With outstanding performances at every level, another fantastic Minor League season is in the books. These achievements, which included best home run and defensive play as well as the Hitting and Pitching Prospect of the Year Awards, were recognized on Monday.

It’s time to recognize several of those efforts with the Prospect Team of the Year, as has been the tradition every year since 2015 when there was a Minor League season.

Only a prospect’s 2023 Minor League performance was taken into consideration for compiling this ranking. Players that spent at least half of the season in the Minors and at some point made our organization’s Top 30 Prospects rankings are eligible for the Prospect Team of the Year. (All statistics are year-end totals for Minor League baseball compounded.)

With three selections to both the first and second teams, the Orioles and Cubs are tied for the most, while Baltimore has two selections to the first team, making them, along with the Cardinals, the only clubs with multiple selections to the first team.

First Team

C: Samuel Basallo (BAL No. 5, MLB No. 46)A/A+/AA: .313/.402/.551, 114 G, 20 HR, 86 RBI, 75 R, 61 BB, 94 K, 12 SB, 162 wRC+

Another teenaged phenom in the Orioles system. Basallo made his full-season debut with Single-A Delmarva this year and ended it, age 19, in Double-A. His 162 wRC+ was third among all Minor Leaguers with 400 or more plate appearances this season, and he was 10th with his .953 OPS.

1B: Luken Baker (STL Top 30 graduate)AAA: .334/.440/.720, 84 G, 33 HR, 98 RBI, 71 R, 59 BB, 76 K, 180 wRC+

Baker played his final Minor League game of the season on Aug. 11 and still managed to finish tied fourth in the Minors with 33 homers. His .720 slugging percentage, 1.159 OPS, .385 isolated slugging percentage and 180 wRC+ were all tops among Minor Leaguers with at least 350 plate appearances as 55 of his 105 hits went for extra bases for Memphis.

2B: Thomas Saggese (STL No. 9)AA/AAA: .306/.374/.530, 139 G, 26 HR, 111 RBI, 101 R, 52 BB, 144 K, 12 SB, 133 wRC+

Acquired from the Rangers at the Trade Deadline, the 21-year-old infielder dominated the Texas League with both Frisco and Springfield, finishing as the Double-A circuit’s leader in average (.318), OPS (.936), hits (158), extra-base hits (60), total bases (274) and RBIs (107) over 126 games. Including his time at Triple-A Memphis, he also led all Minor Leaguers with 170 hits and 294 total bases, 10 more than second-place Coby Mayo.

3B: Junior Caminero (TB No. 1, MLB No. 6)A+/AA: .324/.384/.591, 117 G, 31 HR, 94 RBI, 85 R, 42 BB, 100 K, 5 SB, 156 wRC+

Caminero entered his age-19 season with only 27 games of full-season experience and ended it on Tampa Bay’s Major League roster. In between, he was the youngest member of the Minor League 30-homer club with 31 blasts between Bowling Green and Montgomery, and he posted a .591 slugging percentage and 156 wRC+ that ranked fifth and 10th among full-season qualifiers. The Rays’ top prospect pushed those numbers up by hitting .336/.400/.685 with 15 homers in 37 games from Aug. 1 onward in the Southern League.

Junior Caminero’s first career HR

SS: Jackson Holliday (BAL No. 1, MLB No. 1)A/A+/AA/AAA: .323/.442/.499, 125 G, 12 HR, 75 RBI, 113 R, 101 BB, 118 K, 24 SB, 159 wRC+

Isn’t it difficult to imagine a better first season for the number one overall pick? Holliday completed four levels of racing, coming in third place. At the age of 19, he led the Minors in runs scored, walked more than 100 times, and ranked seventh in OBP and wRC+ among hitters with 400 or more plate appearances.

OF: Blake Dunn (CIN No. 22)A+/AA: .312/.425/.522, 124 G, 23 HR, 79 RBI, 107 R, 62 BB, 130 K, 54 SB, 158 wRC+

Injuries kept Dunn off the field for much of his first full season in 2022, but he more than made up for it this past season. He was one of three players in all of the Minors to surpass the 20 homer-50-steal plateau and turned it up a notch once he got to Double-A, posting a .989 OPS in 77 games at the level.

