Hello, fellow humans! My name is William Malone IV. Son of William Malone III. And I come with great news! It is 2025! This means a lot of publications are having fun with quarter-century teams for various leagues and franchises. I have decided to join in on the action...but with a twist.

Here is the Twins quarter-century team based on single seasons. Not careers. Make sure to sound off in the comments about what a big stupid dum dum I am when you disagree with the list.

Catcher - 2009 Joe Mauer
AL MVP, All-Star, Silver Slugger, Gold Glove
.365/.444/.587 (1.031)
28 home runs
96 RBI

Joe Mauer had a lot of great seasons. He's one of just two catchers in Major League history to double up on the Silver Slugger and Gold Glove in the same year at least three times (Iván Rodríguez). But this year still stands out above all the rest! Mauer led the American League in average, on-base percentage, and slugging. He won a Gold Glove. And he easily took home AL MVP honors.

First Base - 2006 Justin Morneau
AL MVP, Silver Slugger
.321/.375/.559 (.934)
34 home runs
130 RBI

Winning MVP without being an All-Star is not unheard of, but it's still somewhat rare. Justin Morneau got off to a very slow start in 2006. He was still carrying a sub-.700 OPS on May 8th. The Canadian slugger hit two home runs against the Texas Rangers on May 9th, and never looked back from there. His 130 RBI that season are the second most in Twins history, trailing only 1969 Harmon Killebrew (140).

Second Base - 2017 Brian Dozier
Gold Glove
.271/.359/.498 (.857)
34 home runs
93 RBI

This one might be controversial. A lot of metrics suggest that Brian Dozier was better in 2016. Maybe it's the fact that Minnesota was a much better team in 2017, but his 2017 season just felt better. There was a 19 point year-to-year jump in on-base percentage, which is never a bad thing for your lead-off hitter. Dozier didn't sacrifice that much power in the process, still finishing with 30 doubles and 34 home runs.

Third Base - 2001 Corey Koskie
25th in AL MVP voting
.276/.362/.488 (.850)
26 home runs
103 RBI

Shout out to 2019 Miguel Sanó. He was so good that summer, hitting 34 bombs with a .923 OPS. Bring up juiced balls all you want, but it was still a 139 OPS+ when adjusting to League averages. This Koskie season only came out to a 121 OPS+. But the best ability is still availability, which factored in here. Koskie played 153 games in 2001, while Sanó only played 105 in 2019. Can't forget about defense too.

Shortstop - 2022 Carlos Correa
Led all shortstops in OPS
.291/.366/.467 (.833)
22 home runs
64 RBI

Carlos Correa and Xander Bogaerts co-led all shortstops with an .833 OPS in 2022. They were both a healthy margin over third place Trea Turner (.809). A slow start probably kept Correa out of the All-Star game. His average and on-base percentage were fairly strong throughout the year, but Correa hit 19 of his 22 home runs after June 1st in 2022.

Left Field - 2012 Josh Willingham
Silver Slugger
.260/.366/.524 (.890)
35 home runs
110 RBI

Fans were very upset when the Twins signed Josh Willingham, but it really had nothing to do with Josh Willingham. It was the same off-season where Michael Cuddyer and Jason Kubel left in free agency. It's natural for the customers to prefer some fan favorites over a journeyman. Willingham helped smooth things over by launching 35 bombs in 2012. He won a Silver Slugger for his efforts.

Center Field - 2002 Torii Hunter
All-Star, Gold Glove
.289/.334/.524 (.858)
29 home runs
94 RBI

Torii Hunter wasn't a standout offensive star throughout his Twins tenure, and he only has a 103 OPS+ with the club. That's the same as Max Kepler. His offense truly came around later on with the Angels, and he was able to win two Silver Sluggers. But 2002 gave a glimpse into what his offensive ceiling was. It was his best offensive season with the Twins, complimented by his legendary defensive abilities.

Right Field - 2019 Max Kepler
20th in AL MVP voting
.252/.326/.519 (.855)
36 home runs
90 RBI

People questioned the usage of Max Kepler as a lead-off hitter entering 2019. They started to question it even more when he began the year in an 0-for-10 skid. These concerns began to die down as Kepler began to heat up at the plate. He finished the year with 36 home runs, 90 RBI and zero errors committed in the field. Kepler also had a higher OPS against lefties than righties, which goes against his career splits.

Designated hitter - 2020 Nelson Cruz
Silver Slugger
.303/.397/.595 (.992)
16 home runs
33 RBI

This one is probably going to be controversial. The rate stats were a bit lower in 2020, but they were better compared to league averages with an un-juiced baseball. Cruz had a higher OPS+ in 2020, compared to 2019. His full season pace was 43 home runs, two more than he hit in 2019. Granted, Cruz missed some time with a wrist injury in 2019. He was also not available to start National League games. The DH was universal in 2020. This allowed Cruz to play in a higher percentage of games.

Starting Pitcher - 2004 Johan Santana
AL Cy Young
20-6, 2.61 ERA

Earlier in this lovely blog post, you read about Justin Morneau and his slow start in 2006. The same thing happened to Johan Santana in 2004. He finished May with a 5.61 ERA through 11 starts, and still wound up having the best year of a career filled with several fantastic seasons. Santana had a 1.51 ERA over his final 23 starts, surrendering only two runs in six September starts.

Relief Pitcher - 2006 Joe Nathan
5th in AL Cy Young voting
7-0, 1.58 ERA, 36-for-38 saves 

The Twins were 58-6 when Joe Nathan pitched in 2006. And five of them were just appearances to get the guy some work. They were down by three or more runs by the time he entered those games. The sixth loss came when he pitched a shutout ninth inning in a tie game on July 28th, and they wound up losing in extras. Minnesota actually wound up winning the two games where Nathan was charged with a "blown save."