What is the roster? This is a real chore - as you might have noticed as I examined each of the positions in the previous weeks.The Bench for the Best in Twins history is made up of people who fill roles and not just the best players of all time. From the bench to the starters I have tried to find the men who would truly represent the Twins best of all time based on where they played and how they fit the roles.

The Bench in today’s game has to have some special qualities. The easy one is backup catcher. Battey will back up Mauer so one position is set.

Bob Allison could play all three positions in the OF and 1B. He also Pinch hit 117 times so he is my number four outfielder on the bench.

To fill the bench, I am looking at pinch hitters and Rich Reese has the most pinch hit grand slams in a career – 3. Not a bad place to start. Randy Bush had the most pinch consecutive pinch hits in a season – 7. Steve Braun had 113 pinch hits good for 12th all time. He played for the Twins the first six years of his 15 year career and PH 90 of his 496 PH appearances with us. Since he appeared in LF, RF, 1B. 2B, SS, 3B during those years he has to be added to the bench.

Utility player is harder to define – Killebrew had his primary starts in three positions – 3B, LF, 1B and he was DH, RF, and 2B too. Quite a versatile player that is seldom recognized for that fact. But the ones that stand out are Nick Punto, Cesar Tovar, Steve Braun, Jerry Terrell, Ron Washington, Al Newman, Jeff Reboulet, Denny Hocking, and Michael Cuddyer.

• Cesar Tovar 8 years .281/.337/.377/.714 25.9 WAR Every position

• Michael Cuddyer 11 years .272/.343/.451/.794 12.8 WAR Every Position except P/C/SS

• Steve Braun 6 years .284/.376/.381/.757 15 WAR Every position except P/C/CF

• Nick Punto 7 years .248/.323/.324/.648 10.3 WAR Every position except C/P/1B

• Jeff Reboulet 5 years .248/.335/.324/.659 5.8 WAR Every position except P

• Al Newman 5 years .231/.306/.275/.581 2.1 WAR Every position except P/C/RF

• Ron Washington 6 years .265/.294/.373/.667 1.5 WAR P/C/LF/RF

• Jerry Terrell 6 years .259/.295/.311/.606 0.9 WAR Every position except P/C

• Denny Hocking 11 years .252/.310/.351/.661 0.3 WAR Every position but C/P

I will take Tovar for Utility – Cuddyer did not play SS and that is really important for a Utility player.

My bench – four men

1. Earl Battey C

2. Bob Allison OF

3. Steve Braun – PH/Utility

4. Cesar Tovar – Utility

The Bullpen is the next big group so I would choose those who were in the discussion for the best closer.

1. Joe Nathan 7 years, 24 – 13 2.16 era, 260 saves 460 games, 463 innings 18.4 WAR

2. Rick Aquilera, 11 years, 254 saves, 3.50 era, 15.5 WAR.

3. Al Worthington 6 years 2.62 era 327 games 473 innings 88 saves and 10.1 WAR

4. Bill Campbell, 4 years, 3,13, 216 games, 460 innings, 7.6 WAR.

5. Mike Marshall 3 years 21 – 20 2.99 era, 162 games, 274 innings, 6.9 WAR

6. Eddie Guardado 12 years, 116 saves, 37 – 38 4.53 ERA, 648 games 704 innings. 9.5 WAR

7. Glen Perkins 35 – 25, 3.88, 120 saves, 409 games 624 innings (he was a starter for a while) and 8.8 WAR.

The Rotation is:

1. Johan Santana

2. Bert Blyleven

3. Brad Radtke

4. Jim Kaat

5. Jim Perry

That is 12 pitchers, a four man-bench and we have the following starters – second name is who would ranked second at each position in the look at all time leaders per position that I have just completed. This is also my batting order.

1. DH – Molitor – Thome

2. RF – Oliva – Brunansky

3. CF – Puckett – Hunter

4. 3B – Killebrew – Castino

5. 1B – Hrbek – Morneau

6. LF – Mack – Allison

7. SS – Cardenas – Versalles

8. 2B – Carew – Knoblauch

9. C – Mauer - Battey

One year manager - Billy Martin

GM Terry Ryan