Twins Top Ten: Second Base
Today at 08:00 AM
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Introducing "Twins Top Ten"
Over the next few months, I'll be taking a weekly look at the history of each position on the diamond and figuring out who is the best of the best since the franchise moved to Minnesota. This means that only players from 1961-on will be considered, but I will be taking into account their entire tenures with the franchise for those who moved along with the team. You can find prior entries in the series linked below. Next Up: Second Basemen!
The Best Second Basemen in Twins History
Second base is one of the less glamorous positions in baseball. Often populated by light hitters with slight frames who weren't athletically gifted enough to hold down shortstop, hall-of-fame caliber second baggers don't come around very often. Other than a select few, the second basemen we've seen manning the bag for the Twins over the years have mostly abided by this stereotype. Another twist as we move away from catchers and pitchers is a plethora of multi-positional players; I've made the determination that for this list and the rest, only players who had the majority of their Twins appearances in the position will be considered (eliminating Polanco, Castino, and Punto from consideration today). To determine who the top second basemen in Twins history are, I'll be looking at a variety of criteria, including years with the team, number of games, bWAR, OPS+ (to compare different eras of baseball), home runs, stolen bases, fielding percentage, and accolades. Please note that the defensive stats will be based on their entire careers (second base only), mostly because Baseball Reference doesn't parse them out by team; batting stats will be for Twins years only. Who are the top ten in Twins history (according to me)?
Honorable Mentions
- Alexi Casilla (2006-2012): 7 Years - 515 Games - 3.6 bWAR - 74 OPS+ - 11 HR - 71 SB - .978 Fielding %
- Bob Randall (1976-1980): 5 - 460 - 3.8 - 74 - 1 - 11 - .979
- Jonathan Schoop (2019): 1 - 121 - 1.5 - 102 - 23 - 1 - .983
10. Bernie Allen (1962-1966)
5 Years - 492 Games - 3.1 bWAR - 86 OPS+ - 32 HR - 3 SB - .980 Fielding %
Bernie Allen is not a name that I knew before this exercise. Allen burst onto the scene his rookie year, posting 2.2 bWAR and hitting 12 dingers on his way to a third-place Rookie of the Year finish- totals he would never again even approach in his career.
9. Steve Lombardozzi (1985-1988)
4 Year - 423 Games - 4.0 bWAR - 76 OPS+ - 19 HR - 13 SB - .983 Fielding %
Lombardozzi manned second base for the 1987 World Champions, but definitely fit the second baseman stereotype. He somehow amassed 1.7 bWAR in only 28 games his rookie year; his second-best season by bWAR was 1.3 in 136 games.
8. Orlando Hudson (2010)
1 Year - 126 Games - 2.9 bWAR - 96 OPS+ - 6 HR - 10 SB - .987 Fielding %
I bet you haven't thought about Orlando Hudson, Minnesota Twin, in awhile. O-Dog was signed to break the mold of Gardy's revolving door of scrappy nine-hole hitters at second base, and performed quite well for the 2010 AL Central champions.
7. Rob Wilfong (1977-1982)
6 Years - 554 Games - 5.3 bWAR - 85 OPS+ - 22 HR - 41 SB - .982 Fielding %
Here's another guy that I had never heard of before today from a period of Twins baseball I admittedly am not well-educated about. Wilfong peaked with a very solid 1979 season where he posted 3.1 bWAR, a 114 OPS+, and led the lead in sac bunts with 25.
6. Luis Castillo (2006-2007)
2 Years - 227 Games - 3.7 bWAR - 92 OPS+ - 3 HR - 34 SB - .984 Fielding %
Luis Castillo's brief Twins stint wasn't really that interesting, but it was solid. Luis Castillo's career was much more interesting; he was traded to the Twins after an All-Star season with the Marlins for the legendary Scott Tyler and Travis Bowyer and then traded away from the Twins for Drew Butera and Dustin Martin. He also never had a single appearance in 7471 career games at any position besides second base and was allegedly involved in laundering drug money post-retirement (never convicted).
5. Tim Teufel (1983-1985)
3 Years - 316 Games - 5.5 bWAR - 103 OPS+ - 27 HR - 5 SB - .980 Fielding %
Tim Teufel is probably better remember as a New York Met, but had a strong start to his career with the Twins. In Teufel's first full season, he played in 157 games and posted an impressive (and career-best) 3.9 bWAR with 14 homers on his way to a 4th place finish in Rookie of the Year voting.
4. Luis Arraez (2019-2022)
4 Years - 389 Games - 10.1 bWAR - 119 OPS+ - 14 HR - 8 SB - .987 Fielding % - All-Star, Silver Slugger, AL Batting Champion
Say what you will about the shortcomings of Arraez's game, but the kid can flat-out hit. One of the most fun Twins to watch in my lifetime, he's the only Twin not named Joe Mauer to win a batting title in my lifetime and the guy who has drawn the strongest comparisons to the #1 player on this list.
3. Brian Dozier (2012-2018)
7 Years - 955 Games - 22.8 bWAR - 109 OPS+ - 167 HR - 98 SB - .987 Fielding % - All-Star, Gold Glove
Brian Dozier played on some truly terrible Twins teams, but he was worth watching. The top home run-hitting second baseman in franchise history played the game with so much joy and was sneakily one of the better power/speed combos in recent team history. I was very happy when he earned a World Series ring late in his career with Washington.
2. Chuck Knoblauch (1991-1997)
7 Years - 1013 Games - 38.0 bWAR - 114 OPS+ - 43 HR - 276 SB - .982 Fielding % - Rookie of the Year, 4x All-Star, Gold Glove, 2x Silver Slugger
The star rookie second baseman for the 1991 World Series team might have his number hanging from the Budweiser Roof Deck now if the Twins had been able to keep him around. Knoblauch was an excellent all-around second baseman during his Twins tenure, although the regrettable dollar-dog incident surrounds much of the Knoblauch/Twins discourse nowadays.
1. Rod Carew (1967-1978)
12 Years - 1635 Games - 63.8 bWAR - 144 OPS+ - 74 HR - 271 SB - .973 Fielding % - Hall of Fame, MVP, Rookie of the Year, 12x All-Star
Carew isn't just the greatest second baseman in Twins history- he's in the conversations for greatest Twin period, as well as being one of the greatest hitters in MLB history. The WAR leader for position players in team history is also the only Twin to be mentioned in a Beastie Boys song, and if that's not an indication of greatness, I don't know what is.
What do you think? Who did I miss? Who do I overrate, and who do I underrate? Let me know in the comments! I'll be back next week with the top ten third basemen in Twins history- a list that may have some more suspense to it.
P.S. if you compare the WAR and OPS+ numbers for the top 5 guys on this list and the 1B list you'll find a fascinating (and meaningless) correlation.
