Twins All-Time Roster By the Numbers

[IndianaTwin]

Something last fall prompted me to think about the best players to wear various uniform numbers for the Twins. It seemed like a good wintertime project to try to put together the best all-time Twins team based on uniform numbers.

 

To do this, I arbitrarily made a couple of rules to guide me. First, I considered players based on the primary number they wore. No counting that Tony Oliva wore No. 37 in his first appearances. He was, and always will be No. 6, both in my mind’s eye and when using mnemonics for remembering PINs and phone numbers. For example, if you know where my folks live, you can get into their house by using Killebrew-Munoz-Blyleven on their garage door opener. But I digress.

 

Second, to compare players, I simply used bWAR. I chose bWAR over fWAR for the scientific reason that I’ve spent more time on baseball-reference.com than on Fangraphs, so I know how to navigate that site better.

 

Third, when it came to positions, I considered players only where they played “a bunch.” That’s admittedly subjective, but I didn’t want to have to spend THAT much time online verifying positions. I’ve got plenty of other things to waste my time on, like trying to find the other brown/blue argyle sock that seems to be missing from the last load in the dryer. So, I only considered Carew at 1B and 2B, even though it would have helped to count him as a shortstop, based on the four games he spent there in 1968.

 

So, in putting my 25-man roster together, the logical place to start is with the retired numbers. Harmon Killebrew (3, 60.5), Tony Oliva (6, 43.1), Joe Mauer (7, 55.0), Kent Hrbek (14, 38.6), Rod Carew (29, 63.8), and Kirby Puckett (34, 51.1) will make the team. I’ll deal with Bert Blyleven and Tom Kelly later.

 

Our first challenge is that Killebrew, Hrbek, Carew, and Mauer all played a ton at 1B. Fortunately three of them played a bunch elsewhere as well, so Mauer will put the catcher gear back on, and Carew and Killebrew will trade their mitts for infield gloves at 2B and 3B, respectively.

 

To round out the infield, we need a SS. Shortstop is by far our weakest position as far as hitters go. Roy Smalley (5) edges Greg Gagne in WAR (20.9 to 17.9). Besides, Gagne has to play in Rochester, because Mauer already has No. 7. Filling out the outfield is a little easier, where Oliva in right and Puckett in center are joined by Bobby Allison (4, 34.0) in left.

 

The Twins really haven’t had long-term DHs, so I decided that any hitter would be eligible. That allows me add to Chuck Knoblauch (11, 38.0) to the lineup. Or if you prefer, you can put him at 2B and use Carew as the DH.

 

It’s not like this team is going to need any pinch hitters, but we do still need a bench in case of injury. Going with the 13-hitter, 12-pitcher model gives me four bench spots to fill. Three are fairly easy, since the highest-ranking remaining hitters in WAR don’t create any number overlaps. Gary Gaetti (8, 27.2) and Cesar Tovar (12, 25.9) will back up in the infield and Torii Hunter (48, 26.4) will be the fourth outfielder. We’d better hope Smalley doesn’t get hurt, because that really doesn’t give a true backup shortstop, though a number of people on the roster have played there at least a few games. Tover has the most at 76 for the Twins. The other option would have been leaving off Tovar to go with Zoilo Versalles (2, 14.7), but an issue there is that Versalles doesn’t even make the Rochester roster currently, since No. 2 for the Red Wings would have to go to Brian Dozier with his 23.8 WAR.

 

Back-up catcher is a problem, since the only three in double figures in WAR also would lose out on uniform number. Earl Battey is second among catchers in WAR at 17.5, but he wears Tom Kelly’s No. 10. Butch Wynegar wore No. 16, where he loses out substantially in WAR to Frank Viola, 15.3 to 27.0. And Brian Harper (12, 13.4) has to face off with Tovar, who I’ve already slotted as a backup infielder and who also serves as my fifth OF (and emergency C, emergency 1B, emergency P -- you get where I’m going, right?). I’ll need to keep working and come back to this spot.

