Andrew Mahlke

We all know that Miguel Sanó can be one of the best hitters in baseball at times. He can also be one of the worst hitters in baseball at times. Sanó’s inconsistency is giving the Twins a big question heading into 2022? What will they do with Miguel Sanó? In the first half of the 2021 season, Sanó hit .196/.279/.426 (.705) while hitting 15 home runs, but he struck out 36 percent of the time. His 36% strikeout rate in the first half was the third highest in all of MLB (min. 200 plate appearances). Sanó’s second half was much better offensively, as he hit .250/.343/.504 (.847) with 15 home runs once again. His hard hit rate went up from 50 percent to 60 percent, so he was hitting the ball hard more consistently. Bombs Away When Sanó makes contact, he makes some of the hardest contact in the league. Since debuting in 2015, Sanó has the sixth highest average exit velocity among all MLB hitters, behind only Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Nelson Cruz, Fernando Tatis Jr., and David Ortiz. In 2021, he was in the 99th percentile of hard hit rate and the 97th percentile of average exit velocity. He was also in the 97th percentile of all hitters in barrel %, a metric used to show how consistently a player can square the ball up in the air. Sanó has the 11th most home runs in Twins history and he will be in at least ninth after the 2022 season. He has also hit five of the ten longest home runs for the Twins in the statcast era (2015-present), including this 495 foot blast at Fenway Park in 2021. Not all Rainbows and Sunshine However, Sanó’s limiting factor is that he does not exactly make the most consistent contact. In the history of the Minnesota Twins, Sanó’s career 36.5 percent strikeout rate is the highest in Twins history (min. 1000 PA). Since 2000, among all MLB hitters with at least 1000 plate appearances, Sanó has the third highest strikeout rate behind Keon Broxton and Joey Gallo. Sanó is also not a viable defender at first base. In 2021, Sanó was worth -5 Defensive Runs Saved and was last among all first basemen in UZR, a metric that measures a player’s defensive worth while taking their range into account. Options Going Forward According to Spotrac, Sanó is due to make $9.25 million in 2022. After 2022, the Twins have a club option of $14 million on Sanó in 2023, which means that the Twins can decide if they want to keep Sanó in 2023 for $14 million. If they don’t pick up the option, Sanó will be a free agent. What will the Twins do with Sanó? Here are three options: Option One: Trade Sanó before the 2022 season The first option the Twins have is that they could forgo paying Sanó $9.25MM in 2022 and trade him. In return, the Twins could receive some young starting pitching so they can get some value out of Sanó if they choose to punt in 2022. The Twins could receive some young pitching in return and set up for success in 2023 and 2024. Option Two: Pick up the $14 million option If Sanó has an outstanding 2022 season, the Twins could choose to exercise his $14 million option and keep him on the team through 2023. If Sanó has another season like he did in 2019, in which he had a .923 OPS and 34 home runs, the Twins should pick up the option. Sanó has always had the potential to put together a great season and he has shown flashes of excellence during his seven year tenure with the Twins. Option Three: Let Sanó play the 2022 season and don’t pick up the option In my opinion, this is the most likely option for the Twins. If Sanó has another season like we are used to seeing from him, the Twins will not pick up his option and let him become a free agent. Sanó has never posted a WAR above 3 in a season and at times can be a major offensive liability. The Twins have bigger holes on their roster than first base as Alex Kirilloff has shown he can be a good option there. In a rookie season filled with bad luck, Kirilloff still had an OPS just 56 points lower than Sanó and with more batted ball luck Kirilloff could likely be a more consistent hitter and a better option than Sanó. Additionally, Kirilloff was better defensively at first base than Sanó in 2021. Here are a few statistics that show Kirilloff’s defensive superiority to Sanó: Outs Above Average Defensive Runs Saved Ultimate Zone Rating Kirilloff 2 1 1.4 Sanó -6 -5 -6.4 In a limited sample, Kirilloff has been a better defensive first baseman than Sanó and shows a lot of promise with the bat. Kirilloff is the Twins first baseman of the future and the Twins should not spend $14 million on Sanó in 2023 if Kirilloff is a better option than he is. Final Thoughts 2022 looks to be an extremely important year in Miguel Sanó’s career and barring a more consistent year at the plate, it could definitely be Sanó’s last year as a member of the Minnesota Twins. What do you think the Twins should do with Miguel Sanó? What does Sanó need to show the Twins in order for them to exercise his 2023 option? How does Sanó compare to Kirilloff? Let me know what you think in the comments! Thank you for reading, and Go Twins! View full article

I think if Buxton plays 130 games he should outperform these expectations. This article gets me fired up for 2022, even if the twins aren’t amazing, it would be fun to have a superstar on the team for 130 games

Correct. This post is just for those making their regular season debuts in 2021. Sorry for the confusion.

In 2018, the Twins traded Ryan Pressly for Celestino and Alcala.

