Minnesota Twins: The 40 Best Players In Team History (No. 1-5)
Wins Above Replacement has become a powerful stat to measure the value of a player. Here are the all-time best Minnesota Twins based on WAR (numbers 1-5).
The Minnesota Twins have had some good players in their history. From Hall of Famers to fan favorites, there are plenty of big names that have come through to play in the Twins Cities. In an effort to figure out who is the best Twins player of all-time, we have taken a look at the Twins career leaders in Wins Above Replacement (WAR).
WAR is a sabermetric tool to help determine the overall value of a baseball player. It is a way to calculate a player’s total contribution to the team, which shows how truly valuable they are. Position player WAR is complex to calculate, as is pitching WAR.
Without all of the calculations, the concept is fairly simple. Position player WAR is meant to show how many more games the team wins with that certain player in the lineup instead of his replacement. The same concept roles into pitching. It is meant to reflect how many more wins that pitcher is responsible for during innings they pitch compared to someone else.
With that said, the 40 players on this list have the best WAR numbers during their Twins careers. Only their WAR during their time with the Twins is included. So that means there is no David Ortiz, Carlos Gomez or anyone else that had more success elsewhere. This list is strictly who was the best in a Twins uniform.
The greatest five of all-time starts with a Twins pitching and broadcasting legend.
No. 5: Bert Blyleven (49.4 WAR)
“Circle me, Bert” has been a mainstay on Minnesota Twins television broadcasts since Bert Blyleven became the color commentator for Fox Sports North Twins coverage. While that alone has made Blyleven iconic with the fanbase, his pitching makes him a flat out Twins legend.
Blyleven spent over a decade of his 22-year major league career in Minnesota, and holds multiple spots on Twins franchise all-time statistical lists. He was an All-Star as a member of the Twins and garnered Cy Young and MVP votes while in Minnesota. He was a top notch starter for the Twins for many years.
Blyleven had a 149-138 record in Minnesota, while recording 2,035 strikeouts and notching a 3.28 ERA. He won a championship with the club in 1987, a year in which he put up 4.4 wins above replacement. That was more toward the end of his career, however. His most valuable years happened in the 1970s.
In 1973, Blyleven was an All-Star, posting 20-17 record with a 2.52 ERA in 325.0 innings of work. He was able to fan 258 batters and work 25 complete games. While that season was incredible, his best stat was his WAR. He was able to post an American League-best 9.9 wins above replacement.
Blyleven was a mainstay in the Twins rotation for over a decade, and his numbers show why. Not only is he a Minnesota Twins Hall of Famer, but he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2011. His value to the teams he played for made him great. That is why he is the fifth best Twin according to the WAR statistic.
No. 4: Joe Mauer (50.5 WAR)
In 2001, the Minnesota Twins drafted a kid from St. Paul number one overall. That kid would go on to be the face of the franchise for over a decade. Joe Mauer has worn many hats during his career in Minnesota. His legacy still grows, and he could move up higher on this list as his career keeps going.
Mauer has had a great career and could be bound for Cooperstown. He has a .308 career average to go along with six All-Star selections, three Gold Gloves, five Silver Sluggers, and an American League MVP award.
Mauer has been a valuable part of the Twins since he came into the league. He debuted in 2004, and by 2006 he was an All-Star that posted a 6.2 WAR season. By 2007, he had already accumulated enough wins above replacement to make it on this Top 40 list. He won his one MVP award in 2009, a year when he posted 7.6 wins above replacement.
Mauer is not only one of the most valuable players in Twins history, but one of the most valuable players of all active big leaguers. The Twins catcher ranks 11th among all active position players in career WAR. He continues to produce for the Twins, too. He is currently batting .287 on the season with 23 runs batted in. Mauer even hit his first career walk-off home run against the Red Sox on May 5th.
Mauer, while being still active, is one of the best players to put on a Twins uniform. He is one of the most valuable players the Twins have ever had and his legacy continues to grow the longer he plays. If he stays productive, there is no reason he can’t climb a few more spots on this list.
