One man’s opinion of the top300 Twins of all time-updated for 2014 with new additions: Hughes, Santana, Suzuki, Escobar, Gibson

October 13, 2014 Nate Tubbs Rules 32 Comments

I stole most of the idea from when Gleeman started his top40 list years ago (still unfinished right?) The below quote is his, and the rest is an excerpt from a book I put together 3 years ago. Some of it is outdated, but I’ve updated the list and stats through 2014.

“The rankings only include time spent playing for the Minnesota Twins. In other words, David Ortiz doesn’t get credit for turning into one of the best players in baseball after joining the Red Sox and Paul Molitor doesn’t get credit for being one of the best players in baseball for the Brewers and Blue Jays. The Twins began playing on April 11, 1961, and that’s when these rankings start as well.”

I used a variety of factors, including longevity and peak value. Longevity included how many years the player was a Twin as well as how many plate appearances or innings pitched that player had in those years. For peak value, I looked at their stats, honors, and awards in their best seasons, as well as how they compared to their teammates. Did they lead their team in OPS or home runs or ERA for starters or WPA? If so, that got some bonus points. I factored in postseason heroics, awards (gold gloves, silver sluggers, MVPs, Cy Youngs), statistical achievements (batting titles, home run leaders, ERA champs, etc), and honors (all star appearances), and I looked at team success as well. If you were the #1 starter on a division winning champ, that gave you more points than the #1 starter on a cellar dweller. I looked at some of the advanced stats like WPA, WAR (as calculated by fan graphs and baseball-reference.com), WARP (as calculated by Baseball Prospectus), and Win Shares (as calculated by Bill James). For hitters, I also looked at OPS and the old school triple crown statistics like batting average, home runs, stolen bases, and RBI (and not only where you finished within the AL in any given year, but where you appear on the top25 lists amongst all Twins in the last 50 years). For pitchers I looked at strikeouts, innings pitched, win/loss percentage, ERA as well as ERA+). If there was a metric that was used for all 54 years of Twins history, I tried to incorporate it. I tended to give more credit to guys who were starters instead of part time/platoon players, more credit to position players over pitchers (just slightly, but probably unfairly) and starters over relievers (and closers over middle relievers). There’s no formula to my magic, just looking at a lot of factors and in the end going with the gut in all tie-breakers. Up in the top10 I’m looking at All star appearances, Cy Young and MVP votes, batting average or ERA titles or top10 finishes, etc, and placement in the top25 hitting and pitching lists in Twins history as well. In the middle 100s, it’s more about who started a few more years or had 2 good seasons rather than 1 with possibly an occasional all-star berth or top10 finish in SB or strikeouts. Once you’re in the latter half of the 200s there are none of those on anyone’s resume, so its basically just looking at peak season in OPS+ or ERA+, WAR, Win Shares, and who started the most years, had the most at bats, or pitched the most innings. What the player did as a coach, manager, or broadcaster is not taken into consideration for this list, so Billy Martin, Tom Kelly or Billy Gardner weren’t able to make the top 300 since they were poor players and Frank Quilici didn’t improve his status due to his managing career.