Yeah I get that he was a rookie. I was just talking about players who debuted in ‘21

No I left him off because he made his debut in 2020

2021 was not a great year for Twins fans. The Twins came into the 2021 season projected by PECOTA to win the division at 91-71. As we all know, that was not the case, as the Twins finished dead last in the AL Central at 73-89. However, a bad season like 2021 means getting to see some of the prospects we have heard about for so long finally make their Major League debuts. In 2021, 10 Twins made their Major League debuts with various amounts of success. Nonetheless, a lot of these guys could play major roles in contributing to the future success of the team. Let’s see how they did. Alex Kirilloff, OF/1B Even though Alex Kirilloff played a game in the playoffs in 2020, he didn’t officially make his major league debut until April 14, 2021. Kirilloff had a rough start at the plate, going 0-for-15 to start his career despite some bad batted-ball luck. In April, Kirilloff’s xSLG was an otherworldly .825 but his actual slugging percentage was only .400. His average exit velocity was 95.4 MPH in April and 93 MPH in May. However, on May 5, the Twins placed Kirilloff on the IL because of a wrist injury. Kirilloff returned to the lineup on May 21 and was not the same the rest of the season, only hitting .260/.316/.387 the rest of the year. On July 21, it was announced that Kirilloff would undergo season-ending wrist surgery. In 2021, Kirilloff hit .251/.299/.423 (.722) but a lot of that was impacted by his nagging wrist injury. Lately, Kirilloff has been taking batting practice and should be ready to go for the 2022 season. Kirilloff remains an extremely promising player and should be a middle-of-the-order bat for the Twins for years to come. Grade: B Ben Rortvedt, C After Ryan Jeffers started the season 5-for-34 with 18 strikeouts and only one extra base hit, the Twins called up left-handed hitting Ben Rortvedt to back up Mitch Garver. On April 30, Rortvedt made his major league debut against the Kansas City Royals, going 1-for-3 with a walk. He recorded his first major league hit in the bottom of the eighth inning, hitting an RBI single off of Wade Davis to drive in Andrelton Simmons. Rortvedt was unimpressive at the plate in 2021, hitting .169/.229/.281 (.510) with three home runs in 98 plate appearances. Behind the plate, Rortvedt was a very good catcher. In only 256 innings, Rortvedt was worth five Defensive Runs Saved. This ranked 19th in all of MLB, and nobody else in the top 30 had less than 300 innings. Rortvedt also has a very good arm, throwing out 7 of 16 potential base stealers (44 percent). That was fourth in all of MLB among catchers with at least 200 innings. Rortvedt was a very good defensive catcher with subpar offensive abilities. If he can take a step forward with his bat, he has the potential to be an important part of the Twins future, especially if the Twins decide to trade Garver or Jeffers to acquire starting pitching. Grade: C Nick Gordon, UTIL Growing up in a baseball family, Nick Gordon had lofty expectations since being drafted in the first round by the Twins in 2014. Since then, he has had struggles with health and he became a bit of an afterthought in terms of Twins prospects. So when he made his Major League debut on May 6th, it was a feel good story for all. In his first plate appearance, he walked and then stole second on the next pitch. In his next plate appearance, he roped a single to right field for his first major league hit and then stole second base five pitches later. Gordon struck out his next plate appearance before being lifted for Jorge Polanco in the 8th inning. Gordon finished the day 1-for-2 with a walk and two stolen bases. On June 4, Gordon hit his first big league homer with his dad in the stands. Gordon was below-average with the bat, hitting .240/.292/.355 (.647). As the season progressed, Gordon greatly improved offensively. In September and October, Gordon had an OPS of .752 and a wRC+ of 103, meaning he was slightly above average in those months. He also was hitting the ball harder as the season progressed. Below is a graph of his hard hit rate by month. All season, Gordon’s hard hit rate hovered around 45 percent but in September it jumped to 63 percent. This is very encouraging to see from a young player. Gordon also was very versatile and showed he could move around the diamond which can be very beneficial for a team. He played at least 10 games at shortstop, second base, left field, and center field. He was also a good baserunner, going 10-for11 on stolen bases. He was in the 71st percentile of all players in sprint speed. Gordon could be a valuable asset for the Twins going forward if he continues to build off of his strong September and continues to be versatile. Grade: C+ Trevor Larnach, OF Ever since they drafted Trevor Larnach with the 20th overall pick in the 2018 draft, the Twins have had high expectations for him. After an impressive 2019 season between High-A and AA, Larnach has looked ready for the big leagues. He finally got his wish on May 8th, when he was the starting left fielder against the Detroit Tigers. Larnach didn’t exactly have a debut to remember, going 0-for-4 with a hit-by-pitch. Larnach picked up his first hit on May 12, when he doubled off of former Twin Liam Hendriks. Larnach got off to a good start in the big leagues, hitting .262/.357/.436 with a 120 wRC+ through July 9. After that date, Larnach was abysmal at the plate. From that point on he had a wRC+ of 29 and struck out in 42 percent of his plate appearances. He was not a great hitter against offspeed pitches. Among all MLB hitters with at least 50 plate appearances, Larnach had the highest whiff rate against sliders (56 percent) and the highest whiff rate against changeups (52 percent). The good news is that Larnach hit .362 with a .667 slugging percentage against fastballs. Teams figured out he had issues against offspeed and started throwing over 50 percent of pitches as offspeed pitches. Larnach showed some flashes of being a great hitter (max exit velocity in the 97th percentile), so if he adjusts to offspeed pitches he will be a cornerstone of the Twins lineup for years to come Grade: B- Bailey Ober, RHP At 6 feet 9 inches, Bailey Ober is the third tallest pitcher in Twins history behind Jon Rauch and Aaron Slegers. Ober and his imposing presence first appeared in the big leagues on May 18 against the Chicago White Sox. Ober went four innings, allowing four runs on five hits and one walk. He gave up home runs to Jake Lamb and Yasmani Grandal and struck out four. He got a no-decision and the Twins ended up winning 5-4 behind three Miguel Sano home runs. Ober made 20 starts in his rookie season, going 3-3 with a 4.19 ERA. Ober threw 92 innings and had a team high 5.05 