One Man’s Opinion Of The Top 300 Twins Of All Time-Updated Through 2017

It is year 6 of putting my pet project on the WGOM site, SBG put it on his old site a few years before this. The Twins first playoff appearance in 7 years (kind of) leads to some movement on the list. Joe finally jumps TonyO for the #4 spot. Dozier follows up on his 2016 season with another great one to jump into the top25. Sano and Ervin enter the top100. Escobar, Buxton, and Rosario are poised to join them just outside (ranging from 117-125). On the strengh of mostly just some added longevity, Gibson joins the top150. Polanco and Kepler join the top200 and Grossman and Vargas make modest jumps from last year. Newcomers this year are Kintzler, Castro, and Berrios. I updated with Ervin's Cy Young votes and MVP votes and Gold Gloves for Buxton and Dozier.

Staying put (or even falling backward) are Perkins, Hughes, Danny Santana, and Ryan Pressley. Falling out of the top300 this year are Darrell Brown, Juan Castro, and Brent Gates.

I stole most of the idea from when Aaron Gleeman started his top40 list over a decade ago (book coming soon of the top50?) The below quote is his, and the rest is an excerpt from a book I put together at the 50 year mark. I’ve updated the list and stats through 2017.

“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 57 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 and Paul Molitor didn’t improve his status due to his managing career. Feel free to pick it apart and decide in your opinion, who was slighted, and who's overrated.