Rank	Player	AB or IP	YrS	ERA+ or OPS+	HR or W	ERA or AVG	fWAR	rWAR	WARP	WS	AS	Awards	Top 10 statistical finishes
1	Harmon Killebrew	6593	9	148	475	0.26	59.4	53.8	56	318	10	MVP: 11,3,4,10,15,4,2,1,3,21	AVG: 5 OPS: 4,2,2,4,2,3,2,4,10,10 R: 10,7,3,8,2,4,8 HR: 3,1,1,1,8,2,1,1,2,5,3 RBI: 6,1,3,3,2,2,1,4,1
2	Kirby Puckett	7244	12	124	207	0.318	44.5	50.8	51.2	281	10	6 GG, 6 SS, MVP: 21,6,3,3,7,7,2,7,21, ALCS MVP	AVG: 3,4,2,1,10,8,2 OPS 4,6,8 R: 2,5,4 HR: 6, RBI: 2,6,1
3	Rod Carew	6235	11	137	74	0.334	57	63.8	55.9	282	12	ROY, MVP: 10,14,4,7,9,5,1,11	AVG: 6,1,5,1,1,1,1,3,1,1 OPS: 4,4,3,2,1 R: 4,2,5,7,2,1 SB: 4,2,4,6
4	Tony Oliva	6301	11	131	220	0.304	40.8	43.1	48.6	245	8	ROY, 1 GG, MVP: 4,2,6,19,19,15,2,10	AVG: 1,1,2,8,3,3,3,1 OPS: 5,3,6,6,7,2 R: 1,2,2,9,8 HR: 6 RBI: 9,3,10,5,7,5 SB: 6
5	Joe Mauer	4833	9	133	109	0.319	45.9	46.3	44.1	244	6	3 GG, 4 SS, MVP: 6,4,1,8,19	AVG: 1,1,1,3,4,2 OPS 7,1,10, 9
6	Kent Hrbek	6192	13	128	293	0.282	37.2	38.2	31.6	230	1	MVP: 2, 16	AVG: 7,6 OPS: 5,8,7,7 HR: 3,10,10 RBI: 7
7	Johan Santana	1308	4	141	93	3.22	35.2	35.9	26.2	123	3	1 GG, CY: 7,1,3,1, 5, MVP: 6,7	ERA: 1,2,1,7 W: 2,5,1 IP: 2,2,1,6 K: 8,1,1,1,2
8	Jim Kaat	2959	13	112	189	3.28	55.1	37.9	32.6	185	2	12 GG, MVP: 5,20	ERA: 6,6 W: 6,8,3,1,6 IP: 2,10,4,1,4 K: 4,10,2,6
9	Bert Blyleven	2567	10	119	149	3.28	56.8	49.3	39.3	178	1	CY: 7,3, MVP: 26	ERA: 5,2,4,6,5 W: 7,5,6 IP: 9,5,4,7,1,4 K: 4,4,2,2,2,1,4,8
10	Frank Viola	1773	8	111	112	3.86	30.4	27.4	22.7	117	1	CY: 6,6,1, MVP: 10, WS MVP	ERA: 10,2,3 W: 4,3,9,8,1 IP: 5,8,9,10,6 K: 8,8,7,3
11	Bob Allison	3926	7	130	211	0.254	30.9	30.5	38.9	169	2	MVP: 15,23	OPS: 6,1,3,9,10 R: 3,1,9 HR: 7,8,3,6,9,7,8 RBI: 7,7,4
12	Brad Radke	2451	12	113	148	4.22	44.6	45.5	27.9	159	1	CY: 3, MVP 25	ERA: 4,4 W: 2 IP: 8,4,6,4,8,5 K: 7
13	Chuck Knoblauch	3939	7	114	43	0.304	33.2	37.8	21.3	161	4	ROY, 1 GG, 2 SS, MVP: 20,17,16	AVG: 2,4 R: 4,8,8,2,3 SB: 9,4,4,4,2
14	Justin Morneau	4749	8	121	221	0.278	19.9	23.3	15.8	156	4	2 SS, MVP: 1, 20, 2	AVG: 7 OPS: 8 HR: 5 RBI: 2,9,2
15	Jim Perry	1883	8	113	128	3.15	23.3	28.7	20.5	125	2	CY: 3, 1, MVP: 9,9	ERA: 8,4,8,8 W: 3,1 IP: 8,5 K: 10
16	Torii Hunter	4492	8	104	192	0.271	22.9	27	21.7	137	2	7 GG, MVP: 21,6,21,15	HR: 7 RBI: 10 SB: 9,8,9
17	Gary Gaetti	4990	9	99	201	0.256	25.5	26.9	27.4	146	2	4 GG, ALCS MVP, MVP: 16,10,22	OPS: 8,8 HR: 3,4 RBI: 5,7
18	Earl Battey	2762	6	109	76	0.278	18.3	14.3	17	114	4	2 GG, MVP: 7,10	AVG: 6,10 OPS: 9 HR: 9 RBI: 9
19	Zoilo Versalles	4148	7	88	86	0.252	16	15.2	16.6	119	2	2 GG, MVP: 21, 1	R: 4,1 SB: 8,7,3
20	Joe Nathan	463	6	204	24	2.16	15.2	18.4	11.7	95	4	CY: 4,5, MVP: 12,18	SAVES: 3,3,6,6,4,2
21	Rick Aguilera	694	9	130	40	3.5	13.9	15.5	8.8	101	3	MVP: 18	SAVES: 6,3,2,6,3,3,9,5
22	Camilo Pascual	1285	6	116	88	3.31	27.6	20.8	19.1	87	3	MVP: 15,12	ERA: 10,3 W: 6,2,2 IP: 5,4,8,4 K: 1,1,1,2
23	Cesar Tovar	4142	5	102	38	0.281	21.9	25.9	28.7	142	0	MVP: 7,23,17,18,24	AVG: 4 R: 3,3,7,2,2,5 SB: 10,6,3,3,6,7
24	Shane Mack	2161	5	130	67	0.309	17.7	19.6	21.8	92	0		AVG: 5,7 OPS 9,8 R: 7
25	Jack Morris	246	1	125	18	3.43	4.8	4.3	3.1	18	1	WS MVP, CY: 4	W: 4, IP: 3 K: 10
26	Roy Smalley	3997	9	104	110	0.262	20.5	20.7	19	128	1	MVP: 16
27	Mike Cuddyer	4072	6	111	141	0.272	13.1	12.2	12.3	117	1	MVP: 21	HR: 10
28	Corey Koskie	2788	6	115	101	0.28	22.7	22.1	21.2	108	0	MVP: 25
29	Tom Brunansky	3313	6	109	163	0.25	15.4	15.9	14.8	98	1		HR: 8,6,9
30	Brian Harper	2503	5	110	48	0.306	13.2	13.4	14.3	75	0		AVG: 9
31	Larry Hisle	2437	4	127	87	0.286	16	17.2	16.7	89	1	MVP: 12	OPS: 10 R: 10 HR: 10 RBI: 4,1
32	Dave Goltz	1638	6	112	96	3.48	28.1	24.5	9	104	0	CY: 6	ERA: 8,5 W: 1 IP: 2,7 K: 6,8
33	Eddie Guardado	705	3	105	37	4.55	7.2	9.5	7.8	72	2	MVP: 15	SAVES 1,2
34	Greg Gagne	3386	8	83	69	0.249	14.5	17.8	12.2	88	0