K/BB ratio. This ratio was fifth best in the American League. Ober was in the 94th percentile of all pitchers in terms of walk rate and in the 85th percentile in terms of chase rate. Ober hardly threw pitches outside of the zone but when he did, hitters chased them at a high rate. Ober’s average fastball in 2021 was only 92 miles per hour, but his big frame causes the batters to have less reaction time because the ball is being released at around 52 feet from home plate, almost a foot closer than the average pitcher releases it from. This creates the illusion that Ober’s fastball is moving faster than it actually is. Despite having below average stuff (percentile rankings below), Ober’s large frame elevates him to being a good pitcher (102 ERA+) and if Ober can improve his stuff in the coming years he could be a fantastic pitcher for the Twins. Grade: A- Gilberto Celestino, OF With injuries to Byron Buxton, Max Kepler, Jake Cave, and Rob Refsnyder early in 2021, the Twins needed a center fielder. They decided to call up Gilberto Celestino from AA, and he made his major league debut on June 2 against the Orioles. Celestino had a rather uneventful debut, going 0-for-2 with a strikeout in a 6-3 loss. Celestino recorded his first major league hit on June 9 against the Yankees. Over the 2021 season, Celestino mightily struggled at the plate with the Twins, hitting .136/.177/.288 (.466). It was clear Celestino was overmatched at the big league level, so they sent him down to AAA St. Paul after 22 games, and he hit well at the AAA level, having a wRC+ of 125 in 49 games there. In retrospect, Celestino wasn’t ready for the big leagues but is still a good ball player. Having some big league experience under his belt will help him going forward, and he could be Byron Buxton’s primary backup going forward so we probably will be seeing Celestino in the big leagues again at some point in 2022. Grade: D Griffin Jax, RHP On June 8, Griffin Jax made history. He became the first Air Force Academy graduate to play Major League Baseball. Jax was used in a mop-up role against the Yankees in the 9th inning when the Twins were down 5-3. Jax did not have a very good debut, going one inning while allowing three runs on home runs from Miguel Andujar and Gary Sanchez. He did record his first big league strikeout when he struck out Tyler Wade on a 2-2 slider. In 2021, Griffin Jax had a tough rookie season. He went 4-5 with a 6.37 ERA. He allowed 2.52 HR/ 9 innings which was the highest among all MLB pitchers (minimum 60 innings). That number is also the highest for a single season in Twins history (min. 60 IP). The big problem was his fastball. Jax’s fastball was the fifth worst fastball in all of baseball in terms of xSLG. Jax’s fastball got crushed in 2021, but he continued to throw it almost 50 percent of the time. Jax’s slider, on the other hand, could be a very good pitch. Jax’s .271 xwOBA against the slider is good and signals that it is a pitch he should be throwing more than just 30 percent of the time, maybe up to 50 percent. Despite a bad 2021, Jax could bounce back by relying more on his off-speed pitches and revamping his pitch arsenal going into 2022. Grade: D Charlie Barnes, LHP Charlie Barnes made his major league debut in the first game of a July 17 doubleheader with the Detroit Tigers. After the first batter he faced (Robbie Grossman) went deep, Barnes was very good. Barnes went 4 2/3 innings, allowing one run on four hits and a walk while striking out one. He recorded his first major league strikeout in the second inning when he struck out Zack Short on a changeup. In Barnes’s rookie season, he went 0-3 with a 5.92 ERA. Barnes made eight starts for the Twins and threw 38 total innings. Barnes bounced back and forth between the Twins and the minor leagues quite a bit, so he never really got the chance to establish himself at the big league level. On December 23, Barnes signed with the Lotte Giants in Korea, so we wish him the best of luck in Korea as he pursues professional baseball there. Grade: D Joe Ryan, RHP Any prospect who yields a player as good as Nelson Cruz should be good enough to make an impact in the big leagues for a long time. On September 1st, Joe Ryan gave us a taste of what he will be like for years to come. Ryan had a solid major league debut, going five innings, allowing three runs on three hits and a walk while striking out five batters. He got his first career strikeout in the first inning when he struck out Ian Happ with a high fastball. Ryan had a solid debut season for the Twins, only throwing 26 innings, but going 2-1 with a 4.05 ERA. However, Ryan had some bad luck, as his xERA was 2.99. He also had 10.1 K/9 and only 1.7 BB/9. This 10.1 K/9 rate is the highest by any rookie starter in Twins history (min. 25 IP). Ryan relied on a very good high fastball/slider combination to get strikeouts. Going into 2022, Ryan is one of three starters the Twins have in the rotation. His role on the team will depend on if the Twins make any more pitching acquisitions, but expect Ryan to be a fixture in the Twins rotation next year. Grade: A- Jovani Moran, LHP Jovani Moran was very limited in year one, but he should be a fixture in the Twins bullpen in years to come. Moran made his major league debut on September 12 and went 1 1/3 innings, allowing no runs on two hits and two walks while striking out two batters. He collected his first major league strikeout when he got Nicky Lopez to chase a devastating changeup. Jovani Moran only threw eight innings for the Twins in 2021, and at first glance you wouldn’t think he was very good. He had an ERA of 7.88 and walked seven guys in eight innings. If you look deeper, Moran was unlucky. He had an xERA of 3.84, meaning he had some awful batted-ball luck. He also throws one of the best swing-and-miss pitches in the Twins organization, a disgusting changeup. His whiff rate on that pitch was an astounding 51.4 percent, meaning that over half of the swings on that pitch were misses. This changeup whiff rate was the fourth highest for any pitcher in the league. Moran was impressive in his limited work in 2021, and I am excited to see him and his changeup in the 2022 bullpen. Grade: B Final Thoughts Despite a rough season, the Twins gave us a glimpse into their future. We saw a lot to like out of some of the Twins young players in 2021 and if these players can take a step forward in 2022 and continue to develop, the Twins should be able to contend for the AL Central in the near future. What do you think of these grades? How would you grade these players for their rookie seasons? Which of these players are you most excited to watch in 2022? Who is the most likely of these players to succeed going forward? Let me know your thoughts in the comments! Thank you for reading, and Go Twins! View full article

