tony Kubek SS
- 1958¡John Blanchard C
- 1959¡Gordon Windhorn OF
- 1960¡John James P
- 1961¡Rollie Sheldon P
- 1962¡Tom Tresh SS
- 1963¡Pedro Gonzalez 2B
- 1964¡Pete Mikkelsen P
- 1965¡Arturo Lopez OF
- 1966¡Roy White OF
- 1967¡Bill Robinson OF
- 1968¡Mike Ferraro 3B
- 1969¡Jerry Kenney OF/ Bill Burbach P
- 1970¡John Ellis 1B/C
- 1971¡None Selected
- 1972¡Rusty Torres OF
- 1973¡Otto Velez OF
- 1974¡Tom Buskey P
- 1975¡Tippy Martinez P
- 1976¡Willie Randolph 2B
- 1977¡George Zeber INF
- 1978¡Jim Beattie P
- 1979¡Paul Mirabella P
- 1980¡Mike Griffin P
- 1981¡Gene Nelson P
- 1982¡Andre Robertson SS
- 1983¡Don Mattingly 1B
- 1984¡Jose Rijo P
- 1985¡Scott Bradley C
- 1986¡Bob Tewksbury P
- 1987¡Keith Hughes OF
- 1988¡Al Leiter P
- 1989¡None Selected
- 1990¡Alan Mills P
- 1991¡Hensley Meulens OF
- 1992¡Gerald Williams OF
- 1993¡Mike Humphreys OF
- 1994¡Sterling Hitchcock P
- 1995¡None Selected
- 1996¡Mark Hutton P
- 1997¡Jorge Posada C
- 1998¡Homer Bush INF
- 1999¡None Selected
- 2000¡None Selected
- 2001¡Alfonso Soriano 2B
- 2002¡Nick Johnson 1B
- 2003¡Hideki Matsui OF
- 2004¡Bubba Crosby OF
- 2005¡Andy Phillips INF
- 2006¡Eric Duncan INF
- 2007¡Kei Igawa P
- 2008¡Shelley Duncan INF/OF
- 2009¡Brett Gardner OF
- 2010¡Jon Weber OF
- 2011¡Manny Banuelos P
- 2012¡David Phelps P
- 2013¡Vidal Nu?o P
- 2014¡Masahiro Tanaka P
- 2015¡Slade Heathcott OF
- 2016¡Johnny Barbato P
- 2017¡Gleyber Torres INF
- 2018¡Miguel And¨²jar 3B
- 2019¡Stephen Tarpley P
- 2020¡Clarke Schmidt P
- 2021¡Deivi Garc¨ªa P
- 2022¡Clarke Schmidt P
- 2023¡Anthony Volpe INF
- 2024¡Spencer Jones OF
- 2025¡J.C. Escarra C