35	Kevin Tapani	1171	6	108	75	4.06	24.9	19.2	15.9	74	0	CY: 7	ERA: 7 W: 10,10,10 IP: 5
36	Jimmie Hall	1885	4	124	98	0.269	14.9	14.8	15.6	76	2	MVP: 13	AVG: 8 OPS: 6 R: 7,9 HR: 4 RBI: 6 SB: 10
37	Jacque Jones	3492	6	101	132	0.279	11.4	11.9	16.9	98	0
38	Rich Rollins	3048	5	101	71	0.272	13.3	11.9	14.5	83	1	MVP: 8,21	AVG: 10,3 R: 7 RBI: 9
39	Mudcat Grant	780	4	107	50	3.35	9	6.5	5.4	44	1	MVP: 6	W: 1 IP: 3,7
40	Matt Lawton	2672	5	107	72	0.277	9.2	11.3	12.6	87	1
41	Scott Erickson	979	5	104	61	4.22	14.2	12.7	3.7	56	1	CY: 2, MVP: 17	W: 1
42	Dave Boswell	1036	5	101	67	3.49	12.4	12.9	8.6	61	0		W: 10,3 IP: 9 K: 8,7,4
43	Al Worthington	473	5	134	37	2.62	5.3	9.7	6.7	62	0		SAVES 7,6,6,5,1
44	Dan Gladden	2470	5	90	38	0.268	4.2	5.5	10.1	57	0
45	Butch Wynegar	2746	5	89	37	0.254	14.9	15.1	11.6	82	2	MVP: 28
46	Chili Davis	978	2	135	41	0.282	5	5.2	6.3	36	0	MVP: 14	OPS: 7 HR: 8
47	Randy Bush	3045	5	102	96	0.251	1.4	1.4	5.8	76	0
48	Steve Braun	2429	3	116	35	0.284	14.8	15	14	86	0
49	Dean Chance	664	3	126	41	2.67	13.1	11.3	4.2	46	1	MVP: 13	ERA: 9 W: 3,8 IP: 1,2 K: 3,4
50	Lyman Bostock	1436	3	127	18	0.318	9.2	10.3	9	54	0	MVP: 27	AVG: 4,2 R: 4
51	Jason Kubel	2715	4	110	105	0.269	1.8	3.6	6.9	76	0	MVP: 24	RBI: 8
52	Jeff Reardon	226	3	116	15	3.7	3.6	4.2	3.6	36	1	CY: 8, MVP: 11,15	SAVES: 2,2,7
53	Leo Cardenas	1720	3	98	39	0.263	11.1	11.2	9.6	64	1	MVP: 12,21
54	Denard Span	2354	4	104	23	0.284	15	17.1	13.2	78	0		AVG: 9
55	Paul Molitor	1700	3	103	23	0.312	2.3	5.2	4.8	41	0	1 SS, MVP: 13	AVG: 3
56	Ron Perranoski	359	2	120	25	3	1.2	4.2	0	41	0	CY: 7, MVP: 13,12	SAVES 1,1
57	Scott Baker	958	5	102	63	4.15	17.6	16	12.1	56	0		ERA: 8 W: 10
58	Eric Milton	987	5	101	57	4.76	16.4	15	14.5	55	1		K: 9,10
59	Marty Cordova	2322	5	103	79	0.277	4.6	5.7	11.4	58	0	ROY
60	Bill Campbell	460	2	121	32	3.13	5.4	7.7	4.8	45	0	CY: 7, MVP: 8	W: 8 SAVES: 3,3
61	Don Mincher	1511	2	125	90	0.244	9.8	8.7	8.5	57	0
62	Jerry Koosman	601	3	115	39	3.77	12.1	11.1	7	44	0	CY: 6	ERA: 8 W: 3,10 IP: 4 K: 5,7
63	A.J. Pierzynski	1428	3	105	26	0.301	7.8	9.4	8.4	58	1		AVG: 8
64	John Castino	2320	5	96	41	0.278	12.5	15	14.3	70	0	ROY
65	Dan Ford	1999	4	114	57	0.272	5.2	6.8	6.2	57	0		R: 10 HR: 9
66	LaTroy Hawkins	819	5	95	44	5.05	10.4	8.1	6.7	50	0		SAVES: 8
67	Allan Anderson	818	4	102	49	4.11	9.5	8.6	5.6	43	0		ERA 1 W 8,6
68	Geoff Zahn	852	4	106	53	3.9	13	9	3.8	50	0		ERA: 9,10
69	Mike Marshall	274	2	141	21	2.99	4.7	6.8	2.1	37	0	CY: 7, 5, MVP: 11	SAVES: 4,1
70	Gary Ward	1543	3	115	51	0.285	9.1	10.5	11.4	48	1	MVP: 32
71	Shannon Stewart	1373	1	102	29	0.294	3.8	4.8	5.4	39	0	MVP: 4	AVG: 10
72	Doug Mientkiewicz	2147	5	103	43	0.275	6.5	6.4	4.1	62	0	1 GG, MVP: 14
73	Francisco Liriano	783	5	97	50	4.33	14.5	9.6	9	42	1	CY: 11	K: 5
74	Joe Mays	946	6	98	48	4.85	10.5	10.8	4.7	44	1		ERA: 3 W: 6 IP: 3
75	Rich Reese	1918	4	99	50	0.26	3.1	3.3	4.7	52	0	MVP: 29
76	Bobby Darwin	1817	3	107	70	0.257	4.9	5.3	2	46	0		HR: 7,4 RBI: 6,5
77	Carlos Silva	773	4	102	47	4.42	8.7	8.9	0	42	0		ERA 5, W: 8
78	Cristian Guzman	3277	6	76	39	0.266	4.4	7.5	8.2	76	1	MVP: 16	SB: 7
79	Mike Smithson	816	4	97	47	4.46	10.3	4.7	3.1	44	0		IP: 7,6 K: 10
80	Jim Merritt	686	2	112	37	3.03	11	11	7.3	44	0		ERA: 5 K: 9
81	Glen Perkins	559	5	108	32	3.86	7.6	7.6	5.3	52	2		SAVES: 9,6
82	Ron Coomer	2397	2	88	77	0.278	2.5	2.5	0.3	44	1
83	Mickey Hatcher	2366	3	89	26	0.284	2.7	3.6	4.3	47	0
84	Tim Laudner	2038	3	84	77	0.225	3.8	3.2	4.4	41	1
85	Gene Larkin	2321	2	98	32	0.266	1	1.5	3.1	54	0
86	Josh Willingham	1132	2	121	61	0.232	4.3	4.8	6.4	40	0	1 SS	HR: 7, OPS: 8, RBI: 3
87	Juan Berenguer	418	0	116	33	3.7	4.5	6.3	6.5	35	0
88	Juan Rincon	441	0	122	30	3.69	6.9	5.9	7	38	0
89	Delmon Young	1845	3	103	47	0.287	-0.3	0.9	1.5	48	0	MVP: 10	RBI: 5
90	David Ortiz	1477	4	107	58	0.266	2.1	2.6	3.5	37	0