This is awesome analysis, I think Kirilloff is definitely the Twins 1B of the future, and he got extremely unlucky this year. This Baseball Savant leaderboard shows that Kirilloff's expected batting average (based on statcast factors) was .291 but his lack of luck caused him to hit .251. This 40 point difference was the 8th highest in all of MLB among players with > 100 batted balls. His expected slugging percentage was .541 but he only slugged .423. The 118 point difference was the second highest in MLB among players with >100 batted balls. He was also extremely unlucky with injury. There was a noticeable difference after June and you could see that his wrist was bothering him. If Kirilloff can overcome the wrist injury and get back to mashing balls, it will only be a matter of time until he is one of the best hitters in the American League.

In terms of sheer production I would put Killebrew, Carew, and maybe Mauer ahead of Puckett. But in terms of "greatness" I would take playoff performance and big moments into consideration as well. It is similar to how Tom Brady may not be as talented as other QB's like Aaron Rodgers but he is greater because he has more big moments and accolades. Puckett led the Twins to two World Series titles and that should be heavily considered in "greatness"

There have been plenty of great players in the history of the Minnesota Twins. From Killebrew to Buxton and many in-between, it is tough to narrow it down to the top twelve players in the history of the Twins. The second best player in Twins history is one of the best pure hitters in baseball history and is one of the best Panamanian players in MLB history. Rough Upbringing In October 1945, Rodney Cline Carew was born on a bus in Panama. The doctor who delivered him on the bus was named Rodney Cline, so Carew’s parents decided to name their baby after him. Growing up, Carew’s father had an alcohol problem and was verbally and physically abusive towards Rod and his brother Dickie. Rod did not have a good relationship with his father and leaned on his mother for support and guidance. When he was 17, he immigrated to New York City with his brother and mother. He began playing in a sandlot league there and was seen by Twins scout Monroe Katz. He passed on a good word to the New York area scout for the Twins, Herb Stein, and the Twins signed Carew in 1964 after he finished high school. A Legend Begins In Rod’s first full year in the minors, he batted .303 and stole 52 bases while playing a stellar second base. The next year, he hit .294 with 48 stolen bases. It was clear Carew was ready for the big leagues at the young age of 20. Rod made his major league debut in 1967 and impressed from the first game, going 2-for-4. That season, he hit .292/.341/.409 (.750) and was named as the starting second baseman for the AL in the all-star game, the first all-star selection of eighteen in his career. He won the rookie of the year in the American League. From 1968 to 1972 Rod was an all-star every year and was a good player, leading the AL in batting average twice. But Rod Carew wasn’t really Rod Carew until 1973. Prime Years From 1973 to 1978 Rod Carew was one of the best players in baseball. He led the AL in batting average five times, was named an all-star all six years, led the league in hits three times, and finished top 11 in MVP voting all six years including first place in 1977. Below are some of his stats over this time span and the ranks: Stat Value Rank WAR 39.3 3rd wRC+ 152 3rd OBP 0.42 1st AVG 0.354 1st Runs 583 3rd SB 213 9th 3B 58 1st OPS 0.902 5th WPA 22.2 2nd In addition to being the best player in the American League, he was also named the winner of the Roberto Clemente Award in 1977, which is given to the player who best represents the game of Baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field. Carew was the best to do it on and off the field in 1977, and winning the Clemente Award means more than any award he could win playing baseball. MVP Year Carew’s 1977 season was the best individual season in Twins history. In 1977, Carew led MLB in batting average (.388), OBP (.449), OPS (1.019), wRC+ (175), and hits (239). He accumulated 8.6 WAR and held an average above .400 from June 26 to July 10. Carew’s .388 average is the third closest anyone has come to hitting .400 since Ted Williams did it in 1941. His 239 hits are the fifth most of any single-season in the Expansion Era (1961-present). Life After Twins In 1978, Carew got word that owner Calvin Griffith said that he moved the franchise from Washington to Minnesota because "Minnesota only had 15,000 blacks." As a black player, this made a huge impact on Carew. “I will not come back and play for a bigot", said Carew. “I’m not going to be another (racial slur) on his plantation.” Carew stuck true to his word, as he was traded to the Angels in February of 1979 for Dave Engle, Paul Hartzell, Brad Havens, and Ken Landreaux. Carew played for the Angels for seven years and was named an all-star six times. His production dipped a little bit relative to his Twins day, only being worth 2.5 WAR per year. He still hit .314 with the Angels but he won no batting titles. His wRC+ was 120, which is still 20 percent above league average but nowhere near his ridiculous 138 wRC+ he posted with the Twins. His OPS was .784 with the Angels compared to .841 with Minnesota. Carew finished his career in the elusive 3,000 hit club. When he reached 3,000, he was only the 16th player in history to do so. Carew was still a good player for the Angels but it was clear as he was getting older that his production was declining, and after the 1985 season he retired. Conclusion In 1991, Carew was named to the Hall of Fame, receiving 90.5% of the vote. Carew is one of the greatest hitters in Twins history, and here is where he finished in various categories in Twins history: Stat Value Rank WAR 56.9 2nd wRC+ 138 3rd OBP 0.393 1st AVG 0.334 1st SB 271 2nd 3B 90 1st OPS 0.841 6th Hits 2085 3rd Runs 950 4th Carew ranks in the top 5 of most hitting categories in Twins history, finishing first in average and on base percentage. Had he played a few more years with the Twins, he would’ve led in WAR, stolen bases, hits, and runs. Rod Carew is one of the top two players in Twins history, and he can easily be debated as the best. He was also a phenomenal person and a great representative of the Twins for the last 50+ years. What do you think about Carew being ranked second? Would you have ranked him higher? Lower? Who do you think will be #1? Let us know in the comments below! Stay tuned for the final day of Twinsmas! Thank you for reading, and Go Twins! Read Previous "12 Days of TwinsMas" articles here: #12 - Torii Hunter #11 - Chuck Knoblauch #10 - Jim Kaat #9 - Frank Viola #8 - Kent Hrbek #7 - Tony Oliva #6 - Johan Santana #5 - Bert Blyleven #4 - Joe Mauer #3 - Harmon Killebrew #2 - Rod Carew #1 - Coming Soon! View full article

