logo
Blue Jays: Vancouver Canadians win 2025 Bob Freitas Award at High-A level
alt
Photo credit: Vancouver Canadians PR
Ryley Delaney
Dec 18, 2025, 12:00 ESTUpdated: Dec 18, 2025, 05:55 EST
Comments
The Vancouver Canadians didn’t win the Northwest League Championship, but they didn’t finish the 2025 season empty handed.
On Wednesday afternoon, Baseball America announced that the Canadians were the recipient of the Bob Freitas Award at the High-A level, given to a team in each of the full-season “A” leagues. The award is given to teams “for outstanding minor-league operations”.
From a business side of things, the Canadians’ home stadium, Rogers Field at Nat Bailey Stadium, received renovations ahead of the season. The Canadians had terrific attendance and have consistently fielded competitive teams, making three consecutive Northwest League Finals from 2022 until 2024.
It’s the second time the Canadians have been bestowed this award, with the other time coming in 2011. Simply put, the Canadians are one of best run minor league teams and are incredibly deserving of the award.
Unfortunately, the Canadians streak of Northwest League Championship Series trips came to an end. They missed out on winning the first half due to a tiebreaker (37-29 record), going 9-1 over their last 10 games, while the Everett AquaSox went 8-2. In the second half, they were 38-28, good enough for second in the six-team league.
Some of the Toronto Blue Jays’ top prospects spent a large chunk of the season with the Canadians, no doubt helping their attendance numbers. The most notable of which was Arjun Nimmala, who had a terrific start to his season but tailed off in the second half. Overall, the Blue Jays’ third-best prospect slashed .224/.313/.381 with 13 home runs in 543 plate appearances, but was only 19 years old throughout the season, rather young for the level.
There were also plenty of players that contributed to the Blue Jays’ postseason success who had spent a period in Vancouver early in their career. In fact, Trey Yesavage pitched in four games with the Canadians in the spring, while Addison Barger and Davis Schneider’s breakout minor league seasons in 2022 began with the Canadians.
The Blue Jays’ High-A affiliate has a culture of winning, and that only helps the big league club.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

Featured

News

Breaking News