91	Dick Stigman	643	3	101	37	3.69	4.1	5.9	3.5	33	0		W: 10 K: 3
92	Jack Kralick	510	2	111	26	3.74	9.6	8.2	6.2	31	0		IP: 8,7
93	Doug Corbett	246	2	170	10	2.49	4.3	8.3	1.5	37	1		SAVES: 6,4
94	Brian Dozier	1472	3	98	47	0.241	6.9	9.6	7.7	42	0		R: 2
95	Kyle Lohse	908	5	93	51	4.88	9.9	6.7	4.6	40	0
96	Ken Landreaux	1048	2	105	22	0.294	0.9	1.8	2.7	29	1
97	Carl Pavano	579	2	95	33	4.32	8	6.2	2.4	28	0		W: 7, IP: 6
98	Ted Uhlaender	1846	4	87	23	0.262	2.5	3.2	5.1	50	0	MVP: 27	AVG: 5
99	Lenny Green	1514	2	98	27	0.268	5.7	5.2	8.1	48	0		R: 6 SB: 7
100	Vic Power	1197	2	89	26	0.278	2	1.7	1.6	25	0	2 GG, MVP: 21
101	Mike Trombley	645	2	104	30	4.53	5.8	7.5	6.2	45	0
102	Matt Guerrier	500	0	127	19	3.40	1.3	7.9	2.6	41	0
103	Pat Meares	2464	6	76	41	0.265	4.1	5.9	2.3	49	0
104	Pedro Munoz	1587	3	101	61	0.275	-0.8	-0.4	2.2	37	0
105	Mark Guthrie	489	2	103	29	4.19	7.6	4.5	8.1	30	0
106	Tom Johnson	273	1	116	23	3.39	2.9	3.2	3.2	24	0	MVP: 27	W: 9 SAVES: 7
107	John Smiley	241	1	126	16	3.21	5.5	5	2.7	18	0		ERA: 10 W: 10 IP: 8 K: 10
108	Dick Woodson	561	2	107	33	3.35	2.8	4.2	1.4	31	0
109	Eric Soderholm	1345	3	105	36	0.257	10	10.1	6.5	38	0
110	Tom Hall	455	2	122	25	3	7.2	6.8	6.4	34	0		K: 8
111	Jim Thome	482	2	159	37	0.266	3.7	4.5	3.8	23	0	MVP: 18
112	George Mitterwald	1578	4	88	50	0.239	6.5	6	6.4	49	0
113	Roger Erickson	712	4	101	31	4.1	10	7	4.8	33	0		ERA: 8 IP: 10
114	Glenn Adams	1387	2	97	29	0.281	-1.5	-1	1.3	25	0
115	Nick Blackburn	818	5	86	43	4.85	5.1	3.2	-0.8	30	0
116	Ron Davis	381	4	95	19	4.51	3.3	0.1	5.4	39	0		SAVES: 5,3,5,7
117	Bernie Allen	1595	4	86	32	0.246	3	3.2	0.4	39	0
118	Lew Ford	1514	3	96	32	0.272	5.6	8.3	5.2	44	0	MVP: 24
119	Brian Duensing	600	1	100	37	4.12	6.0	6.1	4.9	34	0
120	Ken Schrom	494	3	99	29	4.34	4.4	3.4	0.7	26	0
121	Dave Engle	1371	3	94	28	0.268	2.8	3.9	3.6	29	1
122	Kevin Slowey	532	3	90	39	4.66	7.7	4.6	6.4	26	0
123	Tom Burgmeier	380	1	101	24	3.77	-0.2	3.2	1.1	26	0		SAVES: 8
124	Ray Corbin	652	5	95	36	3.84	2.2	2.9	2	33	0		SAVES: 8
125	Phil Hughes	209	1	112	16	3.52	6.1	4.2	5.2	14	0		W: 4, IP: 10, K: 7
126	Rick Reed	390	3	101	25	4.47	5.1	3.7	3.2	21	0
127	Todd Walker	1374	2	92	23	0.285	0	1.8	2.7	31	0
128	Dave Winfield	841	2	100	31	0.264	-0.2	0.3	0.8	15	0
129	Terry Steinbach	1207	3	84	30	0.256	3.2	3.1	2.5	29	0
130	Danny Thompson	2022	5	71	14	0.251	2.5	2.4	-2	31	0	MVP: 23
131	Rob Wilfong	1591	3	85	22	0.262	4	5.3	3.6	46	0
132	Matt LeCroy	1321	3	98	58	0.261	0.6	0.4	1.7	34	0
133	Luis Rivas	1884	4	80	30	0.262	0.9	-0.9	-1.5	33	0		SB: 8
134	Albert Williams	642	3	99	35	4.24	5.9	6.4	-0.1	33	0
135	Pete Redfern	714	4	90	42	4.54	7.3	1.5	4.6	31	0
136	Mark Salas	663	2	102	20	0.279	2.7	2.7	3.2	19	0
137	John Butcher	502	2	96	24	4.48	7.2	2.5	0.7	25	0
138	Craig Kusick	1184	4	107	44	0.236	3.4	3.6	3.1	31	0
139	Tim Teufel	1080	2	103	27	0.265	5.3	5.5	2.8	33	0
140	Mike Cubbage	1681	3	97	29	0.266	5.9	6.9	7.3	46	0
141	Jason Bartlett	1087	2	87	10	0.271	7.9	8.9	8.6	35	0
142	Jesse Crain	382	0	128	33	3.42	2.8	5.5	2.1	36	0
143	Carl Willis	286	0	120	20	3.65	5.8	3.8	4.7	28	0
144	Bill Dailey	124	1	133	7	2.76	1	2.8	1.5	17	0	MVP: 23	SAVES: 3
145	Joe Decker	503	2	94	29	4.09	4.6	4.9	1	25	0
146	Bobby Castillo	402	2	107	23	3.98	3.9	4.3	1.1	23	0
147	Jim Hughes	441	2	88	25	4.3	2.9	0.8	-0.3	15	0
148	J.C. Romero	407	0	108	25	4.35	4.2	4.8	3.3	31	0
149	Trevor Plouffe	1746	3	99	62	0.245	3.3	5.2	2.2	39	0
150	Scott Leius	1373	3	85	26	0.252	2.9	4.8	2.2	27	0
151	Luis Castillo	933	2	92	3	0.299	3.5	3.7	1.3	25	0		SB: 9
152	Ron Jackson	1154	2	96	23	0.268	2.7	2.8	3.5	25	0
153	Rich Becker	1465	3	88	25	0.267	5	6.4	5.9	36	0
154	Lee Stange	351	1	105	20	3.61	1.8	2.5	3	18	0		ERA: 6
155	Bobby Kielty	631	0	116	23	0.269	3	3.9	3.4	25	0
156	Nick Punto	2365	3	74	12	0.248	11.1	10.2	4.2	52	0