OF: Justice Bigbie (DET No. 21)A+/AA/AAA: .343/.405/.537, 115 G, 19 HR, 78 RBI, 81 R, 42 BB, 77 K, 6 SB, 157 wRC+

There were 707 qualified full-season Minor Leaguers in 2023. Only one hit above .340 and slugged above .500. That was, of course, Bigbie. The bulk of his season came at Double-A Erie, where he was also at his best with a .362/.421/.564 line with 12 homers and only a 12.5 percent K rate across 63 games. Bigbie could follow in Kerry Carpenter’s footsteps by using a breakout Minor League season as a springboard to Major League contributions in Detroit.

OF: Owen Caissie (CHC No. 3, MLB No. 64)AA: .289/.398/.519, 120 G, 22 HR, 84 RBI, 77 R, 76 BB, 164 K, 7 SB, 144 wRC+

Arguably the best power-hitting prospect in the Minors, Caissie produces exceptional exit velocities for a 20-year-old. Though he was the sixth-youngest regular in the Double-A Southern League, he ranked in the top five in 12 significant offensive categories, including third in on-base percentage (.398), slugging (.519) and OPS (.917), fourth in homers (22) and fifth in batting (.289).

DH: Michael Busch (LAD No. 2, MLB No. 44)AAA: .323/.431/.618, 98 G, 27 HR, 90 RBI, 85 R, 65 BB, 88 K, 4 SB, 150 wRC+

After posting one of the most impressive stat lines in the Minors in 2022, Busch did so again this year, ranking second in slugging (.618) and OPS (1.049) and eighth in OBP (.431). He topped the Triple-A Pacific Coast League in slugging and OPS while finishing second in the batting race at .323.

LHP: Robby Snelling (SD No. 3, MLB No. 60)A/A+/AA: 11-3, 1.82 ERA, 103 2/3 IP, 118 K, 34 BB, .216 BAA, 1.12 WHIP

Snelling’s individual performance was excellent. Out of 272 Minor League pitchers (minimum 100 innings pitched), the Padres southpaw had the lowest ERA (1.82) and was the only one with a score below 2.00. Throughout three different levels, he struck out at least one batter per inning on average and never had an ERA higher than 2.34. The cherry on top: having completed all of this in his age-19 season, the 2022 39th overall pick is currently sitting just two stops away from San Diego.

Snelling’s nine-strikeout start

RHP: Drew Thorpe (NYY No. 5, MLB No. 99)A+/AA: 14-2, 2.52 ERA, 139 1/3 IP, 182 K, 38 BB, .200 BAA, 0.98 WHIP

After finishing second in NCAA Division I with a school record 149 strikeouts in 2022, Thorpe was a unanimous All-American at Cal Poly. This summer, in his professional debut, he earned the Minor League K title with 182 in 139 1/3 innings. Along with ranking second in wins (14), winning percentage (.875), WHIP (0.98), and strikeout percentage (34.0), he also led the league in strikeout minus walk percentage (26.9). Despite being promoted to Double-A in early August, he also came within one strikeout of earning the High-A South Atlantic League pitching triple crown.

RP: Orion Kerkering (PHI No. 7)A/A+/AA/AAA: 4-1, 14 SV, 1.51 ERA, 53 2/3 IP, 79 K, 12 BB, .186 BAA, 0.89 WHIP

Kerkering began the year with Single-A Clearwater, and it’s looking like he’s going to finish it on the big league postseason roster. His ability to pound the zone (2.0 BB/9) with his fastball and slider allowed him to strike out 13.2 per nine in the Minors this year, and he has the third best K-BB percentage (32.2) of any pitcher in the Minor Leagues with 50 or more innings.

Second Team

C: Thayron Liranzo (LAD No. 18)A: .273/.400/.562, 94 G, 24 HR, 70 RBI, 81 R, 70 BB, 112 K, 2 SB, 155 wRC+

Adding to the Dodgers’ stockpile of catching, Liranzo broke out by leading the Single-A California League in homers (24), slugging (.562), OPS (.962, eighth in the Minors), extra-base hits (50) and total bases (194) while making his full-season debut at age 19.

1B: Troy Johnston (MIA No. 22)AA/AAA: .307/.399/.549, 134 G, 26 HR, 116 RBI, 102 R, 62 BB, 108 K, 24 SB, 145 wRC+

A rare 20-20 first baseman, Johnston led the Minors with 116 RBIs and placed fourth in extra-base hits (67) and total bases (281). He also topped the Double-A Southern League in slugging (.567) and OPS (.963).