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	Joe Mauer	6444	12	126	137	0.308	49.5	53.4	45.2	294	6	3 GG, 4 SS, MVP: 6,4,1,8,19	AVG: 1,1,1,3,4,2,7 OPS 7,1,10,9
5	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
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	Torii Hunter	5013	9	103	214	0.268	23.4	26.2	22.1	149	2	7 GG, MVP: 21,6,21,15	HR: 7 RBI: 10 SB: 9,8,9
16	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
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	Brian Dozier	3332	6	111	151	0.250	21.2	22.9	18.1	116	1	1 GG, MVP: 26,13,11	R: 2,5,5 OPS: 9 HR: 3,10
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	Shane Mack	2161	5	130	67	0.309	17.7	19.6	21.8	92	0		AVG: 5,7 OPS 9,8 R: 7
27	Roy Smalley	3997	9	104	110	0.262	20.5	20.7	19	128	1	MVP: 16
28	Mike Cuddyer	4072	6	111	141	0.272	13.1	12.2	12.3	117	1	MVP: 21	HR: 10
29	Corey Koskie	2788	6	115	101	0.28	22.7	22.1	21.2	108	0	MVP: 25
30	Tom Brunansky	3313	6	109	163	0.25	15.4	15.9	14.8	98	1		HR: 8,6,9
31	Brian Harper	2503	5	110	48	0.306	13.2	13.4	14.3	75	0		AVG: 9
32	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
33	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
34	Eddie Guardado	705	3	105	37	4.55	7.2	9.5	7.8	72	2	MVP: 15	SAVES 1,2
35	Greg Gagne	3386	8	83	69	0.249	14.5	17.8	12.2	88	0
36	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
37	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
38	Jacque Jones	3492	6	101	132	0.279	11.4	11.9	16.9	98	0
39	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
40	Mudcat Grant	780	4	107	50	3.35	9	6.5	5.4	44	1	MVP: 6	W: 1 IP: 3,7
41	Matt Lawton	2672	5	107	72	0.277	9.2	11.3	12.6	87	1
42	Scott Erickson	979	5	104	61	4.22	14.2	12.7	3.7	56	1	CY: 2, MVP: 17	W: 1
43	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
44	Al Worthington	473	5	134	37	2.62	5.3	9.7	6.7	62	0		SAVES 7,6,6,5,1
45	Dan Gladden	2470	5	90	38	0.268	4.2	5.5	10.1	57	0
46	Butch Wynegar	2746	5	89	37	0.254	14.9	15.1	11.6	82	2	MVP: 28
47	Chili Davis	978	2	135	41	0.282	5	5.2	6.3	36	0	MVP: 14	OPS: 7 HR: 8
48	Randy Bush	3045	5	102	96	0.251	1.4	1.4	5.8	76	0
49	Steve Braun	2429	3	116	35	0.284	14.8	15	14	86	0
50	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
51	Lyman Bostock	1436	3	127	18	0.318	9.2	10.3	9	54	0	MVP: 27	AVG: 4,2 R: 4
52	Jason Kubel	2715	4	110	105	0.269	1.8	3.6	6.9	76	0	MVP: 24	RBI: 8
53	Glen Perkins	624	6	108	35	3.88	8.1	8.7	6.1	61	3		SAVES: 9,6,8
54	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
55	Leo Cardenas	1720	3	98	39	0.263	11.1	11.2	9.6	64	1	MVP: 12,21
56	Denard Span	2354	4	104	23	0.284	15	17.1	13.2	78	0		AVG: 9
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	John Castino	2320	5	96	41	0.278	12.5	15	14.3	70	0	ROY
60	Paul Molitor	1700	3	103	23	0.312	2.3	5.2	4.8	41	0	1 SS, MVP: 13	AVG: 3
61	Ron Perranoski	359	2	120	25	3	1.2	4.2	0	41	0	CY: 7, MVP: 13,12	SAVES 1,1
62	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
63	Don Mincher	1511	2	125	90	0.244	9.8	8.7	8.5	57	0
64	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
65	A.J. Pierzynski	1428	3	105	26	0.301	7.8	9.4	8.4	58	1		AVG: 8
66	Marty Cordova	2322	5	103	79	0.277	4.6	5.7	11.4	58	0	ROY