157	Mike Pagliarulo	723	2	88	9	0.272	2.9	4	4.4	19	0
158	Danny Santana	405	1	130	7	.319	3.2	3.9	2.3	18	0
159	Danny Valencia	989	2	91	24	0.26	1.1	0.8	0.1	23	0
160	Steve Lombardozzi	1226	3	75	19	0.233	3.2	4	2.1	30	0
161	Johnny Roseboro	741	2	81	11	0.239	1.2	0.8	2.8	20	1
162	Jim Holt	1444	3	87	17	0.272	1.1	0.3	0.9	29	0
163	Al Newman	1647	1	59	0	0.231	-0.3	2.1	-2.2	30	0
164	Scott Stahoviak	1019	3	91	27	0.256	0.9	0.9	1.5	23	0
165	Dustan Mohr	782	2	91	22	0.258	2.4	2.5	3.2	18	0
166	Bob Randall	1325	3	74	1	0.257	2.3	3.8	0.4	29	0
167	Kenny Rogers	195	1	99	13	4.57	3.1	1.9	2.6	11	0
168	Steve Brye	1641	2	90	22	0.261	3.3	4.7	3.5	36	0
169	Ryan Doumit	969	2	104	32	0.261	1.5	1.9	3	19	0
170	Bombo Rivera	627	1	89	8	0.266	2.4	2.5	3.8	13	0
171	Johnny Klippstein	161	0	147	10	2.45	0.5	3.7	1.6	15	0
172	Stan Williams	191	0	129	14	2.87	0.2	1.9	-0.2	19	0		SAVES: 10
173	Hosken Powell	1468	3	83	13	0.261	1.1	2.2	4	27	0
174	Roy Smith	389	2	98	19	4.28	3.1	4	2.7	20	0
175	Darrell Jackson	411	2	97	20	4.38	4.5	3.1	2.7	20	0
176	Keith Atherton	235	1	111	19	3.91	1.1	2.6	2.3	20	0
177	Bill Pleis	280	0	95	21	4.07	0.3	-0.5	1.7	16	0
178	Jim Roland	244	1	103	10	3.42	-0.3	1.6	0.7	12	0
179	Brant Alyea	416	0	107	18	0.248	0.5	0.5	1	13	0
180	Mike Redmond	863	0	87	2	0.297	1.8	1.3	1.5	28	0
181	Ray Moore	159	2	83	13	4.9	-0.2	-0.1	1.5	12	0		SAVES: 4,7
182	Roberto Kelly	569	1	105	11	0.308	1.2	1.7	2	15	0
183	Alex Cole	424	1	106	5	0.304	1.4	2.2	2.1	13	0		SB: 6
184	Jose Morales	674	2	106	12	0.297	0.1	0.1	0.9	13	0
185	Bob Tewksbury	317	2	105	15	4.49	6.6	6.5	5.2	17	0
186	Ben Revere	989	2	80	0	0.278	4.5	3.2	0.4	20	0		SB: 7, 3
187	Orlando Hudson	497	1	96	6	0.268	3.1	2.7	1.8	14	0
188	Bill Zepp	156	1	114	9	3.34	0.9	1.3	-1	9	0
189	Pedro Ramos	264	1	108	11	3.95	3.2	3.7	2.5	15	0		IP: 4 K: 6
190	Kurt Suzuki	452	1	105	3	0.288	2.1	2.2	1.9	14	1
191	John Moses	620	0	91	4	0.276	0.7	0.1	1	15	0
192	Greg Myers	494	1	90	11	0.279	1.8	1.7	1.3	9	0
193	Alexi Casilla	1566	4	73	11	0.248	1.8	3.6	0.6	31	0
194	Carlos Gomez	892	2	72	10	0.248	3.4	2.6	2.8	19	0		SB: 7
195	Glenn Borgmann	1207	2	79	14	0.229	5.3	5	2.6	37	0
196	Frank Rodriguez	509	3	94	25	5.2	6.3	2.1	3.8	20	0
197	Scott Diamond	343	2	92	19	4.43	2.4	1.5	-0.2	13	0
198	Les Straker	237	1	105	10	4.22	2	3	1.2	13	0
199	Mark Redman	213	1	104	15	4.86	3.2	3.5	2.7	13	0
200	Dennis Hocking	2204	0	70	25	0.252	-2.8	0.4	-1	43	0
201	Ron Washington	1258	2	80	17	0.265	0.3	1.5	0.7	23	0
202	Bob Miller	191	0	120	5	2.91	1.3	2.9	0.2	12	0
203	Otis Nixon	448	1	85	1	0.297	-0.6	0.2	0.8	8	0		SB: 8
204	Brendan Harris	956	1	79	14	0.251	0.1	-0.6	1.8	19	0
205	Willie Norwood	854	1	79	18	0.242	-0.9	-1.2	-0.4	13	0
206	Boof Bonser	392	2	84	18	5.12	3.7	-0.3	2.7	11	0
207	Vic Albury	372	2	93	18	4.11	-0.4	1.6	0.7	16	0
208	Pat Mahomes	366	2	81	18	5.82	-0.3	-0.9	-1.1	12	0
209	Willie Banks	259	1	93	16	4.61	3.6	1.5	3	12	0
210	Fernando Arroyo	234	1	97	13	4.3	1.9	1.3	-0.8	10	0
211	Jim Lemon	457	1	90	15	0.249	0.3	-0.3	1	9	0
212	Luis Tiant	92	1	112	7	3.4	1	2	0.7	8	0
213	Pat Neshek	129	0	143	11	3.05	2	3	2.1	15	0
214	Terry Leach	149	0	126	3	3.38	2.6	2.6	2.4	11	0
215	J.J. Hardy	340	1	93	6	0.268	2.3	1.2	1.9	10	0
216	Dennys Reyes	126	0	204	10	2.14	1.5	4.3	0.5	16	0
217	Chad Allen	706	1	86	14	0.275	-0.9	-0.9	0.1	10	0
218	Jason Tyner	578	0	86	1	0.299	2.7	2.4	1.4	12	0
219	Jim Dwyer	329	1	112	6	0.289	0.8	0.8	1.7	9	0
220	Bob Wells	300	0	109	18	4.47	2	3.7	2.3	25	0
221	Pete Filson	323	0	108	14	3.98	1.4	3.3	1.8	22	0
222	Hector Carrasco	256	0	108	14	4.49	3	3.4	2.3	18	0
223	Tony Fiore	133	0	116	11	3.92	0.2	1.8	1	10	0
224	Greg Swindell	182	0	130	10	3.61	1.9	4.6	1.4	17	0
225	Chip Hale	563	0	89	6	0.281	1	1.6	1.6	13	0
226	Dave Hollins	422	1	92	13	0.242	2.2	3.1	3.3	11	0
227	Sam Deduno	279	1	95	16	4.26	.9	2.5	-0.7	14	0