2B: Xavier Edwards (MIA Top 30 graduate)AAA: .351/.429/.457, 93 G, 7 HR, 47 RBI, 80 R, 52 BB, 30 K, 32 SB, 130 wRC+

Edwards bounced back from the worst season of his pro career in 2022 to lead the Triple-A International League and finish second in the Minors with a .351 batting average, and he also recaptured some of the speed he lost a year ago.

3B: Coby Mayo (BAL No. 4, MLB No. 27)AA/AAA: .290/.410/.564, 140 G, 29 HR, 99 RBI, 84 R, 93 BB, 148 K, 5 SB, 156 wRC+

Mayo’s ability to draw walks (15.1 percent walk rate) and see pitches (he saw the second most amount of pitches among all Minor League hitters) allowed him to really tap into his power.

SS: Jett Williams (NYM No. 3, MLB No. 78)A/A+/AA: .263/.425/.451, 121 G, 13 HR, 55 RBI, 81 R, 104 BB, 118 K, 45 SB, 145 wRC+

The 2022 first-rounder showed an approach well beyond his years, finishing second in the Minors with 104 walks and among the top 25 in OBP (.425) and wRC+ (145) across three levels in his first full season.

OF: Justyn-Henry Malloy (DET No. 9)AAA: .277/.417/.474, 135 G, 23 HR, 83 RBI , 89 R, 110 BB, 152 K, 5 SB, 130 wRC+

Malloy led all Minor Leaguers with 110 free passes and 2,654 pitches seen and tied for 11th among Triple-A qualifiers with a 130 wRC+.

OF: Pete Crow-Armstrong (CHC No. 1, MLB No. 12)AA/AAA: .283/.365/.511, 107 G, 20 HR, 82 RBI, 98 R, 46 BB, 129 K, 37 SB, 127 wRC+

Widely considered the best defensive prospect in the Minors, Crow-Armstrong also has considerable offensive upside and showed it off with 20 homers and 37 steals between Double-A and Triple-A at age 21.

OF: Jackson Chourio (MIL No. 1, MLB No. 2)AA/AAA: .283/.338/.467, 128 G, 22 HR, 91 RBI, 88 R, 43 BB, 104 K, 44 SB, 112 wRC+

Having finished with 22 homers and 44 steals, Chourio was just the fifth teenager since 1958 to achieve a 20/40 season in the Minors, joining Ronald Acuña Jr. (2017), Álex Escobar (1998), Andruw Jones (1995) and José Cardenal (1961) in that group.

DH: Abimelec Ortiz (TEX No. 14)A/A+: .294/.371/.619, 109 G, 33 HR, 101 RBI, 78 R, 49 BB, 126 K, 1 SB, 160 wRC+

Ortiz didn’t do much in his first two pro seasons after signing as a nondrafted free agent out of Florida Southwestern State JC in 2021, then exploded to lead the Minors in slugging (.619) while placing fourth in homers in (33) and OPS (.990). He paced the High-A South Atlantic League with 26 homers in just 80 games.

LHP: Anthony Solometo (PIT No. 4, MLB No. 84)A+/AA: 4-7, 3.26 ERA, 110 1/3 IP, 118 K, 39 BB, .227 BAA, 1.19 WHIP

The funky lefty dominated High-A and spent the second half in Double-A, all at age 20, putting him on a faster track to Pittsburgh.

RHP: Cade Horton (CHC No. 2, MLB No. 29)A/A+/AA: 4-4, 2.65 ERA, 88 1/3 IP, 117 K, 27 BB, .191 BAA, 1.00 WHIP

The Cubs kept their 2022 first-rounder on a short leash in his pro debut, but among Minor League pitchers with 80 or more innings, he ranked fourth in strikeout minus walk percentage (25.8), fifth in WHIP (1.00) and 10th in strikeout percentage (33.5).

RP: Danny Watson (NYY No. 29)A+/AA: 7-1, 5 SV, 1.58 ERA, 62 2/3 IP, 82 K, 25 BB, .138 BAA, 0.88 WHIP

Extremely deceptive as a 6-foot-7 sidearmer with an upright delivery, Watson posted the best ERA (1.58) among all Minor Leaguers with 60 innings while ranking third in opponent average (.138) and WHIP (0.88).