67	Dan Ford	1999	4	114	57	0.272	5.2	6.8	6.2	57	0		R: 10 HR: 9
68	LaTroy Hawkins	819	5	95	44	5.05	10.4	8.1	6.7	50	0		SAVES: 8
69	Allan Anderson	818	4	102	49	4.11	9.5	8.6	5.6	43	0		ERA 1 W 8,6
70	Geoff Zahn	852	4	106	53	3.9	13	9	3.8	50	0		ERA: 9,10
71	Mike Marshall	274	2	141	21	2.99	4.7	6.8	2.1	37	0	CY: 7, 5, MVP: 11	SAVES: 4,1
72	Gary Ward	1543	3	115	51	0.285	9.1	10.5	11.4	48	1	MVP: 32
73	Shannon Stewart	1373	1	102	29	0.294	3.8	4.8	5.4	39	0	MVP: 4	AVG: 10
74	Doug Mientkiewicz	2147	5	103	43	0.275	6.5	6.4	4.1	62	0	1 GG, MVP: 14
75	Francisco Liriano	783	5	97	50	4.33	14.5	9.6	9	42	1	CY: 11	K: 5
76	Joe Mays	946	6	98	48	4.85	10.5	10.8	4.7	44	1		ERA: 3 W: 6 IP: 3
77	Ervin Santana	500	3	124	30	3.47	7.5	10.1	8.6	35	1	CY: 7	W: 7 ERA: 5,10 IP: 2
78	Rich Reese	1918	4	99	50	0.26	3.1	3.3	4.7	52	0	MVP: 29
79	Bobby Darwin	1817	3	107	70	0.257	4.9	5.3	2	46	0		HR: 7,4 RBI: 6,5
80	Carlos Silva	773	4	102	47	4.42	8.7	8.9	0	42	0		ERA 5, W: 8
81	Cristian Guzman	3277	6	76	39	0.266	4.4	7.5	8.2	76	1	MVP: 16	SB: 7
82	Mike Smithson	816	4	97	47	4.46	10.3	4.7	3.1	44	0		IP: 7,6 K: 10
83	Jim Merritt	686	2	112	37	3.03	11	11	7.3	44	0		ERA: 5 K: 9
84	Trevor Plouffe	2638	5	99	96	0.247	5.5	8.1	4.3	64	0
85	Ron Coomer	2397	2	88	77	0.278	2.5	2.5	0.3	44	1
86	Mickey Hatcher	2366	3	89	26	0.284	2.7	3.6	4.3	47	0
87	Tim Laudner	2038	3	84	77	0.225	3.8	3.2	4.4	41	1
88	Gene Larkin	2321	2	98	32	0.266	1	1.5	3.1	54	0
89	Miguel Sano	1140	3	125	71	0.254	5.7	5.4	5.6	41	1
90	Josh Willingham	1132	2	121	61	0.232	4.3	4.8	6.4	40	0	1 SS	HR: 7, OPS: 8, RBI: 3
91	Juan Berenguer	418	0	116	33	3.7	4.5	6.3	6.5	35	0
92	Juan Rincon	441	0	122	30	3.69	6.9	5.9	7	38	0
93	Dick Stigman	643	3	101	37	3.69	4.1	5.9	3.5	33	0		W: 10 K: 3
94	Jack Kralick	510	2	111	26	3.74	9.6	8.2	6.2	31	0		IP: 8,7
95	Doug Corbett	246	2	170	10	2.49	4.3	8.3	1.5	37	1		SAVES: 6,4
96	Kyle Lohse	908	5	93	51	4.88	9.9	6.7	4.6	40	0
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	Delmon Young	1845	3	103	47	0.287	-0.3	0.9	1.5	48	0	MVP: 10	RBI: 5
101	David Ortiz	1477	4	107	58	0.266	2.1	2.6	3.5	37	0
102	Ken Landreaux	1048	2	105	22	0.294	0.9	1.8	2.7	29	1
103	Vic Power	1197	2	89	26	0.278	2	1.7	1.6	25	0	2 GG, MVP: 21
104	Mike Trombley	645	2	104	30	4.53	5.8	7.5	6.2	45	0
105	Matt Guerrier	500	0	127	19	3.40	1.3	7.9	2.6	41	0
106	Pat Meares	2464	6	76	41	0.265	4.1	5.9	2.3	49	0
107	Mark Guthrie	489	2	103	29	4.19	7.6	4.5	8.1	30	0
108	Tom Johnson	273	1	116	23	3.39	2.9	3.2	3.2	24	0	MVP: 27	W: 9 SAVES: 7
109	John Smiley	241	1	126	16	3.21	5.5	5	2.7	18	0		ERA: 10 W: 10 IP: 8 K: 10
110	Dick Woodson	561	2	107	33	3.35	2.8	4.2	1.4	31	0
111	Eric Soderholm	1345	3	105	36	0.257	10	10.1	6.5	38	0
112	Tom Hall	455	2	122	25	3	7.2	6.8	6.4	34	0		K: 8
113	Jim Thome	482	2	159	37	0.266	3.7	4.5	3.8	23	0	MVP: 18
114	George Mitterwald	1578	4	88	50	0.239	6.5	6	6.4	49	0
115	Roger Erickson	712	4	101	31	4.1	10	7	4.8	33	0		ERA: 8 IP: 10
116	Phil Hughes	477	2	93	32	4.37	7.4	5.4	3.3	23	0	CY: 7	W: 4, IP: 10, K: 7
117	Byron Buxton	889	2	87	28	0.237	4.6	7.2	6.5	21	0	1 GG, MVP: 18	SB: 4
118	Nick Blackburn	818	5	86	43	4.85	5.1	3.2	-0.8	30	0
119	Ron Davis	381	4	95	19	4.51	3.3	0.1	5.4	39	0		SAVES: 5,3,5,7
120	Bernie Allen	1595	4	86	32	0.246	3	3.2	0.4	39	0