228	Brian Buchanan	414	0	93	16	0.258	-0.2	0.3	0.8	6	0
229	Joe Crede	333	1	83	15	0.225	1.6	2.3	1.4	6	0
230	Frank Quilici	682	0	61	5	0.214	-0.2	-0.4	-0.6	13	0
231	Junior Ortiz	304	0	85	0	0.28	1.6	1.7	0.4	9	0
232	Jose Mijares	153	0	133	3	3.16	1	3.1	1.1	12	0
233	Casey Fien	160	0	115	12	3.54	2.4	2.1	2.7	14	0
234	Wayne Granger	89	1	108	4	3.01	-0.1	-0.9	-1.3	8	0		SAVES: 4
235	David West	285	1	79	15	5.33	0.9	0.1	0.2	7	0
236	Brad Havens	367	2	84	18	5	3.4	0.3	2.1	14	0
237	Bill Singer	172	1	96	9	3.77	1.4	0.4	-0.2	7	0
238	Bill Krueger	161	1	94	10	4.3	2.1	1	1.7	8	0
239	Bill Hands	257	1	99	11	3.92	3.6	2.2	1.1	13	0
240	Jeff Reboulet	1016	0	74	9	0.248	4.1	5.9	2.4	26	0
241	Oswaldo Arcia	723	2	104	34	0.241	0.6	-0.2	1.3	14	0
242	Phil Roof	619	0	75	13	0.228	2.4	2.2	0.6	17	0
243	Jerry Terrell	1437	0	70	3	0.259	0.2	1	-0.9	22	0
244	Tom Edens	109	0	129	8	3.21	2.3	2.1	2.2	10	0
245	Jared Burton	192	0	117	8	3.47	1.8	1.8	1.9	17	0
246	Rick Renick	553	0	89	20	0.221	0.8	0.6	1.1	10	0
247	Matt Capps	122	1	113	7	3.61	0.3	2	-0.1	17	0
248	Travis Miller	267	0	98	7	5.05	3	1.2	3.2	13	0
249	Gary Wayne	170	0	121	8	3.44	1.1	2.5	1.8	13	0
250	Jon Rauch	73	1	150	8	2.82	1.6	2	1.4	12	0
251	Larry Casian	144	0	95	9	4.73	0.7	0.6	0.9	10	0
252	Rich Robertson	385	2	95	17	5.17	2.8	1.7	0.8	14	0
253	Jim Deshaies	297	2	80	17	5.71	1.3	1.5	1.3	10	0
254	Johnny Briggs	264	0	106	7	0.231	1.4	1.7	1.9	9	0
255	Don Lee	167	1	110	6	3.83	0.7	2.3	1.1	10	0
256	Kevin Correia	314	2	90	14	4.49	2.2	1.6	1.6	12	0
257	Terry Mulholland	182	1	95	5	4.89	0.9	0.9	-0.3	7	0
258	Tom Herr	304	0	89	1	0.263	1.1	1.4	0.9	7	0
259	Orlando Cabrera	242	1	94	5	0.289	0.7	-0.1	1.3	5	0
260	Eduardo Escobar	642	1	90	9	0.262	1.7	1.4	-0.2	16	0
261	Jamey Carroll	661	0	76	1	0.257	1.5	3.1	0.5	16	0
262	Johnny Goryl	290	0	87	11	0.221	1.1	1	0.6	7	0
263	Brian Buscher	436	1	88	8	0.266	0.1	0.5	0.9	13	0
264	Neal Heaton	124	1	108	4	3.98	0.9	1.8	0.3	7	0
265	Mike Morgan	98	1	137	4	3.49	1.2	3.8	0.7	8	0
266	Anthony Swarzak	439	0	91	16	4.48	1.9	2.4	1.7	17	0
267	Randy Johnson	234	1	101	10	0.248	0	-0.1	0.4	5	0
268	George Frazier	108	0	94	6	4.83	0.5	0.3	0.4	7	0
269	Dave LaRoche	95	0	114	5	2.83	-0.1	1.2	0.8	8	0
270	Gary Serum	271	1	85	10	4.72	2.8	1.5	1.1	9	0
271	Bobby Mitchell	606	1	78	3	0.244	0.8	1.3	1.5	12	0
272	Chris Parmelee	812	0	96	24	0.249	0.5	0.5	-0.4	13	0
273	Mike Jackson	55	0	137	2	3.27	0.5	1.2	0.6	5	0
274	John Candelaria	58	0	124	7	3.39	0.6	1.3	0.7	7	0
275	Steve Bedrosian	77	0	97	5	4.42	-0.5	0	-0.1	5	0
276	Pete Cimino	65	0	127	2	2.88	0.6	0.5	0.8	5	0
277	Rick Lysander	242	0	105	9	4.08	2.7	0.2	1.1	14	0
278	Paul Thormodsgard	285	1	85	12	4.74	2.9	0.5	0.3	10	0
279	Danny Goodwin	425	1	85	8	0.242	-0.9	-1.3	-0.5	6	0
280	Darrell Brown	569	1	70	1	0.272	-0.3	0.1	-0.2	8	0
281	Tom Prince	361	0	77	13	0.219	1.9	1.7	1.3	12	0
282	Lenny Webster	284	0	89	5	0.254	0.9	1.1	1.4	6	0
283	Freddie Toliver	143	1	83	8	4.95	2	0.4	1.3	6	0
284	Mark Portugal	238	1	84	11	5.13	0.6	0.7	0.4	11	0
285	Joe Bonikowski	99	1	106	5	3.88	1.1	1.1	0.4	6	0
286	Matt Garza	133	1	98	8	4.47	2	0.8	2	6	0
287	Kyle Gibson	230	1	81	15	4.92	2.5	1.3	0.7	8	0
288	Ron Schueler	134	1	92	8	4.41	-0.1	0.1	-0.2	7	0
289	Jack O'Connor	249	1	85	13	4.99	0.5	-0.7	0.1	7	0
290	Rick Sofield	612	1	70	9	0.243	-0.5	-0.8	0.5	11	0
291	Juan Castro	428	1	64	6	0.248	0.7	0.3	0.8	10	0
292	Brent Gates	639	1	69	6	0.252	0.2	0.9	-0.5	12	0
293	Len Whitehouse	112	0	99	9	4.33	-0.4	1	0.2	8	0
294	Graig Nettles	304	0	99	12	0.224	1.5	1.1	1.2	8	0
295	Jim Nettles	423	0	84	10	0.225	1.4	1.2	1.1	10	0
296	Paul Ratliff	214	0	102	8	0.238	1	0.8	1.3	10	0
297	Dave Edwards	473	0	82	11	0.249	1	0.8	1	10	0
298	Dave Stevens	191	1	85	14	5.82	-1.8	-0.6	0.6	11	0
299	John Verhoeven	151	0	107	3	3.98	0.4	0.7	0	7	0
300	Gerry Arrigo	131	0	86	8	4.31	1.1	0.4	2	6	0

