The Minnesota Twins had a good corner infield duo in 2017, but who tops the list as the best corner infields all-time for the Twins?
The Minnesota Twins have a history that is filled with plenty of successes, headlined by World Series victories in 1987 and 1991. Of course, there are plenty of seasons we would like to forget as well. Here is the third part of a series where we have been going through the top five of different position groups through Twins history. So far we have covered the outfield and middle infield. Next up is the best corner infield pairs.
The 2017 Twins had their own pretty good pair of corner infielders. They may not have been historically good but were still a solid tandem that surely helped move the Twins back into the playoffs. While Eduardo Escobar did a great job stepping out of his utility role to fill in at third base after Miguel Sano‘s leg injury. It is hard not to imagine what might have been if Sano would have been healthy down the stretch and for the Wild Card playoff game.
Sano started the season off red-hot and was one of the big reasons the Twins did as well as they did in 2017. Through May, Sano slashed .292/.406/.590 and a .996 OPS with 12 home runs. That put him well on his way to his first All-Star appearance as well as an invitation to the Home Run Derby where Sano finished second to Aaron Judge. When the season finished Sano held a slash line of .264/.352/.507 and hit 28 home runs on the season.
While Sano went out with an injury, 2017 felt like the first year that Joe Mauer finally had recovered from or at least adjusted to the brain injury he suffered years ago. Mauer at the plate hit .305/.384/.417 and 36 doubles. Mauer also added great defense at his position even though he seemed to be snubbed out of a Gold Glove award at season’s end. His defense likely helped others around the infield look as good as they did. Evidence of that is FanGraphs has Mauer credited with 26 scoops in 2017.
If you have been following along with this series you already know that WAR makes up a considerable part of creating this list. Mauer (2.5 WAR) and Sano (3.4 WAR) fall just short of the list with the combined 5.9 WAR. Along with WAR other measurements will be considered along the way as well to help put together the list of best corner infields in Twins history.
Going through these lists, it is interesting how several times some position groups will put together their best season a year or two before or after you would expect it. In 1987 when the Twins won the World Series this pair was also a good tandem, but it was the year before in 1986 when Kent Hrbek and Gary Gaetti had an even better season. The Twins that season went only 71-91 and finished 6th in the AL West.
Everyone’s favorite outdoors television host and air conditioner salesman, first baseman Kent Hrbek, hit .267/.353/.478 with 29 home runs and 27 doubles. In the 1986 season Hrbek also set what would wind up being his career high in runs scored with 85 runs. He matched that total the next season as well on the way to that 1987 World Series title.
The reason this duo has made this list has to do with a great year by the man across the diamond from Hrbek, Gary Gaetti. Using WAR as the benchmark, 1986 was Gaetti’s best season of his career. Gaetti slashed .287/.347/.518 and added 34 home runs and 34 doubles. He defensive efforts gained him recognition as the Gold Glove winner at third base as well as some MVP consideration.
What may go overlooked about this pair is just how consistent they were for the Twins over the years that they played. In the season Hrbek and Gaetti played together, in 5 seasons they both had a WAR over 2.0. In 1986 Gaetti’s 5.8 WAR and Hrbek’s 3.0 WAR for a combined 8.8 WAR puts the pair fifth on our all-time Twins corner infields list.
The 2001 season will go down as the season that seemed to bring the Twins out of the black hole of the latter part of the 90’s. The team didn’t make the playoffs that year but were a much-improved 85-77 and finished 2nd in the American League Central. With two 100-plus win teams in the AL West, the Twins had no shot at the Wild Card that season.
It was 2001 that Doug Mientkiewicz put together a breakout season as the Twins first baseman and resident heart-throb. Mientkiewicz went on to slash .306/.387/.464 while hitting 15 home runs and 39 doubles during that season. 2001 marked Mientkiewicz best season from an end of season award standpoint as well winning a Gold Glove for his defensive efforts at first base and coming in 14th in MVP voting.
While Mientkiewicz was a heart-throb, third baseman Corey Koskie just brought the comforts of Minnesota to the diamond. The Canadian and a former hockey goalie played the hot corner well in 2001 slashing .276/.362/.488 with 26 home runs and 37 doubles. While Koskie’s career was cut short by a concussion because of the 2001 season he holds a place in history among Twins third baseman.