121	Lew Ford	1514	3	96	32	0.272	5.6	8.3	5.2	44	0	MVP: 24
122	Eduardo Escobar	1860	3	91	48	0.255	4.2	4.2	1.7	51	0
123	Brian Duensing	649	1	100	41	4.13	5.6	6.3	4.7	37	0
124	Ken Schrom	494	3	99	29	4.34	4.4	3.4	0.7	26	0
125	Eddie Rosario	1330	2	107	50	0.277	5.2	5.0	3.8	31	0
126	Dave Engle	1371	3	94	28	0.268	2.8	3.9	3.6	29	1
127	Kevin Slowey	532	3	90	39	4.66	7.7	4.6	6.4	26	0
128	Tom Burgmeier	380	1	101	24	3.77	-0.2	3.2	1.1	26	0		SAVES: 8
129	Ray Corbin	652	5	95	36	3.84	2.2	2.9	2	33	0		SAVES: 8
130	Rick Reed	390	3	101	25	4.47	5.1	3.7	3.2	21	0
131	Todd Walker	1374	2	92	23	0.285	0	1.8	2.7	31	0
132	Danny Thompson	2022	5	71	14	0.251	2.5	2.4	-2	31	0	MVP: 23
133	Pedro Munoz	1587	3	101	61	0.275	-0.8	-0.4	2.2	37	0
134	Rob Wilfong	1591	3	85	22	0.262	4	5.3	3.6	46	0
135	Kurt Suzuki	1230	3	88	16	0.263	2.6	3.0	1.1	29	1
136	Terry Steinbach	1207	3	84	30	0.256	3.2	3.1	2.5	29	0
137	Matt LeCroy	1321	3	98	58	0.261	0.6	0.4	1.7	34	0
138	Albert Williams	642	3	99	35	4.24	5.9	6.4	-0.1	33	0
139	Pete Redfern	714	4	90	42	4.54	7.3	1.5	4.6	31	0
140	Kyle Gibson	730	4	88	44	4.70	7.2	5.3	1.6	31	0
141	Mark Salas	663	2	102	20	0.279	2.7	2.7	3.2	19	0
142	John Butcher	502	2	96	24	4.48	7.2	2.5	0.7	25	0
143	Craig Kusick	1184	4	107	44	0.236	3.4	3.6	3.1	31	0
144	Tim Teufel	1080	2	103	27	0.265	5.3	5.5	2.8	33	0
145	Mike Cubbage	1681	3	97	29	0.266	5.9	6.9	7.3	46	0
146	Jason Bartlett	1087	2	87	10	0.271	7.9	8.9	8.6	35	0
147	Eduardo Nunez	763	0	100	20	0.280	2.8	3.3	2.9	20	1		SB: 5
148	Jesse Crain	382	0	128	33	3.42	2.8	5.5	2.1	36	0
149	Carl Willis	286	0	120	20	3.65	5.8	3.8	4.7	28	0
150	Bill Dailey	124	1	133	7	2.76	1	2.8	1.5	17	0	MVP: 23	SAVES: 3
151	Joe Decker	503	2	94	29	4.09	4.6	4.9	1	25	0
152	Bobby Castillo	402	2	107	23	3.98	3.9	4.3	1.1	23	0
153	Dave Winfield	841	2	100	31	0.264	-0.2	0.3	0.8	15	0
154	Glenn Adams	1387	2	97	29	0.281	-1.5	-1	1.3	25	0
155	Jim Hughes	441	2	88	25	4.3	2.9	0.8	-0.3	15	0
156	J.C. Romero	407	0	108	25	4.35	4.2	4.8	3.3	31	0
157	Scott Leius	1373	3	85	26	0.252	2.9	4.8	2.2	27	0
158	Luis Castillo	933	2	92	3	0.299	3.5	3.7	1.3	25	0		SB: 9
159	Ron Jackson	1154	2	96	23	0.268	2.7	2.8	3.5	25	0
160	Rich Becker	1465	3	88	25	0.267	5	6.4	5.9	36	0
161	Lee Stange	351	1	105	20	3.61	1.8	2.5	3	18	0		ERA: 6
162	Bobby Kielty	631	0	116	23	0.269	3	3.9	3.4	25	0
163	Nick Punto	2365	3	74	12	0.248	11.1	10.2	4.2	52	0
164	Mike Pagliarulo	723	2	88	9	0.272	2.9	4	4.4	19	0
165	Danny Valencia	989	2	91	24	0.26	1.1	0.8	0.1	23	0
166	Luis Rivas	1884	4	80	30	0.262	0.9	-0.9	-1.5	33	0		SB: 8
167	Steve Lombardozzi	1226	3	75	19	0.233	3.2	4	2.1	30	0
168	Jim Holt	1444	3	87	17	0.272	1.1	0.3	0.9	29	0
169	Johnny Roseboro	741	2	81	11	0.239	1.2	0.8	2.8	20	1
170	Al Newman	1647	1	59	0	0.231	-0.3	2.1	-2.2	30	0
171	Scott Stahoviak	1019	3	91	27	0.256	0.9	0.9	1.5	23	0
172	Dustan Mohr	782	2	91	22	0.258	2.4	2.5	3.2	18	0
173	Bob Randall	1325	3	74	1	0.257	2.3	3.8	0.4	29	0
174	Kenny Rogers	195	1	99	13	4.57	3.1	1.9	2.6	11	0
175	Steve Brye	1641	2	90	22	0.261	3.3	4.7	3.5	36	0
176	Jorge Polanco	749	1	98	17	0.266	2.0	3.1	1.7	24	0
177	Ryan Doumit	969	2	104	32	0.261	1.5	1.9	3	19	0
178	Bombo Rivera	627	1	89	8	0.266	2.4	2.5	3.8	13	0