32 thoughts on “One man’s opinion of the top300 Twins of all time-updated for 2014 with new additions: Hughes, Santana, Suzuki, Escobar, Gibson”

FirstTime "hitman" LongTime says:

October 13, 2014 at 9:19 pm

I appreciate you taking the time to put this together. Nice to see Tom Price, he of the formerly sponsoner FTLT b-r page, still on the list.
Rhubarb_Runner says:

October 13, 2014 at 9:53 pm

Not many lists where you'd find Delmon above Papi
Beau says:

October 14, 2014 at 8:19 am

Hughes already 125. At this pace he'll be 1 next year!
sean says:

October 14, 2014 at 8:47 am

I think I would put Dozier (#94) above Delmon (#89). Dozier's *WAR* values beat Delmon's easily. The two things Delmon has are batting average and a tenth-place MVP rank, and I don't think either is enough of a difference to overcome Dozier's WARs lead.
1. CarterHayes says:
  
  October 14, 2014 at 10:27 am
  
  _elm_n was a more GIF-inspiring player than Dozier, however.
  1. sean says:
    
    October 14, 2014 at 11:18 am
    
    He definitely wins at that. His GIFs-above-replacement may be enough to compensate.
2. Nate Tubbs Rules says:
  
  October 14, 2014 at 10:51 am
  
  Delmon with a little more longevity and played for better teams gives him a slight edge. Tomato/tomatoe I know. Being the 2nd beat position player on a division champ slightly trumps being the best position player on a 70 win team. I'm sure dozier passes him next year
  1. sean says:
    
    October 14, 2014 at 11:17 am
    
    I disagree with him being the second best player on the 2010 team too. Going by rWAR, he's sixth, but barely behind Valencia at fifth (1.9 vs 2.0). Going by just offense he's fourth.
    1. DK says:
      
      October 14, 2014 at 11:44 am
      
      Going by fWAR, he was tied for eighth, equally as valuable as the Immortal Jason Repko.
    2. Nate Tubbs Rules says:
      
      October 14, 2014 at 1:55 pm
      
      Of qualified hitters, he had the 2nd highest OPS on the team. Sure Morneau and Thome were superior hitters, but they combined for about the same amount of PA that Delmon had. I'm no Delmon fan, and I refuse to play the "but the RBIS......" card but he had a pretty nice offensive year. So then it comes down to if you take 1 year defensive stats as a definitive thing. Obviously Delmon has always been terrible defensively, but was he really 2 wins below replacement level with the glove alone in 2010? Seems harsh.
      1. sean says:
        
        October 14, 2014 at 2:07 pm
        
        BR has him at -13 runs and UZR has him at -9. Bad but not Cuddyer. The negative two wins comes from combining defensive and position.
        
        For offense, I used rWAR's Rbat total that combines offensive rates with playing time to get a counting stat that can be compared despite varying amounts of playing time. Yes, Thome and Morneau had great seasons.
        
        Nate Tubbs Rules says:
        
        October 14, 2014 at 2:21 pm
        
        2010 seems so much longer ago than 4 years.
        
        I hear everything you are saying, and you could also probably make the same agrument for Dozier over other low WAR guys like Larkin, Hatcher, and Coomer. It just comes down to me giving some bumps to guys with some longevity even if a lot of it was at replacement level. This shows up more in Win Shares than any of the WAR calculations
        
        In short I need to stop arguing FOR Delmon. I'm usually on the other side. I need a shower.
SBG says:

October 14, 2014 at 10:12 am

Pretty sure Harmon played more than 9 years in Minnesota.
1. Nate Tubbs Rules says:
  
  October 14, 2014 at 10:54 am
  
  It's misleading, but that column is years as a starter. Harmon had a lot of injury years in his 14 where he wasn't the person with the most PA at whatever position he was playing that year. Similarly Johan was here 8 years but only one of the 5 starters (most starts) for 4. Although he was awesome in 2003, he was 6th in starts.
  1. brianS says:
    
    October 14, 2014 at 11:43 am
    
    Harmon had a lot of injury years in his 14 where he wasn't the person with the most PA at whatever position he was playing that year.
    