Yep, I would agree for both

These are hilarious. Keep up the good work!

There have been plenty of great players in the history of the Minnesota Twins. From Killebrew to Buxton and many in-between, it is tough to narrow it down to the top twelve players in the history of the Twins. The fourth-best player in Twins history is a hometown hero who, despite having one of the best careers in Twins history, remains one of the biggest what-if’s in team history. If you don’t know who I’m talking about by now, it’s Joe Mauer. Other than my parents, there is nobody I idolized more growing up than Joe. Joe Mauer was an extremely talented hitter and it was evident from the moment he put on a Twins uniform that he would do great things for the Twins organization. Young Prodigy When Mauer was four years old, he was asked to leave his youth tee-ball league because he hit the ball too hard for the other kids. When he was in high school, he might have been the best athlete in the entire country. A three-sport athlete at Cretin-Derham Hall, Mauer excelled in all three sports. In baseball, he hit a remarkable .605, hit a home run in seven consecutive games, and only struck out once in his entire career. In football, he threw for 5,528 yards and 73 touchdowns over a two-year career, being named National Gatorade Player of the Year his senior year. He had a verbal commitment to play college football for Bobby Bowden at Florida State had he not been drafted by the Twins. 247 Sports ranked him as the 17th best football player in the country, ahead of Frank Gore and Larry Fitzgerald. In basketball, he averaged 20 points per game and was named All-State his junior and senior years. Meteoric Rise In the 2001 draft, Mauer was selected first overall by his hometown Twins. He started in rookie ball the summer of 2001 and dominated, hitting .400/.492/.491 in 32 games there. In 2002, he played in A ball with the Quad Cities River Bandits and continued to perform well, hitting .302 with a .785 OPS while walking more than he struck out as a 19 year old. In 2003, Mauer split time between high A ball and AA, and combined to hit .338/.398/.434 with 30 doubles. This accumulation of great performance earned Mauer the #1 prospect ranking in all of baseball heading into the 2004 season. Because of Mauer’s readiness for the big leagues, the Twins traded their starting catcher, AJ Pierzynski, to the San Francisco Giants for Boof Bonser, Joe Nathan, and Francisco Liriano. In 2004, Mauer started out hot before suffering a sprained left knee. He returned in June of that year and appeared in 35 games, hitting .308/.369/.570 with six home runs. In 2005, Mauer was able to stay healthy and played 131 games, hitting .294/.372/.411 while also throwing out 43 percent of base stealers (league average was 30 percent) for a 3.4 WAR season. It was clear that Mauer and his beautiful swing were close to breaking out and he was already a major contributor for the Twins. Prime Years 2006 was the year Mauer took a big step forward. He started off the season hitting an absurd .378/.446/.535 with 40 extra base hits and a 157 wRC+ before the all-star break. He was named the starting catcher in the all-star game for the first time in his career. Mauer finished that season as the batting champion, hitting .347/.429/.507 with 13 home runs and 84 RBI while accumulating 5.8 fWAR. He was named the AL Silver Slugger at the catcher position and finished 6th in MVP voting while teammate Justin Morneau won it. Mauer led the Twins to a 96-66 finish and a division title. In 2007 Mauer took a minor step backwards, only hitting .293/.382/.426 (.808). He had his best defensive season yet, posting 7 Defensive Runs Saved. In 2008, Mauer won the AL batting crown again, hitting .328/.413/.451 while winning his first Gold Glove and his second Silver Slugger. He was once again named an all-star and finished 4th in MVP voting while posting a 6.4 WAR. MVP In 2009, Mauer missed the first month of the season due to a back injury. He made his season debut on May 1st and hit a home run in his first at bat. That was only the start of a historic season. Through his first 185 plate appearances, Mauer was hitting an otherworldly .429/.497/.756 with a 225 wRC+ (125 percent above league average). He was named AL Player of the Month in May. He was named an all-star and finished the season hitting .365/.444/.587 (1.031) with 28 home runs. He led the American League in batting average, on base percentage, slugging percentage, wRC+ (170), and was second in fWAR (8.4). He won the AL MVP and received 27 of 28 first place votes. This was the second best season in Twins history in terms of WAR only behind Rod Carew’s 1977 MVP year. He also won his third silver slugger and his second gold glove. Go Get Paid On March 21, 2010, Mauer was given a large 8 year, $184 million extension. This was