Can't argue with any of the players on this list. As a Twins fan since the beginning, I have to say we have had some truly great players come thru over the years!

Hard choices, but have to include Puck.  I’m a long term fan, and I think he really changed the dynamic toward winning and the way fans began to relate with real love (and not just “Minnesota niceness”) for the team.

It's hard to argue with that list. Especially if we're only talking about the hitters.  I'd be hard pressed to put any pitcher over those guys though.  

3 minutes ago, James said:

It's hard to argue with that list. Especially if we're only talking about the hitters.  I'd be hard pressed to put any pitcher over those guys though.  

I agree, I think Blyleven and Santana could be on this list but the other guys were just sooo good.

2 hours ago, Karbo said:

Can't argue with any of the players on this list. As a Twins fan since the beginning, I have to say we have had some truly great players come thru over the years!

I agree It's a good think as a Twins fan that this list was hard to make. There are so many players deserving but I think those guys deserved it the most.

Carew might be debatable since he only played half his career in Minnesota 

Are we including their history as the Washington Senators? Because if so, the omission of Walter Johnson is an egregious oversight 😉

56 minutes ago, Adam Neisen said:

Carew might be debatable since he only played half his career in Minnesota 

To use WAR as a quick-and-dirty measure: Carew racked up a no-brainer Hall of Fame total of 81 wins above replacement in his career.  This can be broken into 64 WAR in his 12 years with the Twins and "only" 17 WAR (pffff) in 8 years with the Angels.  Even if he had retired rather than accept the trade, he'd have had a strong HoF case (50 is commonly thought to be where you have to at least give strong consideration).  And that total of 64 still leads all Twins hitters careerwise - yes, edging out the Killer.  No need to factor in his Angels career at all.  I wouldn't use WAR as the be-all and end-all for such discussions, because the player's character can and should play a part, but it gives me comfort when looking at Carew's qualifications here.  I don't see where debate is possible concerning Carew as top-4 Twin at minimum.

Not that anybody cares but I actually prefer Wins Above Average on b-r.com to basic WAR when the subject is MVP-level greatness, and the OP's choice of 4 happens to correspond to the top 4 in career WAA.  You know who happens to be #5?  You probably won't guess.   Chuck Knoblauch.  Chuck's 7 years with the Twins really packed a punch.  Nobody's putting him on any mountains, though - you want your Rushmore to be guys you love.  Some will, some won't.  We're lucky the real Mount Rushmore doesn't have Five Stone Faces, or we'd have something really debatable.

17 minutes ago, Steve Lein said:

Are we including their history as the Washington Senators? Because if so, the omission of Walter Johnson is an egregious oversight 😉

Yes to the latter, and therefore I think your question answers itself. (Also, the subject line of the post.)

Official list is as follows:

1. Chris Archer

2. Tyler Duffey

3. Kennys Vargas

4. Byung-ho Park

Crazy that not a single one was even mentioned for contention, 

4 minutes ago, Freddy Stolz said:

Official list is as follows:

1. Chris Archer

2. Tyler Duffey

3. Kennys Vargas

4. Byung-ho Park

Crazy that not a single one was even mentioned for contention, 

No such list can omit Tsuyoshi Nishioka.  I'd also lobby for Lance Lynn instead of Archer.

6 hours ago, Steve Lein said:

Are we including their history as the Washington Senators? Because if so, the omission of Walter Johnson is an egregious oversight 😉

You beat me to this post. I was going to put the same thing. I feel it is important to include the Washington Senators in these type of things. It's our franchise history.

3 minutes ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

You beat me to this post. I was going to put the same thing. I feel it is important to include the Washington Senators in these type of things. It's our franchise history.

I may be wrong here. The definition of a baseball franchise includes the term "at a specific location". Washington is not Minnesota.  But I still like the historical connection to the old Washington Senators franchise, which moved its franchise to Minnesota.   Walter Johnson, Joe Cronin, Sam Rice, Goose Goslin and Heinie Manush are all Washington Senators in the Hall of Fame. If we included the old Washington Senators along with the Minnesota Twins on our franchise Mt. Rushmore,  and based our selection solely on WAR, the players would rank as follows: Walter  "Big Train" Johnson 164.9; Rod Carew 81.2; Goose Goslin 66.4; Joe Cronin 64.7; Harmon Killebrew 60.3; Joe Mauer 55.2; Kirby Puckett 51.2; Sam Rice 54.4 and last, but not least, Heinie Manush 48.0.  

First off, absolutely agreed with the original list. Killer, Carew, Kirby, Joe—I can't really think of any way to move any of them off it. That said, if we included the Senators... well, Walter Johnson would have to be on it at the very least. My early baseball history is hazy, but Goose is a familiar name.
 

