Minnesota Twins: 2010s All-Decade Starting Lineup
Minnesota Twins Infielders of the 2010s
Catcher: Joe Mauer (2010-2018)
Not only was Joe Mauer the best catcher the Minnesota Twins had in the 2010s, Mauer is without a doubt the greatest catcher the Twins have ever had. He is tenth all-time in WAR for catchers with a total of 55.3 and 8 of the 9 ahead of him are in the hall of fame. Surely Mauer will follow suit and this was a no brainer decision for me as well.
First Base: Justin Morneau (2010-2013)
Not taking any credit away from Justin Morneau at all, but with Mauer landing behind the dish, Morneau was a pretty great second option. However, Morneau is still a really good choice. During his 11 total years as a Twin, he hit 221 HR, had an offensive WAR of 21.6 and an OPS of .832 which is very solid, even if his defense was below average.
In this time period, Morneau made an All-Star team and hit 41 homers in 277 games while helping the team win one of the decade’s only divisional crowns in 2010. That’s good enough to land on the list here.
Second Base: Brian Dozier (2012-2018)
As an eighth round pick in the 2009 draft by the Twins, Brian Dozier, the homegrown second basemen was the team’s backbone when it came to a power bat in the lineup. Dozier averaged 23 home runs in his time in Minnesota and even hit 20+ for his final four full years as a Twin.
In those four years, Dozier also had an OPS+ of over 100 each year before being traded at the deadline to the Dodgers. He picked up quite a few individual accolades as well, as he also managed to pick up a Gold Glove and an All-Star appearance in the past decade as well.
Shortstop: Jorge Polanco (2014-Current)
Though he’s no longer the starting shortstop (at least he shouldn’t be), Jorge Polanco was about as solid of a hitter as there comes. Polanco has posted an OPS+ over 100 in 6 of his 8 years with the Twins so far and is hitting a modest .276 in his career.
He has also posted a positive WAR in every single full year of his career and has shown that he is and will continue to be a cornerstone for Twins for the foreseeable future.
Third Base: Trevor Plouffe (2010-2016)
Unfortunately Miguel Sano hasn’t shown me anything worth putting him on this list, but his status as a liability on defense really solidifies that for me. This opens the door for another third baseman, and Trevor Plouffe deserves to be here (sort of).
The Twins as a whole haven’t really had any stand out third basemen this past decade and the only real stat that sort of sticks out to me is that Plouffe had an OBP of over .300 every year as a Twin minus his rookie season (where he played 22 games). Plouffe over those 6 years was slightly above average, and that is good enough to make this list.