All-Mexico Team: Polarizing Ex-Red Sox Star Headlines Group

In honor of Hispanic & Latine Heritage Month, NESN takes a look at the best Major League Baseball players from Hispanic and Latin American nations. Today, we compile our picks for the all-time Mexico team.

Mel Amada was a barrier breaker. He was the first Mexican-born player in MLB history as he made his debut with the Boston Red Sox in 1933.

Since then, many more of Amada's countrymen have showcased their skill sets in the premier baseball league in the world, although not one Mexico native has yet to have their name enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

That doesn't mean there's a lack of talent, though. Here's the all-time Mexico team represented with a starting lineup and a few bench options plus three starting pitchers and two relievers. Players with Mexican lineage also qualified for this team.

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C Alejandro Kirk
1B Adrián González
2B Bobby Ávila
SS Vinny Castilla
3B Aurelio Rodríguez
LF Randy Arozarena
CF Alex Verdugo
RF Jorge Ortega
DH Isaac Paredes

Bench:
1B Rowdy Tellez
UTIL Ramón Urías
OF Jarren Duran

González was incredibly productive over his 15-year career. He broke out as one of MLB's top left-handed hitters of his era with the San Diego Padres, where he earned three of his five All-Star nods. He also won four Gold Gloves in his career. González was traded to the Red Sox in December 2010 and turned in an All-Star campaign in his first season with Boston, in which he hit .338 with 27 home runs and 117 RBIs. But González didn't mesh well with Boston and was dealt to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the middle of the 2012 season.

Castilla put together a memorable 16-year MLB career from 1991-2006. He was a two-time All-Star and finished with a .276 career batting average with 320 home runs and 1,105 RBIs. Ávila, who starred for the Cleveland Indians and played from 1949-59, won the American League batting crown with a .341 average in 1954.

Ortega leads all Mexican-born players with 79 steals while Arozarena, Verdugo, Paredes, Tellez and Duran all suited up for Team Mexico in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

SP Fernando Valenzuela
SP Esteban Loaiza
SP Teddy Higuera
RP Joakim Soria
RP Sergio Romo

There might not be a more popular or decorated Mexican-born player than Valenzuela. The left-hander sparked "Fernandomania" starting in his first full season with the Dodgers in 1981 when he won the Cy Young and Rookie of the Year awards as well as a World Series. He was named an All-Star six times and leads all Mexican pitchers in wins with the 173 he compiled in his 17-year career.

Loaiza, who made his name with the Chicago White Sox in 2003 when he won 21 games and posted a sterling 2.90 ERA, is second all-time in wins for Mexican pitchers with 126 while Higuera also had a 20-win campaign with the Milwaukee Brewers in 1986 -- his only All-Star season.

No other Mexican pitcher has as many saves as Soria, who accumulated 229 saves with nine teams across 14 MLB seasons. Romo, who played for Mexico in the World Baseball Classic in 2013 and 2017, notched 137 saves in his career with 84 of those coming with the San Francisco Giants.