thumb|[[Tampa Bay Mutiny's Steve Ralston was the inaugural winner in 1996]]
thumb|In 2001, [[New York Red Bulls|MetroStar's Rodrigo Faria became the first non-American player to win the award]]
thumb|In 2010, [[D.C. United's Andy Najar became the first homegrown player to win the award]]
thumb|In 2020, [[Los Angeles FC's Diego Rossi became the first player to win it under the under 22 format]]
The MLS Young Player of the Year Award (known as the Rookie of the Year Award from 1996 to 2019) is an annual award given to the top player in Major League Soccer under the age of 22.
The award was initially awarded to a rookie, or a player who no prior professional experience, usually to players that had previously played in MLS youth team academies or played college soccer. This practice is fairly common in other American sports leagues, such as the MLB Rookie of the Year (baseball), NASCAR Rookie of the Year (motorsports), NFL Rookie of the Year Award (American football), the Eddie Gottlieb Trophy (basketball), and the Calder Memorial Trophy (ice hockey).
In 2020, MLS replaced the Rookie of the Year Award with the MLS Young Player of the Year Award, given to the best player in the league aged 22 and under, regardless of prior professional playing experience.
Winners
Rookie of the Year Award (1996–2019)
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Season
! Player
! Position
! Team
! Draft <br> Pick
! Draft Class
! College
|-
| 1996
|
| Midfielder
| Tampa Bay Mutiny
|
| 1996 MLS College Draft
| Florida International
|-
| 1997
|
| Defender
| Tampa Bay Mutiny
|
| 1996 MLS Inaugural Draft
| UNLV
|-
| 1998
|
| Midfielder
| D.C. United
|
| Project-40
| Virginia
|-
| 1999
|
| Defender
| Miami Fusion
|
| 1999 MLS College Draft
| Duke
|-
| 2000
|
| Defender
| Chicago Fire
|
| 2000 MLS SuperDraft
| UCLA
|-
| 2001
|
| Forward
| MetroStars
|
| 2001 MLS SuperDraft
| Concordia College
|-
| 2002
|
| Midfielder
| Columbus Crew
|
| 2002 MLS SuperDraft
| Virginia
|-
| 2003
|
| Forward
| Chicago Fire
|
| 2003 MLS SuperDraft
| Connecticut
|-
| 2004
|
| Midfielder
| New England Revolution
|
| 2004 MLS SuperDraft
| Furman
|-
| 2005
|
| Defender
| New England Revolution
|
| 2005 MLS SuperDraft
| Wake Forest
|-
| 2006
|
| Defender
| Chivas USA
|
| 2006 MLS SuperDraft
| UCLA
|-
| 2007
|
| Midfielder
| Toronto FC
|
| 2007 MLS SuperDraft
| Maryland
|-
| 2008
|
| Defender
| LA Galaxy
|
| 2008 MLS SuperDraft
| Cal State Northridge
|-
| 2009
|
| Defender
| LA Galaxy
|
| 2009 MLS SuperDraft
| Maryland
|-
| 2010
|
| Midfielder
| D.C. United
| N/A
| Homegrown Player
| N/A
|-
| 2011
|
| Forward
| Sporting Kansas City
|
| 2011 MLS SuperDraft
| James Madison
|-
| 2012
|
| Defender
| Chicago Fire
|
| 2012 MLS SuperDraft
| Louisville
|-
| 2013
|
| Midfielder
| Colorado Rapids
|
| 2013 MLS SuperDraft
| Notre Dame
|-
| 2014
|
| Forward
| FC Dallas
|
| 2014 MLS SuperDraft
| Colorado School of Mines
|-
| 2015
|
| Forward
| Orlando City SC
|
| 2015 MLS SuperDraft
| Connecticut
|-
| 2016
|
| Forward
| Seattle Sounders FC
|
| Homegrown Player
| Stanford
|-
| 2017
|
| Midfielder
| Atlanta United FC
|
| 2017 MLS SuperDraft
| Providence College
|-
| 2018
|
| Forward
| Real Salt Lake
|
| Homegrown Player
| Stanford
|-
| 2019
|
| Forward
| Colorado Rapids
|
| 2019 MLS SuperDraft
| Denver
|-
|}
Young Player of the Year Award (2020–present)
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Season
! Player
! Position
! Team
! Age
|-
| 2020
|
| Forward
| Los Angeles FC
| 22
|-
| 2021
| Ricardo Pepi
| Forward
| rowspan="2"|FC Dallas
| 18
|-
| 2022
|
| Forward
| 21
|-
| 2023
|
| Midfielder
| Atlanta United FC
| 22
|-
| 2024
|
| Midfielder
| Real Salt Lake
| 21
|-
| 2025
|
| Defender
| Orlando City SC
| 21
|}
Wins by playing position
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Position !!Number of<br>winners
|-
|Defender ||align=center| 9
|-
|Forward ||align=center| 9
|-
|Midfielder ||align=center| 10
|-
|Goalkeeper ||align=center| 0
|}
Wins by nationality
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Nationality !!Number of<br>winners
|-
| ||align=center| 20
|-
| ||align=center| 2
|-
| ||align=center| 2
|-
| ||align=center| 1
|-
| ||align=center| 1
|-
| ||align=center| 1
|-
| ||align=center| 1
|-
| ||align=center| 1
|}
Wins by team
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Team !!Number of<br>winners
|-
|Chicago Fire ||align=center| 3
|-
|FC Dallas ||align=center| 3
|-
|Colorado Rapids ||align=center| 2
|-
|D.C. United ||align=center| 2
|-
|Los Angeles Galaxy ||align=center| 2
|-
|New England Revolution ||align=center| 2
|-
|Tampa Bay Mutiny ||align=center| 2
|-
|Atlanta United FC ||align=center| 2
|-
|Real Salt Lake ||align=center| 2
|-
|Orlando City SC ||align=center| 2
|-
|Chivas USA ||align=center| 1
|-
|Columbus Crew ||align=center| 1
|-
|MetroStars ||align=center| 1
|-
|Miami Fusion ||align=center| 1
|-
|Seattle Sounders FC ||align=center| 1
|-
|Sporting Kansas City ||align=center| 1
|-
|Toronto FC ||align=center| 1
|-
|Los Angeles FC ||align=center| 1
|}