Minor League All-Star Team 2016

A Minor League All-Star Team selected by Baseball America editors.

C Francisco Mejia • Indians
Low Class A Lake County (Midwest) • High Class A Lynchburg (Carolina)

Mejia hit safely in 50 straight games from May 27 to Aug. 13. His streak spanned two different leagues and stretched farther than any other player during the modern, post-1962 history of the minor leagues. The 20-year-old Dominican might have hit in 50 straight games for two different organizations had the rumored trade-deadline deal to the Brewers for Jonathan Lucroy not been scuttled. The switch-hitting Mejia batted .342/.382/.514 at two Class A stops this season while recording a higher average and OPS (.896) than any minor league catcher except the Orioles’ Yermin Mercedes. He also gunned down 43 percent of basestealers.

1B Rhys Hoskins • Phillies
Double-A Reading (Eastern)

A Sacramento State product drafted in 2014, Hoskins looks like a fifth-round steal for the Phillies. A smart hitter with plus raw power and a growing track record, he led all minor league first basemen this season with 38 home runs and a .285 isolated slugging percentage. The righthanded-hitting Hoskins also ranked among the overall minor league leaders with his 38 homers (second), 116 RBIs (third) and .566 slugging percentage (seventh).

2B Yoan Moncada • Red Sox
High Class A Salem (Carolina) • Double-A Portland (Eastern)

The Red Sox made Moncada a September callup—and switched his position to third base—because they had received below-average production at the hot corner pretty much since the day Pablo Sandoval showed up to camp out of shape. Moncada took home MVP honors at the Futures Game this season and ranked among the minor league leaders with 45 stolen bases (fifth) and a .407 on-base percentage (12th). Don’t mistake the 21-year-old Cuban for a slap-happy speedster, though, not when his .217 isolated slugging percentage ranked behind only Travis Demeritte (.288) among qualified minor league middle infielders.

3B Ryon Healy • Athletics
Triple-A Nashville (Pacific Coast) • Double-A Midland (Texas)

While Alex Bregman and Yoan Moncada shifted to third base once they reached the majors this season, Healy actually manned the hot corner in the minors—but only about half as often as he played first base. Being Double-A teammates with Matt Chapman and Triple-A teammates with Renato Nunez will do that. Healy, however, beat both of those prospects to Oakland and staked his claim to be the club’s third baseman at the outset of 2017. By hitting .326/.382/.558 in 85 games across two levels, the 2013 third-rounder from Oregon narrowly edged the Royals’ Hunter Dozier, the Indians’ Yandy Diaz as well as Chapman to claim all-star honors at third base.

SS Alex Bregman • Astros
Double-A Corpus Christi (Texas) • Triple-A Fresno (Pacific Coast)

The No. 2 overall pick from Louisiana State in the 2015 draft, Bregman prioritized hitting for power this year as he made his full-season debut. He accomplished his goal by leading all minor league shortstops with 20 home runs and a .986 OPS (among those with at least 350 plate appearances). The Astros called Bregman to Houston to play third base on July 25, and after weathering a 2-for-38 stretch through his first 10 games, he settled in as an integral part of the club’s infield that also features homegrown stars Jose Altuve at second base and Carlos Correa at shortstop.

CF David Dahl • Rockies
Double-A Hartford (Eastern) • Triple-A Albuquerque (Pacific Coast)

“Dahl must stay healthy to deliver on his star-caliber talent,” we wrote after a 2015 season in which the young lefthanded batter had his spleen surgically removed following a scary outfield collision. He returned at full strength this season only to spend the first half with a Double-A Hartford club that had no home park. Having neither a spleen nor a place to call home didn’t seem to matter to Dahl, who hit .314/.394/.569 with 18 home runs and 17 steals at two minor league stops before the Rockies called him up on July 25. All he did upon his promotion was tie a major league record by hitting safely in the first 17 games of his career.

OF Eloy Jimenez • Cubs
Low Class A South Bend (Midwest)

Jimenez took another giant step forward in his development in 2016, when the 19-year-old took home Midwest League MVP honors in a season in which the left fielder ranked third in the league batting race (.329) while leading the circuit in doubles (40) and slugging (.532). Jimenez, the top international talent available in 2013, doesn’t walk much and his long levers create holes in his swing, but the righthanded-hitting Dominican makes enough hard contact to thrive.

OF Tyler O’Neill • Mariners
Double-A Jackson (Southern)

O’Neill challenged for the Southern League triple crown before a late slump dropped him to fourth in the league batting race (.293) and second in the home runs chase (24). However, the 21-year-old Canadian led the SL with 102 RBIs, 54 extra-base hits and a .508 slugging percentage, which helped him take home circuit MVP honors. O’Neill, a 2013 third-rounder out of high school, showed remarkable progress in 2016 by improving his walk and strikeout rates while also refining his defensive play in right field.

DH Dylan Cozens • Phillies
Double-A Reading (Eastern)

Cozens homered twice in his final three games to reach 40 for the season. The 6-foot-6, lefthanded batter paced the minors in that category and with 125 RBIs, while his .591 slugging percentage trailed only the Dodgers’ Rob Segedin. Though he possesses obvious raw power, Cozens had never topped 16 homers in a season before, and the 2012 second-rounder out of high school took particular advantage of Reading’s FirstEngergy Stadium, a hitter’s park. He struck 29 of his 40 longballs and slugged 300 points higher at home than he did on the road.