179	Johnny Klippstein	161	0	147	10	2.45	0.5	3.7	1.6	15	0
180	Stan Williams	191	0	129	14	2.87	0.2	1.9	-0.2	19	0		SAVES: 10
181	Hosken Powell	1468	3	83	13	0.261	1.1	2.2	4	27	0
182	Roy Smith	389	2	98	19	4.28	3.1	4	2.7	20	0
183	Darrell Jackson	411	2	97	20	4.38	4.5	3.1	2.7	20	0
184	Keith Atherton	235	1	111	19	3.91	1.1	2.6	2.3	20	0
185	Danny Santana	924	1	87	10	.266	1.2	0.4	0.8	22	0
186	Brant Alyea	416	0	107	18	0.248	0.5	0.5	1	13	0
187	Mike Redmond	863	0	87	2	0.297	1.8	1.3	1.5	28	0
188	Roberto Kelly	569	1	105	11	0.308	1.2	1.7	2	15	0
189	Alex Cole	424	1	106	5	0.304	1.4	2.2	2.1	13	0		SB: 6
190	Jose Morales	674	2	106	12	0.297	0.1	0.1	0.9	13	0
191	Bob Tewksbury	317	2	105	15	4.49	6.6	6.5	5.2	17	0
192	Ben Revere	989	2	80	0	0.278	4.5	3.2	0.4	20	0		SB: 7, 3
193	Orlando Hudson	497	1	96	6	0.268	3.1	2.7	1.8	14	0
194	Pedro Ramos	264	1	108	11	3.95	3.2	3.7	2.5	15	0		IP: 4 K: 6
195	Bill Zepp	156	1	114	9	3.34	0.9	1.3	-1	9	0
196	John Moses	620	0	91	4	0.276	0.7	0.1	1	15	0
197	Greg Myers	494	1	90	11	0.279	1.8	1.7	1.3	9	0
198	Alexi Casilla	1566	4	73	11	0.248	1.8	3.6	0.6	31	0
199	Carlos Gomez	892	2	72	10	0.248	3.4	2.6	2.8	19	0		SB: 7
200	Max Kepler	914	2	95	36	0.239	2.2	4.3	0.9	20	0
201	Glenn Borgmann	1207	2	79	14	0.229	5.3	5	2.6	37	0
202	Frank Rodriguez	509	3	94	25	5.2	6.3	2.1	3.8	20	0
203	Robbie Grossman	714	2	111	20	0.262	1.2	1.1	1.2	20	0
204	Scott Diamond	343	2	92	19	4.43	2.4	1.5	-0.2	13	0
205	Les Straker	237	1	105	10	4.22	2	3	1.2	13	0
206	Mark Redman	213	1	104	15	4.86	3.2	3.5	2.7	13	0
207	Dennis Hocking	2204	0	70	25	0.252	-2.8	0.4	-1	43	0
208	Ron Washington	1258	2	80	17	0.265	0.3	1.5	0.7	23	0
209	Bob Miller	191	0	120	5	2.91	1.3	2.9	0.2	12	0
210	Otis Nixon	448	1	85	1	0.297	-0.6	0.2	0.8	8	0		SB: 8
211	Brendan Harris	956	1	79	14	0.251	0.1	-0.6	1.8	19	0
212	Boof Bonser	392	2	84	18	5.12	3.7	-0.3	2.7	11	0
213	Ray Moore	159	2	83	13	4.9	-0.2	-0.1	1.5	12	0		SAVES: 4,7
214	Vic Albury	372	2	93	18	4.11	-0.4	1.6	0.7	16	0
215	Willie Banks	259	1	93	16	4.61	3.6	1.5	3	12	0
216	Fernando Arroyo	234	1	97	13	4.3	1.9	1.3	-0.8	10	0
217	Jim Lemon	457	1	90	15	0.249	0.3	-0.3	1	9	0
218	Luis Tiant	92	1	112	7	3.4	1	2	0.7	8	0
219	Pat Neshek	129	0	143	11	3.05	2	3	2.1	15	0
220	Terry Leach	149	0	126	3	3.38	2.6	2.6	2.4	11	0
221	J.J. Hardy	340	1	93	6	0.268	2.3	1.2	1.9	10	0
222	Dennys Reyes	126	0	204	10	2.14	1.5	4.3	0.5	16	0
223	Jason Tyner	578	0	86	1	0.299	2.7	2.4	1.4	12	0
224	Jim Dwyer	329	1	112	6	0.289	0.8	0.8	1.7	9	0
225	Bob Wells	300	0	109	18	4.47	2	3.7	2.3	25	0
226	Pete Filson	323	0	108	14	3.98	1.4	3.3	1.8	22	0
227	Hector Carrasco	256	0	108	14	4.49	3	3.4	2.3	18	0
228	Tony Fiore	133	0	116	11	3.92	0.2	1.8	1	10	0
229	Greg Swindell	182	0	130	10	3.61	1.9	4.6	1.4	17	0
230	Chip Hale	563	0	89	6	0.281	1	1.6	1.6	13	0
231	Dave Hollins	422	1	92	13	0.242	2.2	3.1	3.3	11	0
232	Sam Deduno	279	1	95	16	4.26	.9	2.5	-0.7	14	0
233	Joe Crede	333	1	83	15	0.225	1.6	2.3	1.4	6	0
234	Frank Quilici	682	0	61	5	0.214	-0.2	-0.4	-0.6	13	0
235	Junior Ortiz	304	0	85	0	0.28	1.6	1.7	0.4	9	0
236	Brandon Kintzler	99	2	146	2	2.98	1.2	2.2	0.9	15	1		SAVES: 7
237	Jose Mijares	153	0	133	3	3.16	1	3.1	1.1	12	0
238	Casey Fien	237	0	107	17	3.79	2.9	2.6	3.4	20	0
239	Bill Pleis	280	0	95	21	4.07	0.3	-0.5	1.7	16	0