No. 3: Kirby Puckett (50.9 WAR)
Kirby Puckett may be the most beloved player to put on a Minnesota Twins uniform. If not for a sudden end to his career do to glaucoma, he may have been the number one player on this list. Puckett could do it all. He could hit for both power and average, he could field with the best of them, and he could show a little speed.
During his well-decorated career, Puckett was a 10-time All-Star, won six Gold Gloves, six Silver Sluggers, and brought home two World Series titles to Minnesota. All of that in just twelve seasons.
Puckett put up some great conventional stats during his career. He had a .318 career average, with 2,304 hits and 1,085 runs batted in. While those are impressive, his value numbers are even more eye-popping. He had six seasons of four or more wins above replacement over his career.
His best season, according to WAR, was 1988 when he put up a career-best 7.7 WAR. That year, he hit .356 with 24 home runs and 121 runs batted in. It was an impressive year that saw him finish third in the MVP voting. His next best season in the WAR category was in 1992 when he tallied 7.1.
Forever Memorialized
Puckett’s career is forever commemorated in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, as he was inducted in the Class of 2001. His induction was on the first ballot. He was also inducted into the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame. Puckett passed away in 2006 from a massive stroke, but is immortalized outside of Target Field with a bronze statue that was unveiled in 2010.
He was incredibly important to the Twin Cities area, and has been memorialized in a number of ways. Sports stars in Minnesota have shown their respects towards Puckett, including Minnesota Timberwolves legend Kevin Garnett who wore Puckett’s nickname along with other Minnesota stars who had passed away on an arm band during an NBA game in 2015.
No. 2: Harmon Killebrew (60.5 WAR)
Not many players could hit the ball as hard, or as far, as Minnesota Twins legend Harmon Killebrew. Killebrew made a living from smashing home runs, and he did it often. Although his reign in Minnesota was during the 1960s and 1970s, he is still the greatest slugger in Twins history to this day.
During his career in a Twins uniform, Killebrew hit 475 home runs (a franchise record), was a 12-time All-Star and collected an American League MVP. He also helped the Twins win the 1965 American League pennant. He was their first true superstar.
While he won many honors and filled the stat sheet, his value can be seen in a statistic that doesn’t show up there. His 60.5 wins above replacement is a sign of his value during his time with the Twins. He posted eight seasons in which he had WAR numbers above four.
His best season, according to WAR, came in 1967 when he put up 6.4 wins above replacement. His second-best season came in 1969 when he tallied 6.2 WAR and won the American League MVP. He finished second in that race in 1967.
Killebrew would be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984, and his plaque depicts him as a member of the Minnesota Twins. He was the greatest slugger to put on a Twins uniform, without a doubt. According to the WAR statistic, he was the second-greatest player in club history.
No. 1: Rod Carew (63.7 WAR)
The Minnesota Twins have had many legends come through their organization. Killebrew, Puckett, Tony Oliva and others have been valuable parts to the franchise. They played their parts by helping the team win and being the best they could be to help the team get wins. The best of them all, according to the wins above replacement statistic, is Rod Carew.
Carew was one of the greatest hitters in the history of baseball. His .328 lifetime batting average is impressive. He hit .334 during his 12 years in Minnesota, which is first in franchise history. Carew hit .350 or better in five of his seasons in a Twins uniform, including an insane .388 batting average in 1977.
Carew was perennially impressive. He went to 12 All-Star Games, picked up seven batting titles and won an American League MVP during his years in the Twins Cities. He took home hardware and put up impressive amounts of hits. His value, however, is shown in his Twins franchise-leading WAR total.
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Carew put up five straight seasons of 6.5 or more wins above replacement. His best season was his MVP campaign in 1977 when he recorded an AL-best 9.7 position player WAR. He led the AL two other times in 1974 and 1975 when he tallied 7.4 and 7.8 in those years.
Carew’s value would be rewarded when he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1990. He made it on the first ballot. He was one of the greatest hitters in the history of the game. His value cannot be matched on a lot of levels, including in the Twins organization on the field. According to WAR, he is the great Twins player of all-time. It is hard to disagree with the career he ended up with.