Then we have a difficult task though. Mauer has the least postseason success, but he's a Twins lifer, should be a surefire HoFer, and a Minnesota boy through and through. Kirby has the least WAR, but he was an excellent player and led us to a championship. Carew has the most WAR of any Twin as a Twin—Walter was a Senator—and was a damn good Twin (fun fact: Calvin Griffith's awfulness and trading away Carew led to my dad taking a hiatus from being a Twins fan). And Harmon... well, he hit 573 home runs (granted, 14 of them were for Kansas City).

11 hours ago, Adam Neisen said:

Carew might be debatable since he only played half his career in Minnesota 

Carew is the clear cut #1. He won all 7 batting titles with the Twins and ripped off seasons of .350, .359, .364, .388 in the 70s. He won 6 batting titles in 7 years and the year he didn’t win, he hit .332.

He stole 49 bases for the Twins in a season and stole home 7 times in one season for the Twins.

Carew had 3 200 hit seasons for the Twins, none for the Angels. And in that glorious 1977 season, he had 239 hits, 38 doubles, 16 triples and 14 HR. And a .449 OBP!

Throw in 163 SB in a 4 year period and Rodney Cline Carew stands at the top of Mt. Rushmore for this Twins fan since 1964.

He won his only MVP award in Minnesota on a 4th place team of 7!

It was only due to the penuriousness of Calvin Griffith who kept NOBODY of any talent after free agency started in 1975 that the Twins lost their greatest player ever. 

As far as having played half his career in Minnesota, he played 12 seasons for the Twins and 7 for the Angels,

I like Joe Mauer & respect his numbers & career a bunch……. if he tares his knee up like Oliva after 8 years his path is doomed as well. Not his fault he stayed more healthy!!……………Oliva is my 4th guy!

I love these Mount Rushmore lists, reminds me of all the great, above avg and just plain solid players the Twins have had over the years. I can't argue with any of the names on the list accept for Walter, I think we keep it with Twins who played in Minn, I get it, but our Twins are a Minnesota team.

Maybe we can have a Mount Rushmore of just everyones favorite Twins, might make for more discussion.

Hrbek, Lyman Bostock, Torii Hunter, Oliva,,,, to many to choose.

14 hours ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

I may be wrong here. The definition of a baseball franchise includes the term "at a specific location". Washington is not Minnesota.  But I still like the historical connection to the old Washington Senators franchise, which moved its franchise to Minnesota.   Walter Johnson, Joe Cronin, Sam Rice, Goose Goslin and Heinie Manush are all Washington Senators in the Hall of Fame. If we included the old Washington Senators along with the Minnesota Twins on our franchise Mt. Rushmore,  and based our selection solely on WAR, the players would rank as follows: Walter  "Big Train" Johnson 164.9; Rod Carew 81.2; Goose Goslin 66.4; Joe Cronin 64.7; Harmon Killebrew 60.3; Joe Mauer 55.2; Kirby Puckett 51.2; Sam Rice 54.4 and last, but not least, Heinie Manush 48.0.  

Couldn't they just put Heinie on the backside?

Gonna stick with the post-61 Twins here:

Terry Felton
Sidney Ponson
Tommy Herr
Tom Nieto
 

5 hours ago, Chaz1966 said:

I think we keep it with Twins who played in Minn, I get it, but our Twins are a Minnesota team.

A lot of it IMO comes down to how the team was marketed when it came to its new location.  The Dodgers and Giants played up the long roots back in NY when they went to California, and both had been in a World Series just a few seasons earlier.  The Senators by contrast hadn't won 80 games in a non-war season since 1936 - their reputation was just mud.  I wasn't there in 1961 but I bet the Griffiths did their best to say at every opportunity, "no, no, these are the MINNESOTA TWINS.  Brand new and shiny!"  It's true that the major league franchise dates back to 1901; but the TEAM from Minnesota's perspective started in 1961, and it's the hearts and minds that I'll cater to when thinking about all-time teams, even if we forego a few all-timers like Walter Johnson.  IOW it's an emotional choice and not many minds are going to get changed.

How about a Mount Rushmore of Twins pitching seasons?  It probably needs a limit of one per pitcher or It might be just Santana and Blyleven!

Johan Santana 2006

Bert Blyleven 1973

Frank Viola 1988

Jim Perry 1970  OR  Throw in a reliever -- Joe Nathan 2006

Excitability and intensity Rushmore:  :

1.   Dan Gladden

2.  Juan Berenguer 

3.  Ron Gardenhire 

4.  Doug Mientkiewicz 

(honorable mention: Sergio Romo) 

Four H

Four Hall of Fame Twins:  Harmon Killebrew, Rod Carew, Kirby Puckett, and Tony Oliva.  Cased Closed.

If you put Mauer on here, you need to put Oliva. Oliva had just as many great years as Mauer.