the biggest contract in Twins history and remains the biggest. In the 2010 season, Mauer continued his excellence, hitting .327/.402/.469 (.871) with 43 doubles and nine home runs in the Twins first year at Target Field. He was worth 5.7 WAR and led the Twins to another division title. He won his fourth silver slugger and third gold glove. In 2011 and 2012, the Twins were terrible, averaging 64.5 wins. Mauer however was a bright spot, hitting .308/.397/.419 (.816) with an average of 3.3 WAR. 2013 was more of the same, but Mauer started off great. Then August 19th came along. On August 19, 2013, Mauer took a foul tip off the mask and suffered a concussion. He hit .324/.404/.476 (.880) with a 143 wRC+ and won his fifth silver slugger while being named to his sixth all star game. But he was never the same after the concussion. Mauer’s concussion greatly affected his vision, and his stats can back it up. Pre-Concussion (2004-8/19/2013): (.323/.405/.468) .873 OPS, 134 wRC+, 12.2 BB%, 11.1 K% Post-Concussion: (8/20/2013-2018): (.278/.359/.388) .747 OPS, 103 wRC+, 11.1 BB%, 16.2 K% First Baseman In 2014, the Twins announced they were going to make Joe Mauer into their full-time first baseman because of his concussion risk and they thought he would be able to stay in the lineup more if he played first base. They were right, as he averaged 136 games played from 2014 to 2018. However, he was a shell of his former self, only accumulating 6.4 WAR in those five seasons. He went from being 34 percent better at hitting than league average while excelling at a premium defensive position to only being 3 percent above league average while playing first base, not a premium position. Final Goodbye In 2018, there had been ramblings about Mauer potentially retiring at the end of the season, as his contract was due to expire. In his final game against the White Sox, he had quite the final send-off. In his final at bat as a Twin, he got to a full count and hit a hard line drive into the left-center gap for a double. Mauer always used the whole field so it was fitting that his final at bat was a hard hit double the other way. In the ninth inning, there was a slight delay in starting the inning, and there was no catcher behind home plate. Mauer emerged from the tunnel in catcher’s gear, and the stadium gave him a standing ovation. Mauer caught just one pitch before getting pulled for Chris Herrmann, and got yet another lengthy ovation from the home faithful. This was Mauer’s first time catching since 2013 so it was a very emotional moment. A month later, Mauer penned a retirement letter to Twins Territory, citing health reasons and wanting to be with family as a couple of main reasons for retirement. Conclusion Joe Mauer was a fan favorite for many years. Seeing an athlete play for his hometown team, dominate, and do it all with class made Mauer one of the most likable athletes in Minnesota history. Mauer had five seasons of 5+ WAR in his career. Only three catchers in MLB history have more. These catchers are Johnny Bench, Mike Piazza, and Gary Carter. Mauer finished his career with 52.5 WAR (3rd in team history), 2,123 hits (2nd), 428 doubles (1st), 1,018 runs (3rd), 923 RBI (5th), 939 walks (2nd), and 143 home runs (12th). A personal note - Joe Mauer is my favorite athlete of all-time. Right when I started playing sports as a kid, Mauer was in the midst of his prime and he was very fun for me to watch. A couple years for his birthday, I sent him a letter and he responded. This made me into a fan of his for life. Mauer was a fantastic player but an even better person and this makes him the fourth best Twin of all time and eventually, a Hall of Famer. Stay tuned for the tenth day of Twinsmas! Thank you for reading, and Go Twins! Read Previous "12 Days of TwinsMas" articles here: #12 - Torii Hunter #11 - Chuck Knoblauch #10 - Jim Kaat #9 - Frank Viola #8 - Kent Hrbek #7 - Tony Oliva #6 - Johan Santana #5 - Bert Blyleven #4 - Joe Mauer #3 - Coming Soon! View full article

I would like that too but the Twins have not had many great Rule V draftees https://www.mlb.com/news/twins-rule-5-draft-history The best ones are probably Shane Mack, Johan, Pressly

This is awesome analysis. Thanks bean. If you look at fWAR which is generally considered a better indicator for pitchers. Blyleven is seventh all time and his WAR goes to 102.9. He is only behind Roger Clemens, Cy Young, Walter Johnson, Greg Maddux, Randy Johnson, and Nolan Ryan. A lot of people don't realize how truly great Bert was

I generally don't think W-L record is a great indicator of individual performance but that's not to say it should never be used. For a guy to win 20 games he had to have performed pretty well. Radke also put up 4.9 WAR in that season and finished 3rd in Cy Young voting so whichever way you look at it, he had a very successful year.