SP Chance Adams • Yankees
Double-A Trenton (Eastern) • High Class A Tampa (Florida State)

Move over, Tyler Glasnow. Adams allowed just 5.4 hits per nine innings this season and led the minors with a .169 opponent average. That mark ranks as the second lowest by a qualified minor league starter since 1993, which is as far back as we can trace such records. (The top mark belongs to former White Sox prospect Fautino de los Santos, a righty who allowed a .163 average in 2007.) Adams, a 2015 fifth-round pick from Dallas Baptist, throws an excellent fastball up to 97 mph that helped him set up solid secondary stuff and go 13-1, 2.33 at two levels this season. He struck out 144 in 127 innings and ranked among the overall minor league leaders in ERA and WHIP (0.90).

SP Stephen Gonsalves • Twins
Double-A Chattanooga (Southern) • High Class A Fort Myers (Florida State)

While scouts are unconvinced that Gonsalves possesses the present fastball command to dominate big league hitters, the 22-year-old lefthander does throw a changeup that improves each season. And then there’s this: Gonsalves has recorded a 2.03 ERA over the past two seasons, all while permitting a 1.06 WHIP and striking out 287 batters in 274 innings. He went 13-5, 2.06 this season to rank seventh in the minor league ERA race while also placing 12th with 155 strikeouts and 11th with a 1.02 WHIP. Gonsalves, a 2013 fourth-rounder out of a San Diego high school, must reduce his walk rate of 3.7 batters per nine innings, but he’s clearly doing something right.

SP Mitch Keller • Pirates
Low Class A West Virginia (South Atlantic) • High Class A Bradenton (Florida State)

A 2014 second-round pick out of an Iowa high school, Keller came down with a strained forearm in 2015 and made just six starts. He showed no ill effects this season after he came out firing a mid-90s fastball with heavy life, to go with a breaking ball and changeup that frequently play as plus pitches. The 20-year-old Keller threw six shutout innings in his final start at Bradenton, but he did most of his damage in the South Atlantic League, going 8-5, 2.46 in 23 starts. He struck out 138 batters in 130 innings and ranked fourth in the minors with a 0.92 WHIP.

SP Brock Stewart • Dodgers
Double-A Tulsa (Texas) • Triple-A Oklahoma City (Pacific Coast) • High Class A Rancho Cucamonga (California)

Used mostly as a third baseman at Illinois State, Stewart looks like a sixth-round coup by the Dodgers, who signed him as a righthanded pitcher for just $190,000 in 2014. He shows 96 mph velocity with advanced fastball command—he allowed just four home runs in 121 minor league innings—though a lack of a second plus pitch got him in trouble through his first four big league appearances (7.94 ERA). The 24-year-old Stewart raced through three levels of the minors this season, showing excellent ratios—including 9.6 strikeouts and 1.4 walks per nine innings—that helped him lead the minors with a 0.88 WHIP and place third with a 1.79 ERA.

SP Brandon Woodruff • Brewers
Double-A Biloxi (Southern) • High Class A Brevard County (Florida State)

Woodruff recorded a 1.67 ERA in his final 12 starts at Biloxi after running up a 5.68 mark through his first eight Double-A turns. Through it all, the 11th-round pick from Mississippi State in 2014 continued to miss bats, for Woodruff led the minors with 173 strikeouts in 158 innings. He also ranked inside the top 10 with a 1.02 WHIP, thanks to a 94-96 mph fastball that he commands, an aggressive mound presence and a slider and changeup that flash plus potential.

RP Joe Jimenez • Tigers
Double-A Erie (Eastern) • High Class A Lakeland (Florida State) • Triple-A Toledo (International)

Jimenez’s 30 saves at three levels this season are 29 more than major league saves leaders Zach Britton and Jeurys Familia ever collected when they were prospects. That’s because those two worked as starters on their way up the ladder. Yet some Minor League All-Star Team relievers, such as Francisco Cordero, Addison Reed and Fernando Rodney, do in fact graduate to the role of major league closer. Jimenez, a Puerto Rico high school product whom the Tigers signed as a nondrafted free agent in 2013, could be next in line. He misses plenty of bats with high-90s heat, throws enough strikes, keeps the ball in the park and shows no platoon split as he gleefully mows down batters from either side of the plate.

Second-Team All-Stars

C Chance Sisco • Orioles
Double-A Bowie (Eastern)

1B Rowdy Tellez • Blue Jays
Double-A New Hampshire (Eastern)

2B Ozzie Albies • Braves
Double-A Mississippi (Southern) • Triple-A Gwinnett (International)

3B Hunter Dozier • Royals
Triple-A Omaha (Pacific Coast) • Double-A Northwest Arkansas (Texas)

SS Trea Turner • Nationals
Triple-A Syracuse (International)

CF Andrew Benintendi • Red Sox
Double-A Portland (Eastern) • High Class A Salem (Carolina)

OF Brandon Nimmo • Mets
Triple-A Las Vegas (Pacific Coast)

OF Christin Stewart • Tigers
High Class A Lakeland (Florida State) • Double-A Erie (Eastern)

DH Mitch Haniger • Diamondbacks
Triple-A Reno (Pacific Coast) • Double-A Mobile (Southern)

SP Luis Castillo • Marlins
High Class A Jupiter (Florida State) • Double-A Jacksonville (Southern)

SP Josh Hader • Brewers
Triple-A Colorado Springs (Pacific Coast) • Double-A Biloxi (Southern)

SP German Marquez • Rockies
Double-A Hartford (Eastern) • Triple-A Albuquerque (Pacific Coast)

SP Yohander Mendez • Rangers
Double-A Frisco (Texas) • High Class A High Desert (California) • Triple-A Round Rock (Pacific Coast)

SP Sean Reid-Foley • Blue Jays
High Class A Dunedin (Florida State) • Low Class A Lansing (Midwest)

RP James Hoyt • Astros
Triple-A Fresno (Pacific Coast)