AA St. Paul Saints

He's Back: Saints Sign Former All-Star, Atlantic League and Mexican League MVP, Alonzo Harris

July 21, 2020 - American Association (AA)
St. Paul Saints News Release


SIOUX FALLS, SD - In the three years since they've been apart one of them made the playoffs twice and ended a 15-year championship drought. The other also won a championship and became the MVP of two different leagues. They were successful apart, but both can agree they're even better together. Alonzo Harris, the former American Association All-Star and the franchises single-season stolen base record holder, will once again don the Saints uniform.

Since departing from the Saints following the 2016 season, the 31-year-old Harris has played in the Atlantic League and the Mexican League. In 2019 he had one of the greatest seasons in Mexican League history while playing for Oaxaca hitting .343 with 39 home runs and 117 RBI in 119 games. In 469 at bats he drilled 34 doubles, six triples, swiped 45 bases, had a .431 on base percentage, a .691 slugging percentage, for a 1.122 OPS. Harris was one home run shy of becoming the first ever Mexican League player to go 40-40. He was named the league's MVP and was first in the league in runs and total bases (324), second in RBI, slugging percentage and stolen bases, tied for second in games, third in home runs, fourth in hits (161) and OPS, tied for fourth in doubles and fifth in triples. His team reached the playoffs and lost four-games-to-one to Yucatan in the Division Series. Harris' season was highlighted by numerous accomplishments including a 19-game hitting streak from May 14-June 4. He also scored a run in an incredible 14-straight games from August 3-18. He homered in back-to-back games eight times and three in a row from June 28-July 2. He tied a career high with two home runs and five RBI on June 28. He stole a base in back-to-back games eight times, three in a row once and four-straight from July 3-6. He had 16, three-hit games and two four-hit games.

Harris was a 39th round selection in the June First-Year Player Draft by the New York Mets out of McComb (MS) High School in 2007. He played in the Mets organization from 2008-13 and played the entire 2013 season at Double-A Binghamton.

In 2012 at High-A St. Lucie he stole, at the time, a career high 40 bases, good for third in the Florida State League and finished fifth in runs scored with 74.

Harris reached the Championship Series in the Can-Am League with the Jackals in 2014 after beginning the year in the Miami Marlins organization. He hit .290 with seven home runs and 52 RBI in 89 games for the Jackals. In 355 at bats he scored 54 runs, had 15 doubles, seven triples, 34 stolen bases, a .345 on base percentage and a .431 slugging percentage. Harris finished second in the league in triples & stolen bases, tied for third in sacrifice hits (9), fifth in stolen base percentage (.810) & ninth in batting average. He stole a base in an astounding nine straight games from August 10-18 and was named the Can-Am League Player of the Week for the week ending August 19.

Harris signed with the Saints in February, 2015 and had an all-around great year while hitting leadoff most of the season. He hit .298 with 15 homers and 62 RBI in 90 games. In 386 at bats he scored 75 runs, cracked 14 doubles, three triples, swiped 39 bases, a .339 on base percentage and .466 slugging percentage. He became the second player in Saints history to hit at least 10 homers and steal at least 30 bases. The only other player to accomplish the feat was Adam Frost in 2013 (10 homers and 38 stolen bases). Harris' 39 steals (5th in the American Association) surpassed Frost's 2013 single-season record and his 75 runs (3rd in the league) were tied for the third best mark in a season by a Saints player. In addition, Harris had a very solid 13.8% strikeout rate, fanning just 58 times in 420 plate appearances. He helped guide the Saints to their best record in franchise history, 74-26, as they reached the playoffs before losing three-games-to-one to the Sioux City Explorers in the Divisional Round.

Harris came back with the Saints in 2016 and was even better hitting .307 with 15 home runs and 58 RBI in 93 games. In 391 at bats he scored 67 runs, smashed 16 doubles, five triples, broke his own franchise record with 43 stolen bases, a .352 on base percentage, and a .488 slugging percentage. Harris was selected as a Mid-Season and Post-Season All-Star. He finished first in the league in stolen bases and fifth in total bases (191). He helped guide the Saints to the playoffs where they lost three-games-to-two to the Winnipeg Goldeyes in the Divisional Round. He became the first Saints player to hit 10 or more home runs and steal 40 or more bases. He reached base safely in an incredible 37-consecutive games from June 18-August 4. He also enjoyed a power surge during the month of June, starting on June 13, when he hit a walk-off solo home run against the Sioux City Explorers. That started a stretch where he hit five home runs in seven days. Additionally, he had a 15-game hitting streak from July 3-18 and had 38 multi-hit games.

In his two seasons with the Saints he was second all-time in stolen bases with 82, 11 shy of Adam Frost's franchise record of 93, tied for seventh in triples (8), and 10th in home runs (30).

Upon leaving the Saints he joined the York Revolution in the Atlantic League and promptly became the Player of the Year. Harris hit .315 with 23 home runs and 73 RBI in 114 games. In 460 at bats he scored 89 runs, clobbered 28 doubles, one triple, stole 31 bases, a .381 on base percentage, and a .530 slugging percentage, for a .911 OPS. He finished first in the league in runs, second in slugging percentage, tied for second in hits (145), third in total bases (244), tied for fourth in home runs, and fifth in extra base hits (52). Harris finally won a Championship as the Revolution swept the Long Island Ducks in the Championship Series. Harris was a Mid-Season All-Star and was selected by Baseball America as the Player of the Year in all of Independent League Baseball. He homered in back-to-back games three times and three straight twice. He accumulated a 13-game hitting streak from July 21-August 4. He had an impressive 47 multi-hit games including two, four-hit games. He stole a base in back-to-back games four times and three-straight from August 21-23 while stealing two bases in a game seven times.

Harris began 2018 in Mexico, signing with Quintana Roo, and hit .262 with 11 home runs and 25 RBI in 70 games. In 271 at bats he scored 57 runs, had 11 doubles, two triples, stole 21 stolen bases, a .298 on base percentage, and a .425 slugging percentage. He was released by Quintana Roo on July 29 and re-signed with York. Harris hit .304 with three home runs and 16 RBI in 36 games. In 138 at bats he scored 33 runs, had five doubles, 14 stolen bases, a .390 on base percentage, and a .406 slugging percentage. Harris finished the season on a 12-game hitting streak.

In order to make room for Harris on the roster, the Saints released infielder Connor Justus who was hitting .161 with two RBI.

The Saints have the league maximum 23 players on the roster, 11 pitchers and 12 position players.

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