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If you haven’t heard, the Minnesota Twins pulled off the improbable and signed Carlos Correa to a long-term deal. With Correa in the fold as the Twins shortstop for the next six seasons and potentially ten and carrying the richest contract in franchise history, it feels safe to ask one question. How long until Correa can be considered the best shortstop in Twins history?
To open the answer to that question, we can state the obvious: it won’t take much. In case you missed it, the shortstop position has been a bit of a revolving door over the years. While that is true, it has also been filled by some Twins favorites like Christian Guzman . While we have loved many of those players over the years, the position has lacked some much needed star talent until the arrival of Correa and the numbers show that.
In Correa’s one season in Minnesota, he put up a 5.4 bWAR. In what felt like a pretty mediocre season by Correa standards after a slow start to 2022. Still, that WAR number landed third on the Twins all-time single-season list (when sorted for players playing at least 50% of their time at shortstop). Correa finds himself behind only the incredible 1965 MVP season produces by Zoilo Versalles that tops the list at 7.2 bWAR. Roy Smalley is between Versalles and Correa with his 5.9 bWAR in 1978.
Correa has already put himself firmly in a place where his name will have to be mentioned amongst some of the best to play shortstop for the Twins. Correa should only continue to put up similar, if not better, numbers as he returns to Minnesota. Correa has twice in his career put up WAR numbers above 7, with his 2021 season matching Versalles’ 7.2. While that is impressive, the greatest of all time assumes some longevity. So who tops that list for the Twins, and what will it take Correa to get there?
Before we talk about the top of the list, there are some fun names on this all-time list to highlight. Two shortstops put in one season with the Twins and rank 14th and 15th according to WAR. Number 14 is Andrelton Simmons (1.5 WAR) and at 15 J.J. Hardy (1.4 WAR). Even Pedro Florimon makes the list at 12 with his 2.0 WAR from 2012 to 2014. Not exactly the start of a storied history. The focus of the present already finds himself 10th on this all time ranking.
At the top is the guy with the longest tenure, Smalley. Over his career with the Twins and multiple positions, he accrued 20.9 WAR. Greg Gagne comes in second with 17.9 WAR over his career. Gagne's claim, over everyone else on this list, is that he was the shortstop for both World Series titles. Coming in tied for third, but with plenty of WAR accrued at another position, is Jorge Polanco with 15.3 WAR. Almost half of those numbers have come after his switch to second base. The aforementioned Versalles is tied with Polanco, with almost half of his total coming from his one MVP season.
If we make WAR the benchmark for Correa, three more identical seasons to 2022 puts him 0.1 WAR shy of Smalley’s mark with the Twins. Outside of the shortened 2020 season, Correa’s lowest total for a single season was 3.1 WAR in 2018. If Correa even performed at that level over the next six seasons he would become the Twins all-time WAR leader at shortstop at 23.8 WAR.
Numbers are part of the story but may not mean everything when discussing the best shortstop of all time for the Twins. There is a lot of love for the players who have brought the two rings to Minnesota. Because of that, it would help Correa’s case to bring the Twins back to that level of play finally. He may not even need to win a championship, but serious contention for one will be needed in order to hurdle Gagne and Smalley when considering more than purely numbers.
The best WAR total is very much within reach for Correa. The question will be how those other achievements fit into the equation and what team achievements he will lead everyone in accomplishing. Correa is already a well-rounded baseball player hitting for average, for power, providing good defense, and great leadership. It would be hard to see Correa not fill out those superlatives one would look for when crowning the greatest player at the franchise’s shortstop position.
Whether it is only six years or the length of the full reported contract, Carlos Correa could very easily be considered the best shortstop in Twins history by the contract’s end.
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