The record-breaking Portland Sea Dogs team of 2014 was named the Minor League Team of the Year by the Baseball America publication.

It was the first time the Sea Dogs received the honor, and Portland is only the fourth Eastern League team to receive the award since 1993.

Portland was chosen from among 120 teams that play a full season at the Class A, Double-A and Triple-A levels. The Sea Dogs, which began in 1994, play in the Double-A Eastern League.

The 2014 team was loaded with promising Boston Red Sox prospects. Even as those prospects kept getting promoted to higher levels, Portland continued to win, compiling a franchise-best record of 88-54.

According to the publication, the 2014 Sea Dogs were “a prospect-laden team on which virtually every player seemed to blossom.”

The Sea Dogs won the league’s East Division, but was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, three games to two, by the Binghamton Mets.

Fourteen Sea Dogs reached the Triple-A level, and two of them (infielder Carlos Rivera and infielder/outfielder Mookie Betts) reached the major leagues.

Pitcher Henry Owens (14-4, 2.60 ERA) was named the Eastern League’s Pitcher of the Year, and Portland’s Billy McMillon was the league’s Manager of the Year in his first season.

Previous Eastern League winners of the Baseball America honor were Akron (2002 and 2009), Trenton (1999) and Harrisburg (1993). The 1999 Trenton team was also a Red Sox affiliate. Boston moved its Double-A team from Trenton to Portland in 2003.

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