240	Jim Roland	244	1	103	10	3.42	-0.3	1.6	0.7	12	0
241	David West	285	1	79	15	5.33	0.9	0.1	0.2	7	0
242	Brad Havens	367	2	84	18	5	3.4	0.3	2.1	14	0
243	Bill Singer	172	1	96	9	3.77	1.4	0.4	-0.2	7	0
244	Bill Krueger	161	1	94	10	4.3	2.1	1	1.7	8	0
245	Bill Hands	257	1	99	11	3.92	3.6	2.2	1.1	13	0
246	Jeff Reboulet	1016	0	74	9	0.248	4.1	5.9	2.4	26	0
247	Jason Castro	356	1	93	10	.242	1.6	2.5	2.2	12	0
248	Phil Roof	619	0	75	13	0.228	2.4	2.2	0.6	17	0
249	Jerry Terrell	1437	0	70	3	0.259	0.2	1	-0.9	22	0
250	Tom Edens	109	0	129	8	3.21	2.3	2.1	2.2	10	0
251	Jared Burton	192	0	117	8	3.47	1.8	1.8	1.9	17	0
252	Rick Renick	553	0	89	20	0.221	0.8	0.6	1.1	10	0
253	Matt Capps	122	1	113	7	3.61	0.3	2	-0.1	17	0
254	Oswaldo Arcia	884	2	101	40	0.240	-0.4	-0.8	0.8	19	0
255	Chad Allen	706	1	86	14	0.275	-0.9	-0.9	0.1	10	0
256	Pat Mahomes	366	2	81	18	5.82	-0.3	-0.9	-1.1	12	0
257	Travis Miller	267	0	98	7	5.05	3	1.2	3.2	13	0
258	Gary Wayne	170	0	121	8	3.44	1.1	2.5	1.8	13	0
259	Jon Rauch	73	1	150	8	2.82	1.6	2	1.4	12	0
260	Larry Casian	144	0	95	9	4.73	0.7	0.6	0.9	10	0
261	Rich Robertson	385	2	95	17	5.17	2.8	1.7	0.8	14	0
262	Aaron Hicks	819	2	80	20	0.225	2.2	2.2	2.4	19	0
263	Jim Deshaies	297	2	80	17	5.71	1.3	1.5	1.3	10	0
264	Johnny Briggs	264	0	106	7	0.231	1.4	1.7	1.9	9	0
265	Don Lee	167	1	110	6	3.83	0.7	2.3	1.1	10	0
266	Kevin Correia	314	2	90	14	4.49	2.2	1.6	1.6	12	0
267	Terry Mulholland	182	1	95	5	4.89	0.9	0.9	-0.3	7	0
268	Tom Herr	304	0	89	1	0.263	1.1	1.4	0.9	7	0
269	Orlando Cabrera	242	1	94	5	0.289	0.7	-0.1	1.3	5	0
270	Jamey Carroll	661	0	76	1	0.257	1.5	3.1	0.5	16	0
271	Johnny Goryl	290	0	87	11	0.221	1.1	1	0.6	7	0
272	Brian Buscher	436	1	88	8	0.266	0.1	0.5	0.9	13	0
273	Neal Heaton	124	1	108	4	3.98	0.9	1.8	0.3	7	0
274	Kennys Vargas	783	1	102	35	0.252	0.8	1.3	0.0	13	0
275	Mike Morgan	98	1	137	4	3.49	1.2	3.8	0.7	8	0
276	Ryan Pressley	269	0	110	16	3.81	1.6	2.5	1.3	18	0
277	Willie Norwood	854	1	79	18	0.242	-0.9	-1.2	-0.4	13	0
278	Brian Buchanan	414	0	93	16	0.258	-0.2	0.3	0.8	6	0
279	Anthony Swarzak	439	0	91	16	4.48	1.9	2.4	1.7	17	0
280	Wayne Granger	89	1	108	4	3.01	-0.1	-0.9	-1.3	8	0		SAVES: 4
281	Dave LaRoche	95	0	114	5	2.83	-0.1	1.2	0.8	8	0
282	Gary Serum	271	1	85	10	4.72	2.8	1.5	1.1	9	0
283	Bobby Mitchell	606	1	78	3	0.244	0.8	1.3	1.5	12	0
284	Chris Parmelee	812	0	96	24	0.249	0.5	0.5	-0.4	13	0
285	Rick Lysander	242	0	105	9	4.08	2.7	0.2	1.1	14	0
286	Paul Thormodsgard	285	1	85	12	4.74	2.9	0.5	0.3	10	0
287	Tom Prince	361	0	77	13	0.219	1.9	1.7	1.3	12	0
288	Mike Pelfrey	341	2	83	11	4.94	3.5	0.4	2.4	10	0
289	Tommy Milone	219	1	85	12	4.79	1.1	0.0	1.6	9	0
290	Jose Berrios	204	2	86	17	5.07	2.4	0.3	1.7	10	0
291	Mark Portugal	238	1	84	11	5.13	0.6	0.7	0.4	11	0
292	Freddie Toliver	143	1	83	8	4.95	2	0.4	1.3	6	0
293	Joe Bonikowski	99	1	106	5	3.88	1.1	1.1	0.4	6	0
294	Matt Garza	133	1	98	8	4.47	2	0.8	2	6	0
295	Graig Nettles	304	0	99	12	0.224	1.5	1.1	1.2	8	0
296	Jim Nettles	423	0	84	10	0.225	1.4	1.2	1.1	10	0
297	Dave Edwards	473	0	82	11	0.249	1	0.8	1	10	0
298	Lenny Webster	284	0	89	5	0.254	0.9	1.1	1.4	6	0
299	Randy Johnson	234	1	101	10	0.248	0	-0.1	0.4	5	0
300	George Frazier	108	0	94	6	4.83	0.5	0.3	0.4	7	0