There have been plenty of great players in the history of the Minnesota Twins. From Killebrew to Buxton and many in-between, it is tough to narrow it down to the top twelve players in the history of the Twins. The sixth best player in Twins history was not a lifelong Twin, but his time in Minnesota was very memorable. This Venezuelan pitcher is one of the most dominant pitchers of his generation and should be a Hall of Famer. Who do you think this could be? If you thought I was talking about Johan Santana, then you would be correct. As a young Twins fan living in Minnesota in the mid-2000s, the first pitcher I can remember watching in person was Johan. Johan was an exciting pitcher who captivated Twins fans with his outstanding stuff, especially his changeup. Rule 5 Johan Santana was born in Venezuela in 1979. In 1995, he was signed as an amateur free agent by the Houston Astros. After three seasons in the minor leagues in which he was 17-17 with a 5.05 ERA, the Astros left him unprotected in the 1999 Rule 5 Draft. In the Rule 5 Draft, Santana was drafted by the Marlins and immediately traded to the Twins for Twins legend Jared Camp. In 2000, Santana made his Twins debut despite never pitching above single-A ball. Santana was used mostly out of the bullpen, appearing in 30 games over his rookie season and throwing 86 innings with a 6.49 ERA and a 5.26 FIP. 2001 was rather uneventful as well, as Santana posted a 4.74 ERA in 43 innings. A Change of Pace In 2002, the Twins started Santana at AAA in hopes of converting him from a reliever to a starter. While at AAA, Santana developed an absolute weapon. The pitching coach for the AAA team, Bobby Cuellar, taught Santana about the importance of throwing a changeup. Cuellar knew Santana needed an elite pitch to pair with his fastball to be effective at the Major League level, so he worked with Santana on his changeup, often having him throw it in traditional fastball counts or having him throw seven straight changeups in games. In late May, the Twins called Santana back up and he was very good the rest of that year, going 8-6 with a 2.99 ERA. Another very encouraging sign that he was developing more swing-and-miss stuff was that he had 137 strikeouts in 108 innings, compared to 92 strikeouts in 129 innings the two years prior. Dominance After a very encouraging 2002 campaign, Santana had a great 2003, going 12-3 with a 3.07 ERA. He also decreased his BB/9 from 4.1 to 2.7. All signs were pointing towards a Santana breakout. From 2004 to 2006, Santana had the most dominant three year stretch by any Twins pitcher ever. During this time period, Santana was the best pitcher in baseball. He was 55-19 (most wins in MLB), threw 693 innings (3rd), struck out 748 (1st), had a 2.75 ERA (2nd), 2.92 FIP (2nd), and led all MLB pitchers in WAR (20.4). Santana’s stretch was historically great. In MLB history, there are only three left handed pitchers to have three seasons or more of 200+ innings pitched, an ERA under 3, a WHIP under 1, and 220+ strikeouts. These pitchers are Sandy Koufax, Clayton Kershaw, and Johan Santana. Highway Robbery For his excellent work, Santana won the Cy Young in 2004 and 2006 and got second place in 2005. However, Santana should’ve won it in 2005. In 2005, Bartolo Colon won the Cy Young award in the American League. However, it should’ve been Santana. Here is a comparison of their 2005 statistics: Colon ERA: 3.48, Santana ERA: 2.87 Colon IP: 222.2, Santana IP: 231.2 Colon SO: 157, Santana SO: 238 Colon ERA+: 122, Santana ERA+: 155 Colon FIP: 3.55, Santana FIP: 2.80 Colon WHIP: 1.159, Santana WHIP: 0.971 Colon fWAR: 4.1, Santana fWAR 7.1 Any sensible baseball mind would be able to see that Santana was clearly a better pitcher in 2005 and he was robbed of having three consecutive Cy Young awards. Goodbyes In 2007, Santana had another good season, going 15-13 with a 3.33 ERA and leading the American League in WHIP. However, he demanded a lot of money out of the Twins as he would be a free agent after the 2008 season. The Twins offered him a four year, $80 million extension, which he declined. The Twins wanted to get some value for him, so they traded Santana to the New York Mets for Carlos Gomez, Deolis Guerra, Phillip Humber, and Kevin Mulvey. He then agreed to a six year, $137.5 million deal with the Mets. Santana had a successful four year stretch with the Mets, going 46-34 with a 3.18 ERA and accumulating 13.9 fWAR. On June 1st, 2012, Santana had a magical start. He threw a complete game no-hitter in a legendary pitching performance. He recorded the last out on a disgusting changeup. This is one of the most memorable moments of Santana’s career. 2012 would prove to be his last year in professional baseball because of a torn anterior capsule in his left shoulder. This is not an ideal way to end such an illustrious career, but Johan was still an outstanding talent either way. Twins Legend The Twins have won four Cy Young awards, and two of them are Santana. Both of Santana’s awards were unanimous decisions. Among Twins pitchers all-time, Santana has the best ERA+ (141) and the fourth best fWAR (31.7). Santana was inducted into the Twins Hall of Fame in 2018 and appeared on the MLB Hall of Fame ballot in 2018, but only received 2.4 percent of the vote so was removed the following year. This is very unfortunate because every pitcher who has three Cy Youngs is in the Hall of Fame or will most certainly be inducted after they retire. If Santana would have won that 2005 Cy Young award he most likely would be on the ballot this upcoming year. Conclusion Johan Santana was the most dominant pitcher in Twins history and was a major part of the successful Twins teams of the 2000s. Santana is a beloved figure in Twins history and is the sixth best player in Twins history. Stay tuned for the eighth day of Twinsmas! Thank you for reading, and Go Twins! Read Previous "12 Days of TwinsMas" articles here: #12 - Torii Hunter #11 - Chuck Knoblauch #10 - Jim Kaat #9 - Frank Viola #8 - Kent Hrbek #7 - Tony Oliva #6 - Johan Santana #5 - Coming Soon! View full article

