The Minnesota Twins have had their fair share of Silver Sluggers throughout the years. Kirby Puckett notably won the award six times. Byron Buxton is the Twins' most recent winner, earning the award last year.
With the 2026 Silver Slugger winners set to be announced on the Baseball Insiders Podcast in November, we thought it'd be fun to take a look at the youngest and oldest Twins Silver Slugger Award winners in history.
Catcher Joe Mauer was the youngest Twins player to win the Louisville Silver Slugger Award
Mauer won his first of five Silver Slugger Awards as a 23-year-old in 2006. The Hall of Fame catcher posted an MLB-best .347 batting average with an outstanding .429 on-base percentage, .507 slugging percentage, 13 home runs, 36 doubles, four triples and 84 RBI over 140 games that season. Mauer recorded 5.8 bWAR, struck out just 54 times and walked 79 times in 2006. He also made his first career All-Star Team and finished sixth in AL MVP voting.
Mauer went on to win four more Silver Slugger Awards at catcher, earning the honor in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2013. Throughout his 15-year MLB career, Mauer posted 55.6 bWAR while hitting .306/.388/.439. If it weren't for injuries, there's a strong chance Mauer would've won even more Silver Slugger awards and would've remained a catcher rather than moving to first base toward the end of his career.
DH Paul Molitor was the oldest Twins player to win the Louisville Silver Slugger Award
At 39 years old, Nelson Cruz won the Silver Slugger Award as a designated hitter in 2020. Surprisingly, he wasn't the oldest Twins player to win the award, as Paul Molitor was named a Silver Slugger as a designated hitter shortly after turning 40 in 1996.
Molitor joined his hometown team ahead of the 1996 season after 15 years with the Milwaukee Brewers and three with the Toronto Blue Jays. Molitor had already cemented himself as a Hall of Famer before putting together a spectacular season with the Twins in 1996, slashing a remarkable .341/.390/.468 with nine home runs, 41 doubles and eight triples over 161 games. He also collected his 3,000th career hit in 1996.
Before the 1996 season, Molitor had already won three Silver Slugger Awards. Throughout his 21-year MLB career, Molitor accumulated 75.7 bWAR while hitting .306/.369/.448. He is now an analyst on the Twins' TV and radio broadcasts.
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