    This is an important caveat. In Harmon's 16 full seasons with the Twins/Senators, he played 150+ games 8 times, 130-149 games 3 times, 120-129 games 2 times, and fewer than 120 games 3 times (113, 100, 69). He had 9 seasons with 600+ PA, another 3 with 500-599 PA. So, I'd call that 11 seasons as a "full-time" player with the Twins/Senators.
    
    Are you ignoring those two years with the Senators then?
    
    In 1960 Harmon had 116 starts divided almost evenly across two positions. In 1961, 150 starts (115 at 1b). In 1965, 110 starts (70 at 1b). 1966: 161 starts (103 at 1b). 1969: 162 starts (96 at 3b). 1971: 142 starts (82 at 1b).
    1. Nate Tubbs Rules says:
      
      October 14, 2014 at 1:45 pm
      
      Yes. 1961-2014 only. What Harmon, Allison, Zoilo, Kaat, Pascual did as Senators is not acknowledged (for this list)
      1. AMR says:
        
        October 14, 2014 at 6:44 pm
        
        I believe that the Rangers own those years.
        Or maybe the Rockies? I can't remember my chain of logic from last year.
brianS says:

October 14, 2014 at 11:51 am

My favorite part: Joe Mauer already ranking 5th in franchise history (including 5th in rWAR, fWAR and WARP). He may not be a HOFer, but he probably should be at the end of the day. He's one of the handful of greatest-hitting catchers ever, and was a very good defensive catcher in his prime.
1. SBG says:
  
  October 14, 2014 at 4:05 pm
  
  I get the dead tree version of the Strib on Sundays. This pile of poop was soiling my breakfast table a couple of days ago. Reusse on the new, as yet unnamed manager:
  
  I want someone who will go directly from his news conference at Target Field to head across town for a long, candid sit-down with Joe Mauer. I want someone to look at Joe and say: “Four home runs and 55 RBI … we’re not going to take this anymore, buddy. You show up in Fort Myers in prime shape, sculpted, ready to drive the ball. Period.”
  
  Pardon me if this has been discussed before, but I wanted to make the point that during the season, he was comparing Mauer to Fielder and he talked about how even though Mauer was a fine physical specimen, he wasn't as tough as Tubby Fielder. Now, he seems to be saying that Mauer isn't in shape. Huh, that didn't seem to be a requirement a few months ago.
  1. socaltwinsfan says:
    
    October 14, 2014 at 5:01 pm
    
    And also he's criticizing a guy for not working out enough during an offseason when he was recovering from a brain injury.
    1. freealonzo says:
      
      October 14, 2014 at 7:23 pm
      
      You forgot the hashtag.
  2. Nate Tubbs Rules says:
    
    October 15, 2014 at 10:18 am
    
    Reusse replied to my list this morning saying He'd put TonyO #1. I assume he's being sarcastic. If Joe doesn't care about his legacy (by not catching anymore-Pat's words recently) did TonyO not care about his legacy by playing almost nothing but DH his last 4 years?
    1. hungry joe says:
      
      October 15, 2014 at 10:49 am
      
      Hmm, so if Reusse clicked through, that means he's been on the WGOM...
      1. sean says:
        
        October 15, 2014 at 11:06 am
        
        He replied long enough after that he might have.
        
        brianS says:
        
        October 15, 2014 at 3:15 pm
        
        looking at Nate Tubbs' tweeter history, I cam across this gem from Phil Mackey. Prescient!
        
        No he doesn't. I'm writing about this now. RT @toben41: @PhilMackey morneau is cooked, ap has another 3 or 4 good years left.
        
        — Phil Mackey (@PhilMackey) November 19, 2013
        
        sean says:
        
        October 15, 2014 at 3:18 pm
        
        Possibly wrong on both players!
        
        Nate Tubbs Rules says:
        
        October 15, 2014 at 4:25 pm
        
        no wonder my ears were burning....or maybe my fingers
2. socaltwinsfan says:
  
  October 14, 2014 at 5:07 pm
  
  I'd argue he should be fourth. Oliva's only real advantage is in WARP. Oliva played a couple more years, but those years were as a hobbled DH only. Mauer is now at 1b, but I could just as easily see him play 3b or a corner OF. The only reason the Twins decided he was playing 1b was because that was the easiest transition during the season and they just left him at 1b in the offseason instead of asking him to learn another position.
  1. Rhubarb_Runner says:
    
    October 14, 2014 at 6:35 pm
    
    I was looked twice at those two, but I considered it close enough that Tony O has earned his position for one more year.
    1. brianS says:
      
      October 14, 2014 at 7:20 pm
      
      Yea. I have no quibbles with that ranking. I just enjoyed the fact that Mauer so clearly belongs in the very small, top set of players in Minnesota franchise history, despite the whining we so often hear from outside this website.
      
      Would we like Mauer to be even better? Of course we would. Dude has mad skillz. We wish he were Ted Williams at the plate and Yadi Molina behind it, rather than merely having a 7-year rWAR peak that is better than the average HOF catcher and a JAWS score that is just below that of the average HOF catcher.
      1. brianS says:
        
        October 14, 2014 at 7:42 pm
        
        also, Joe is now 7th in Minnesota-era franchise history in ABs? There are only five Twins to have amassed 5,000+ ABs with the team? Wow.
        
        I looked for some comps.
        
        Houston: six (Biggio, Bagwell, Jose Cruz, Cedeno, Berkman, Wynn)
        Kansas City: five (Brett, White, Otis, Wilson, McRae)
        LAAAAAA Angels: five (Garrett Anderson, Salmon, Downing, Erstad, Fregosi)
        Milwaukee: four (Yount, Molitor, Gantner, Cooper).
        NY Mets: only two (David Wright, Ed Kranepool)
        San Diego: only one (Gwynn)
        Texas: four (Michael Young, Palmeiro, Pudge, JuanGone)
        Nats/Expos: four (Wallach, Dawson, Raines, Carter).
        
        Huh. I guess 5,000 ABs with a single team is a pretty big hurdle.
    2. Nate Tubbs Rules says:
      
      October 14, 2014 at 8:28 pm
      
      I think Joe is just on the cusp of passing Tony. He probably would have passed him this year with just a little more success. I don't do ties, but I consider them pretty much a dead heat going into 2015.