There have been plenty of great players in the history of the Minnesota Twins. From Killebrew to Buxton and many in-between, it is tough to narrow it down to the top twelve players in the history of the Twins. One fan favorite who was vital in bringing popularity and success to the Twins was Kent Hrbek. Hometown Kid Hrbek grew up in Bloomington, MN and attended Bloomington Kennedy High School. In 1978, the Twins drafted Hrbek in the 17th round of the MLB draft. Late in the summer after Kent was drafted, he still wasn’t sure if he would sign with the Twins or take his scholarship offer to play baseball at the University of Minnesota. Eventually, owner Calvin Griffith increased his offer to $35,000 and Hrbek decided to sign with the Twins and start his professional career. After posting OPS’s of .576 and .805 his first two years in the minors, Hrbek exploded onto the scene in 1981. In 121 games in the minors, he hit .379/.446/.630 (1.076) with 27 home runs, 111 RBI, and the same amount of strikeouts and walks. Hrbek’s .379 average was the second-highest for a full season in the minor leagues in the 1980’s. It was clear Hrbek was ready to make his Major League Debut. Hrbek got his feet wet in the majors at the end of 1981 but he really took the league by storm in his full first season, 1982. His rookie year, Hrbek hit .301/.363/.485 with 23 home runs and posted a wRC+ of 124. He also had 3.3 WAR, was named an all-star, and finished 2nd in AL Rookie of the Year voting, only behind some guy named Cal Ripken Jr. (I wonder if he ended up being any good?). Glory Years From 1983 to 1986, Hrbek was a picture of consistency, hitting .288 with a 125 wRC+ and 13.3 WAR. He especially excelled in 1984, with a career high 174 hits and driving in a career high 107 runs. He posted a 145 OPS+, 5.6 WAR, and finished second in MVP voting. In 1987, Hrbek finally experienced some team success. The Twins won their first division title since 1970 and Hrbek played a major role in the team’s success. That year, he hit a career high 34 homers, had a career high .934 OPS. Hrbek was not outstanding in the postseason in 1987, only going 8 for 44. But one of those eight hits remains one of the biggest hits in Twins history. With the Twins trailing 3-2 in the series to the Cardinals in the World Series, game six was a must win. Hitless in his first three at bats, Hrbek came up with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the sixth with the Twins clinging to a one-run lead. Hrbek took the first pitch he saw and deposited it past the center field wall. Hrbek blew the game open and gave the Twins a 10-5 advantage in game six, essentially clinching a game seven. One day later, Gary Gaetti fielded a ground ball and threw it across to Hrbek for the final out, and the Twins were World Series Champions. How fitting that the hometown boy caught the final out of the World Series. Running it Back After the magical World Series run in 1987, the Twins had a few mediocre years. During this time, Hrbek kept mashing, hitting .290/.375/.504 (.879) with a wRC+ of 140. In 1990, the Twins went 74-88 and it seemed like they were not a contending team anymore. In 1991 however, the Twins rekindled some of that magic that they had in 1987. Hrbek had a down year by his standards, only posting an OPS of .834 with 20 home runs, but it didn’t matter. On June 1, the Twins started a 15-game winning streak which brought their record from 23-25 to 38-25. This would prove not to be a fluke as the Twins went 95-67 and won the AL West. Hrbek hit a big home run in game one of the 1991 World Series and helped the Twins get out to a 1-0 lead in the series. In game two, Hrbek was involved in the most controversial play in Twins history. In the third inning, Ron Gant singled to left for the Atlanta Braves. He took a very wide turn at first base, and pitcher Kevin Tapani fired it to Hrbek. Gant got back to the base in time but Hrbek put a hard tag on Gant who came off the base and was called out. Many Braves fans still contend to this day that Hrbek pulled Gant off the base, but I will let you decide that yourself in the video below. The Twins would go on to win their second World Series in team history and the hometown kid was a champion once again. The Latter Years After his second World Series title, Hrbek started to regress with injuries and decreased performance. In 1994, Hrbek informed General Manager Andy MacPhail that he would be retiring at the end of the season, which ended up being on August 11th because of the player strike. Hrbek said he wanted to retire because it was something his dad never got the chance to do, and Kent wanted the chance to enjoy retirement. After Hrbek retired, he started a TV Program called Kent Hrbek Outdoors where he shared his love for hunting and fishing with viewers and showed them that despite his larger than life persona on the field, he was just another guy with a goofy personality. In his career, Hrbek hit .282/.367/.481 (.848). His .848 OPS is 5th best in Twins history. He hit 312 doubles (4th in Twins history), 293 home runs (2nd), scored 903 runs (5th), drove in 1086 runs (2nd), and accumulated 37.6 fWAR (6th among hitters). Hrbek is a Twins legend and his numbers back it up. Conclusion Hrbek is an all-time fan favorite Twin. With his slugging bat, his great glove, and his happy-go-lucky personality off the field, everyone around the Twin Cities loved Hrbek and he is the eighth best Twin of all-time. Thank you for reading, and Go Twins! Read Previous "12 Days of TwinsMas" articles here: #12 - Torii Hunter #11 - Chuck Knoblauch #10 - Jim Kaat #9 - Frank Viola #8 - Kent Hrbek #7 - Coming Soon! View full article