 

Every good team needs “impact pitching,” right? Fortunately, we’ve got a Hall of Famer in Blyleven (28, 49.0) lined up for opening day. He’s easily followed by Brad Radke (22, 45.6), Johan Santana (57, 35.8), and Camilo Pascual (17, 33.2).

 

Now, I know that Blyleven and Pascual played in four-man rotations, but Radke and Santana didn’t, so I’m going to need a fifth starter. Next up is Jim Kaat (36, 30.5). However, that number is also worn by Joe Nathan. Mr. Bbbbbpt-Mouth only earned 18.4 WAR, but he is such a stud as closer that I have to save number for him. Next up is Frank Viola (16, 27.0), but I’ve already named my backup C problem, so maybe we’d better resolve that.

 

So to review the catcher situation, Battey is our second-best WAR, but we’ve got to deal with sharing that number with Kelly. There would be other logical options as longer-term managers who experienced some success. Sam Mele took the Twins to their first World Series and posted a .546 winning percentage, but unfortunately, he did it wearing No. 14. Kent Hrbek says, “No can do, Sam – you can’t give me enough Twinkies and Ding Dongs to buy that number off me.” Ron Gardenhire got the team to the playoffs a bunch, and his No. 35 is available. His won-loss percentage (.507) is significantly better than Kelly’s (.478), but the latter won two World Series, for goodness sake.

 

So to summarize, my moving parts are:
• Kelly as manager, losing Battey as my backup catcher.
• Gardy as manager, giving up Kelly’s retired number.
• Viola as the No. 5 starter, costing us Wynegar as the backup catcher.
• Harper as reserve catcher, booting Tovar from the bench, where in particular, we don’t have a good backup SS.

 

First, let’s name the elephant in the room. Despite the better winning percentage, do we really want to risk have Gardy calling for a sacrifice bunt with this lineup? And calling our legendary third baseman “Killsy”? And can we handle the PR risk of not honoring a retired number? Sorry, Mr. Battey, even though you’re our second-best catcher, we’ll have to opt for Kelly.

 

So now we’re down to back up catcher, where the next option (Wynegar) costs us Viola, followed by Harper costing us Tovar. The next option is A.J. Pierzynski, whose No. 26 is available, but the drop off to his single-digit 9.5 WAR hurts.

 

Enter Jim Perry. His No. 31 is available as the No. 5 starter, and his WAR (26.3) is only slightly behind Viola’s 27.0. Using Perry in the rotation lets us choose Wynegar over Harper, which also lets us keep Tovar. Whew.

 

With our 13 hitters and five starters set, that leaves room for six more relievers to bridge the gap from our stellar rotation to Nathan. Granted, with five guys that averaged something like a total of 1230 innings in their years as full-time starters with the Twins and another 70 innings for Nathan, that means there’s only about 100-150 innings left, so it’s probably not a big deal that my reliever options provide big drop offs to this bunch of studs who will be sporting the baby blues. Besides, with this lineup and this rotation, there are going to be a lot of 12-2 games, so it’s mostly mop-up duty.

 

On the few occasions where a set-up guy is needed, we’ll first turn to Rick Aguilera (38, 15.5). The only other reliever with a double-digit WAR is Al Worthington at 10.0, and his 15 is available. For what it’s worth, that did keep us from considering George Mitterwald’s 6.0 as our back-up catcher.

 

We may need a LTOGY (Lefty THREE-Out Guy, thank you Rob Manfred) occasionally, and Everyday Eddie Guardado (18, 9.5) is available. The next-highest WAR among relievers is Glen Perkins (8.8), but he just lost out on No. 15 to Worthington. He’s followed by Doug Corbett (8.3) and LaTroy Hawkins (8.1), guys whose palindromic 23 and 32 are available, so they’ll make the team. Corbett’s an easy call, since no one of substance wore that 23. The only potential bummer in using Hawkins and his 32 is that it leaves Dan Gladden available for radio duty. But when you can call on Herb Carneal, Halsey Hall, and John Gordon, Gladden isn’t getting close to the booth.