28 thoughts on “One Man’s Opinion Of The Top 300 Twins Of All Time-Updated Through 2017”

sean says:

October 9, 2017 at 3:14 pm

If Mauer earns a Gold Glove, does he stay at #4? I'm assuming yes as it looks like the gap between him and Carew is not small.
1. Nate Tubbs Rules says:
  
  October 9, 2017 at 3:30 pm
  
  One Gold Glove wouldn't be enough to vault him over Sir Rodney. I do see it as a significant gap between #3 and #4 (or #29 and #7). Statistically Carew could arguably be #1. I've actually been waiting for one more decent year from Joe for a while to get him ahead of Tony and finally got that. Even a duplication of 2017 next year probably wouldn't have me even consider putting him in the top3.
Philosofer says:

October 9, 2017 at 3:21 pm

I love this every year. Thanks!
1. Rhubarb_Runner says:
  
  October 9, 2017 at 4:01 pm
  
  totally agree. wish there was a way to color code the 2017 players or something
  1. Nate Tubbs Rules says:
    
    October 10, 2017 at 12:13 pm
    
    I don't have much experience doing this and basically just copy/paste the previous year before posting, but is this possible? It seems this comes up every year where people want to know who's in the Twins HOF and where the current players are on the list. Is there a way I could highlight each with a certain color?
    1. Rhubarb_Runner says:
      
      October 10, 2017 at 1:01 pm
      
      [sean smoke signal.jpg]
      1. sean says:
        
        October 10, 2017 at 1:59 pm
        
        *waves hand to dissipate smoke*
        
        It's a lot harder to do if you need to start highlighting thing.
Rhubarb_Runner says:

October 9, 2017 at 4:00 pm

Di-do
CarterHayes says:

October 10, 2017 at 8:55 am

So, one thing that occurs to me to ask is why players don’t get credit for being elected to the Hall of Fame. (Kaat being ranked above Blyleven suggested this question.) If annual awards like All-Star, MVP, and so on count in this matrix, shouldn’t the ultimate honor also count – at least if the player goes in wearing a Twins cap on his plaque?
1. Nate Tubbs Rules says:
  
  October 10, 2017 at 9:34 am
  
  Probably because Bert made the HOF on the strength of his entire career, not just what he did in a Twins uniform. I don't give credit to Molitor/Winfield either for what they did outside of a Twins uniform. But yes, going in with a Twins hat obviously was enough for the folks over at Twins Way to retire his number, it just isn't something I consider. I guess it's probably just the "Blyleven question" and probably won't be an issue again.
Beau says:

October 10, 2017 at 9:27 am

It says Harmon only played for the Twins for 9 years. Is this a typo or am I reading the column wrong?
1. CarterHayes says:
  
  October 10, 2017 at 9:30 am
  
  I see that, too. Even if he’s penalized for the time before the team moved to Minnesota, he still should be credited with 14 seasons.
  1. Nate Tubbs Rules says:
    
    October 10, 2017 at 9:36 am
    
    That column is misleading, it's not years as a Twin, it's years as a "starter". With injuries and part time play, Harmon was only a "starter" on 9 Twins teams. I also use starter loosely, whomever played the most games at all 9 positions (8 prior to 1973) and the 5 pitchers who started the most games and 1 pitcher who finished the most games
    1. Beau says:
      
      October 10, 2017 at 9:50 am
      
      Ah, I see. He was the roving third baseman/first baseman/left fielder some years
      1. CarterHayes says:
        
        October 10, 2017 at 10:06 am
        
        Denny Hocking, eat yout heart out.
      2. Nate Tubbs Rules says:
        
        October 10, 2017 at 10:18 am
        
        yep, Harmon and Tovar were probably most hurt by that distinction. Although I do combine the 3 OF spots so it's the 3 OFs that played the most games in a season, not necessarily the #1 LF, #1 CF, #1 RF
Rhubarb_Runner says:

October 10, 2017 at 9:31 am

So, who dropped off the list this year?
1. Nate Tubbs Rules says:
  
  October 10, 2017 at 9:37 am
  
  Juan Castro, Brent Gates, and Darrell Brown were replaced by Jason Castro, Brandon Kintzler, and Jose Berrios.
  1. Rhubarb_Runner says:
    
    October 10, 2017 at 10:35 am
    
    So we kept up our quota of Castros.
    1. Nate Tubbs Rules says:
      
      October 10, 2017 at 11:05 am
      
      It says "No Castros". We're allowed to have 1.
      1. Philosofer says:
        
        October 10, 2017 at 11:56 am
        
        for a great reference.
Nate Tubbs Rules says:

November 10, 2017 at 1:29 pm

I have updated this to include gold gloves for Dozier and Buxton
1. Rhubarb_Runner says:
  
  November 10, 2017 at 1:34 pm
  
  How about Joe deserving a GG?
  1. Nate Tubbs Rules says:
    
    November 10, 2017 at 3:31 pm
    
    I have a hard time getting too worked up about Joe not getting a GG. He was probably better than Hosmer. He was probably one of the 3 best 1B. But it wasn't like he had Buxton defensive numbers (or highlights). And it's first base. Despite what #208 Ron Washington says, it's not incredibly hard. As expected, no silver sluggers for Twins. Next question will be if Dozier/Santana receive any MVP or Cy Young votes.
    1. Rhubarb_Runner says:
      
      November 10, 2017 at 3:33 pm
      
      was not serious
New Britain Bo says:

November 12, 2017 at 4:47 pm

Swap Puckett and Oliva and I'm good.
Nate Tubbs Rules says:

November 16, 2017 at 6:46 pm

I've made my final updates for 2017. Dozier and Buxton with a little MVP love to go with their gold gloves and Ervin with a handful of Cy Young votes. No more changes until April.
1. Can of Corn says:
  
  November 17, 2017 at 12:10 pm
  
  NTR, Thank you again for this feature. I know the team pretty well from '87-2000, and then '09-present, but it really puts the historic players in perspective for me.
  Also, you do know you're welcome to stop by in between updates, right?
  ; )

Comments are closed.

28 thoughts on “One Man’s Opinion Of The Top 300 Twins Of All Time-Updated Through 2017”

Remodeled basement. Same half-baked taste.