Four building blocks lead Halos' awards haul

Erick Aybar, Jered Weaver, Mark Trumbo and Peter Bourjos, pillars in the Angels' foundation, are the team's most decorated players for 2011.

Aybar, in his fourth season as the club's everyday shortstop, fulfilled a lifetime goal in winning his first American League Rawlings Gold Glove Award.

Weaver, selected by MLB.com as the Angels' Pitcher of the Year, finished second to the Tigers' Justin Verlander in the AL Cy Young Award balloting. Weaver earned the team's Nick Adenhart Pitcher of the Year Award for the third straight season and was a finalist in the Players Choice Awards for Outstanding Pitcher, which went to Verlander.

Trumbo was the the team's Player of the Year, as selected by MLB.com. Also voted the team's Most Valuable Player by teammates, Trumbo finished second in the AL Rookie of the Year balloting to Tampa Bay pitcher Jeremy Hellickson. Trumbo was named AL Rookie of the Year in the Players Choice Awards and by The Sporting News.

Bourjos injected speed and excitement into the lineup in his first full season, claiming MLB.com's Breakout Player of the Year Award. Bourjos was a finalist for the Rawlings Gold Glove in center field, taken by Boston's Jacoby Ellsbury.

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"They're all products of our system, and they show what an outstanding job our scouting and player development people have done," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said of Weaver, Aybar, Trumbo and Bourjos. "They're terrific players and people, the kinds of guys you can build a team around. We feel really good about our future with all our young talent coming through the pipeline."

Aybar rebounded from a injury-marred 2010 season with a sensational performance, producing offensively as well as with the glove.

"It's everything to me, winning Gold Gloves," Aybar said, offering thanks "to my family, my coaches, my manager and everybody with the Angels who has helped me catch the ball.

"When you're a little boy, you always dream that you can win a Gold Glove one day."

Aybar, committing only 13 errors for a .980 fielding percentage, handled more double plays than any shortstop in the AL with his acrobatic movements and powerful, accurate arm. He batted .269 with 33 doubles, eight triples and 10 homers, scoring 71 runs and driving in 59 while stealing 30 of 36 bases -- an 83-percent success rate.

Weaver was consistently dominant from start to finish, going 18-8 with a 2.41 ERA in 235 2/3 innings while striking out 198 hitters. The AL's starting pitcher in the All-Star Game in Phoenix, Weaver worked a scoreless inning, calling it a "boyhood dream" to perform in the Midsummer Classic.

Trumbo became the club's regular first baseman when Kendrys Morales was declared out for the season because of a second operation on his left ankle. Trumbo's team-high 29 home runs were the most by an AL rookie since Nomar Garciaparra in 1997. Playing solid defense, Trumbo batted .254 and led Los Angeles with 87 RBIs and in slugging percentage (.477).

An 18th-round pick by the Angels in the 2004 First-Year Player Draft out of Villa Park, Calif., a 10-minute drive from Angel Stadium, Trumbo had 10 home runs by the end of May. His walk-off home run against the Rangers on Aug. 18 lifted the Angels back in the AL West race and was one of the team's highlights of the season, along with Ervin Santana's no-hitter against Cleveland.

Trumbo led all AL rookies in slugging, doubles (31), total bases (257) and extra-base hits (61), as well as in homers and RBIs.

Bourjos, who made highlight-reel plays seem almost routine with his amazing speed and athleticism, batted .271, becoming the first player in franchise history to put together a stat line of 26 doubles, 11 triples, 12 homers and 22 steals.

Along with Aybar and Bourjos, pitcher Dan Haren and right fielder Torii Hunter, a nine-time Gold Glove winner, were finalists in the Gold Glove voting by managers and coaches.

Right-hander Matt Shoemaker was the Angels' choice as the 2011 Howie Gershberg Minor League Pitcher of the Year. Shoemaker spent most of his fourth season in the farm system with Double-A Arkansas, where he was named Texas League Pitcher of the Year after going 12-5 with a 2.48 ERA in 23 starts.

He had five complete games and two shutouts, and his 1.07 WHIP was the best at the Double-A level. Promoted to Triple-A Salt Lake, he made four starts with the Bees. Shoemaker was also among the 24 Minor League players named to the U.S. national team for this fall's World Cup and Pan American Games. He was signed by Joel Murrie out of Eastern Michigan University in 2008 as a free agent.

Outfielder Mike Trout was chosen by MLB.com as the No. 1 prospect in Major League Baseball. Trout had 123 at-bats for the Angels, batting .220 with five homers, and maintained his Rookie of the Year eligibility for next season.

Also claiming 2011 Minor League awards were outfielder Kole Calhoun, first baseman Efren Navarro and manager Ty Boykin.

Calhoun, 23, is the Kenny Myers Memorial Minor League Player of the Year. An eighth-round pick in the 2010 Draft out of Arizona State, Calhoun starred at advanced Class A Inland Empire, where he batted .324 with 22 homers and 99 RBIs. He stole 20 bases and scored 94 runs, along with 36 doubles and six triples in 133 games.

A September callup after a stellar season at Salt Lake, Navarro, 25, is the club's Minor League Rawlings Gold Glove Award winner for defensive excellence. A 50th-round Draft pick in 2007 out of Nevada Las Vegas, the Lynwood, Calif., native led Pacific Coast League first basemen in fielding percentage.

Boykin was presented the Preston Gomez Minor League Manager of the Year award for guiding the Tempe Angels to a second-place finish in the East Division of the Arizona Rookie League. This was his 11th season as a manager in the Angels' system and his 20th season in the organization.