Minnesota’s Best Defensive Seasons

Interesting question as to how accurate defensive metrics were in the "early" years of 2002. 

I think now with Statcast, comparisons from early years will come with the qualifier that such and such a defensive stat was compiled prior to the Statcast era.

That's my bet.

They are able to triangulate launch angle, exit velocity and overall route and speed of the defender, that will give them a likliehood that a catch gets made, and from that, they aggregate how many catchers of that likliehood percentage were made -- you've got your defender of the year.

All that said, infielders should be judged somewhat differently given the vagaries of a bouncing ball, transfer time, arm speed and thrown velocity -- different for sure, but still cast-statable.

Buxton also won the Fielding Bible award for top CF in baseball.

I don't recall anyone having the year Buxton had. 

Out of the old-school players, Greg Gagne was pretty remarkable. I'm still waiting for a defensive SS anywhere near his ability to arrive.

vic power? earl battey? jim kaat?

Maybe it's because it is so fresh in my mind.. Buxton's 2017 soars a mile high over Gomez and Hunter's strong seasons. Not sure about Koskie's season - I do recall thinking he was an underrated magician at 3rd base.

I won't invite ridicule from the far more knowledgeable (and analytical) fans here by suggesting that Nick Punto belongs on the list, but I will never forget the comment by Ken Harrelson (a first-ballot inductee if they ever open a Most Annoying Broadcasters wing in Cooperstown) in the final game of a series in which Punto had been killing the White Sox with one stellar play after another: "Man, we've gotta stop hitting 'em to that guy."

I won't invite ridicule from the far more knowledgeable (and analytical) fans here by suggesting that Nick Punto belongs on the list, but I will never forget the comment by Ken Harrelson (a first-ballot inductee if they ever open a Most Annoying Broadcasters wing in Cooperstown) in the final game of a series in which Punto had been killing the White Sox with one stellar play after another: "Man, we've gotta stop hitting 'em to that guy."

Well, Gardy believed he was the best fielder on the team at every position, so maybe you have something there :-)

The Calvin Griffith teams were known for having outstanding infield defenses. I'm not sure how accurate we can be when we only look back 15 years. The underrated 70s teams were playing very good defense.

That's the name the immediately came to my mind.  He was as steady as a SS can be in 1991.  Always made the play needed to be made, always in the right spot.

And, he spent his career in the dome, which I do not believe was considered "infielder friendly."

He played elsewhere and didn't spend his entire career in Minnesota ... but the majority of it certainly.

Really? Did not know that. But, you knew that, didn't you?

Hmm, you seem to have left out Joe Mauer's 2017 season Man, those Twins teams of the early 2000s were so fun to watch in the field.

 

I'm interested if anybody in TD land has any recollections to share about catcher Butch Wynegar's 1979 season. He led the league in caught stealing at 53%, was behind the plate for 146 games and only had six errors and five passed balls. He was before my time, so I never saw him play. Obviously, evaluation of catcher defense has evolved quite a bit in recent years, but did he have a pretty strong reputation at the time?

He was good enough that the Yankees came calling. And it wasn't because of his bat necessarily. Hit only 65 bombs in his career. Was a decent hitter though.

The Wynegar trade for Filson (and others) was not a popular move for Twins fans. This was one one of the worst trades the team ever did. Wynegar had become too expensive.

And, he spent his career in the dome, which I do not believe was considered "infielder friendly."

Well, the ball moves quicker for sure, but all hops are true and predictable.  Then there's the fact that an infielder can get the ball over to 1B, even if it's not in the air, by skipping it off the turf.