 

And that leaves one spot in the bullpen. The next three guys in WAR are Matt Guerrier (54, 7.9), Mike Trombley (21, 7.6), and Bill Campbell (24, 7.5). Fortunately, all three numbers are available. Unfortunately, they are all right-handed, which leaves only one lefty in the bullpen, so I’m going to have to pass. Next is Mike Marshall’s 6.8, but sorry, No. 28 is Blyleven. As players, I loved two Juans, Berenguer and Rincon, who are close in WAR at 6.4 and 5.8. Nos. 40 and 39 are available, but alas, they are also right-handed, and we still need that remaining lefty. I also liked Jesse Crain, but not only does he come up a bit short in WAR (5.4), he’s also a righty and is only our third-best No. 28.

 

Which leads us to Taylor Rogers. He’s a lefty, has a WAR in the right range (6.5), and has the good fortune to sport the double-nickel No. 55. As the only player on the current roster to make the team, he’ll fill out our squad as the final guy in the bullpen.

 

Easily the three names with the highest WARs that haven’t been named so far are Justin Morneau (33, 23.3), Shane Mack (24, 19.6) and Larry Hisle (9, 17.2). Interestingly, all three numbers are available, though Mack did share the 24 with Campbell, who missed out because of his handedness. It’s not like we need another person to play 1B with Hrbek, Killebrew, Carew, and Mauer available, but if you want to play the 26-man roster game and give a roster spot to our newest Twins HOFer, go ahead. Using Morneau on the Twins roster has the bonus of freeing up that number for J.C. Romero in Rochester, who was one of the next relievers to consider.

 

Old-timers will be glad to know that Ron Davis didn’t make it. I mean, he didn’t make. Not only did his WAR plummet to 0.0, but he split time wearing Nos. 34 and 39, which puts him behind Puckett in Minnesota and Rincon in Rochester.

 

So if Rogers is our only representative on the current roster, who is closest to consideration? Let’s look at a few guys:

• Mitch Garver has the potential to solve our backup catcher issue, but he also shares Guardado’s No. 18, and you’ve already seen how deep we’ve had to go for a lefty relievers.
• At 10.0 WAR and three more guaranteed seasons, Jorge Polanco could easily get past Smalley to earn the SS start. Unfortunately, in wearing No. 11, he has a long way to go to knock Knoblauch off the roster.
• Miguel Sano could take off in WAR, but he’s another 1B/3B (nope, that experiment in RF doesn’t count as “a bunch) and also has to go against Radke at No. 22.
• Eddie Rosario is the highest No. 20 at 10.3, but needs to go quite a ways to reach Hunter’s 26.4. With his contract situation, it seems doubtful.
• Max Kepler is a possibility. At 10.8 WAR, he’s already passed Pierzynski in wearing No. 26, and with three big seasons he could push Hunter out of the fourth OF spot. Playing well enough to have the option picked up might do it, plus give us a German influence.
• Byron Buxton is in a similar WAR spot at 9.9, and wears the open No. 25. A few good years and a contract extension could get him on to the team.
• Jose Berrios is only at 7.5 WAR, so he’d need a contract extension to help on two counts. He needs to get to 26.3 to reach the rotation, but needs to get to 33.2 to beat Pascual at No. 17.

 

Did I miss anyone? Did you make it this far? If so, let me know what you think or offer a rebuttal in the comments.

[nicksaviking]

Fun exercise Indiana! Not sure I’m lockstep with each decision but it was fun!

[Rosterman]

I wanna know, can we put together a starting lineup with a starter pitcher from just one uniform number?

 

[IndianaTwin]

 

I wanna know, can we put together a starting lineup with a starter pitcher from just one uniform number?

 

https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MIN/uniform-numbers.shtml

 

...has all the numbers worn over the years. You can click to expand, though it doesn't list positions, and it's the entire franchise so it includes Senators. But given that 58 players have worn No. 20, for example, I'm guessing you probably could.

 

It probably wouldn't be very good, however, since by definition it can't have too many guys who were good enough to play for multiple years. It would need a number of one or two and dones. 

 

But I'm not going to bother to try. I've got socks to look for.