Turning an eye to WAR, Koskie holds the honor of the fifth-best WAR by any Twins corner infielder and best by any third baseman in Twins history with a 6.3 WAR. It helps serve as a reminder of why it was so hard to replace Koskie when he left the Twins. Koskie’s franchise-best third base performance and Mientkiewicz 2.8 WAR for a combined WAR of 9.1 lands them fourth on our list.
Here again, it is the 1965 Twins that we would naturally want to write about, but this 1964 pair in the middle infield did historically well for the club. Collectively, the team in 1964 went 79-83 and finished sixth in the American League.
Bob Allison also spent time in the outfield but was the Twins primary first baseman for the season. Allison turned in a number of good seasons and in 1964 he hit .287/.404/.553 with 32 home runs and 27 doubles. The rest of the league recognized his efforts and Allison was selected for his third and final All-Star team and received some MVP consideration as well.
On the left side of the infield was Rich Rollins manning third base. Rollins hit .270/.334/.406 and added 12 home runs, 25 doubles, and a league-leading 10 triples. In what just feels like an odd translation of ability, while Rollins showed a knack for triples in ’64 he never showcased the ability to be a regular base stealer only recording two in that same season.
1964 wasn’t Rollins best season according to WAR coming in at 2.9 WAR. It wasn’t Allison’s best season either as the season before when he played primarily as an outfielder was with a 7.4 WAR. Allison’s 6.4 WAR in 1964 was the fourth-best WAR by a corner infielder in Twins history. That puts the pair at a combined 9.3 WAR and third on our list of all-time corner infield duos.
In 1969 with Billy Martin at the helm, the Twins went 97-65 finishing first in the American League West. The Twins finished 9 games ahead of the next closest team in the AL West the Oakland Athletics. They then ran into the 109 win Baltimore Orioles in the American League Championship and lost 3-0.
First baseman Rich Reese spent the good part of a decade with the Twins. After becoming a regular in 1967 he put together his best season in 1969. Reese slashed .322/.362/.513, 16 home runs, and 24 doubles.
Harmon Killebrew in 1969 split time between the two corner infield positions and turned in arguably his best season next to his 1967 season. Killebrew played all 162 games and hit .276/.427/.584, 49 home runs, 20 doubles and 140 RBIs. Both home run and RBI numbers lead the league and were or tied for his career best in each of those stat categories. His 1969 season also landed him with Most Valuable Player award.
As stated earlier, 1969 was arguably Killebrew’s best season and it is WAR that would argue with that fact as the 1969 season was his second best season according to WAR. In 1969 Killebrew was credited with a 6.2 WAR, just behind his 6.5 WAR for 1967. Killebrew’s 6.2 WAR ranks third all-time amongst Twins corner infielders. That combined with Reese’s 3.1 WAR ties them with the 1964 duo for a combined 9.3 WAR. It is Killebrew’s league dominating performance that gives the 1969 pair the edge for second on our list.
The 1977 Twins were a middle of the road team. A team that those of us fans who just endured season after season of 100-plus losses would have loved to watch. The ’77 team finished 84-77 and finished 4th in the American League West. In current playoff formatting, they would have finished just outside of securing that second Wild Card position.
Third Baseman Mike Cubbage was in his first full season with the Twins after coming over to the team from the Texas Rangers with Roy Smalley in exchange for Bert Blyleven and Danny Thompson. Cubbage slashed .264/.321/.391 and hit 9 home runs and scored 60 runs.
Hopefully, you aren’t too shocked that Cubbage’s counterpart at first base was non-other than Rod Carew. Carew put together a slash line of .388/.449/.570 and hit 14 home runs, 38 doubles, 16 triples for 239 total hits and 128 runs scored. He led the league with an OPS of 1.019 and also led the league in batting average, OBP, triples, hits, and runs scored. That gave him yet another All-Star appearance as well as the Most Valuable Player award. It also gives us Carew’s inclusion at number one for the second time as a part of this series.
Carew’s 1977 performance and 9.7 WAR is the best by any corner infielder in Twins history. Combined with Cubbage’s 2.3 WAR that gives the pair the best-combined WAR of any Twins middle infield at 12.0 WAR. That is a full 2.7 WAR better than number two on this list!
