Twins MVP "by the numbers"

[puckstopper1]

I saw an article recently that named the best player that wore each number in MLB history (Like 3 = Babe Ruth), and decided to try my hand at this for the Minnesote Twins.

 

This is for players only from numbers 0 (thank you Junior Ortiz) thru 65 (plus 99 for Loggy Bear).

 

I'm basing this on a list compiled by Mike Press (thanks Mike!)  http://milkeespress.com/twinsnumbers.html

 

How did I do? Who would you swap out?

 

0 - Junior Ortiz
1 - Jerry Terrell
2 - Zoilo Versalles
3 - Harmon Killebrew
4 - Bob Allison
5 - Michael Cuddyer
6 - Tony Oliva
7 - Joe Mauer
8 - Gary Gaetti
9 - Rich Rollins
10 - Earl Battey
11 - Chuck Knoblauch
12 - Cesar Tovar
13 - Mike Pagliarulo
14 - Kent Hrbek
15 - Glen Perkins
16 - Frank Viola
17 - Camilo Pascual
18 - Eddie Guardado
19 - Scott Erickson
20 - Rich Reese
21 - Eric Milton
22 - Brad Radke
23 - Nelson Cruz
24 - Tom Brunansky
25 - Jim Thome
26 - Max Kepler
27 - David Ortiz
28 - Bert Blyleven
29 - Rod Carew
30 - Jimmie Hall
31 - Jim Perry
32 - Dan Gladden
33 - Justin Morneau
34 - Kirby Puckett
35 - Gerry Arrigo
36 - Jim Kaat
37 - Scott Stahoviak
38 - Rick Aguilera
39 - Ron Davis
40 - Juan Berenguer
41 - Jeff Reardon
42 - Jackie Robinson*
43 - Mitch Garver
44 - Chili Davis
45 - Phil Hughes
46 - German Gonzalez
47 - Jack Morris
48 - Torii Hunter
49 - Allan Anderson
50 - Matt Lawton
51 - Carl Willis
52 - Brian Duensing
53 - Mark Guthrie
54 - Matt Guerrier
55 - Taylor Rogers
56 - Tyler Duffey
57 - Johan Santana
58 - Scott Diamond
59 - Kevin Slowey
60 - Jon Rauch
61 - Jared Burton
62 - Liam Hendriks
63 - Buddy Boshers
64 - Willians Astudillo
65 – Trevor May
99 - Logan Morrison

 

 

[ashbury]

Mike "Full Court" Press?

 

Credit where credit is due, the canonical list of uniform numbers is maintained by Twins official scorer, Stew Thornley.

[Shaitan]

I think I'd take Santana over Pressly.

 

Nice work.

[Nine of twelve]

Thanks for giving me something to do. Here are some close calls I'd make differently.

9. Probably Hisle over Rollins

20. I'd give a slight edge to Rosario over Reese, if not now then almost certainly in a year or two

22. Radke for now, but it will be Sano in the near future

23. Cruz only had one season with us so have to go with Boswell

30. Goltz gets the edge over Hall

39. This one is really tough. I just don't want to put Davis on this list. I could say Juan Rincon, but he got where he was by juicing. I might have to go all the way back to Lee Stange.

42. I think we still have to name a player who did actually wear the jersey before it was retired so it's Mike Jackson. (FWIW I think I remember reading that he chose 42 to honor Jackie Robinson.)

46. Bob Wells

47. Corey Koskie

57. This is the only choice where I strongly disagree with the OP. It has to be Johan.

[puckstopper1]

Nine and Shaitan - Thanks for pointing out the obvious miss on John Santana.  I've updated the list accordingly.

[yarnivek1972]

5. It’s easy to forget that Roy Smalley was a very good hitting shortstop in an era when shortstops didn’t hit. At all. He produced 20.8 WAR for the Twins compared to 12.8 for Cuddyer as a Twin. And he won a ring.

[IndianaTwin]

Here was my attempt to create a 25-man roster using each number only once: 

 

http://twinsdaily.com/topic/36284-twins-all-time-roster-by-the-numbers/

 

[stringer bell]

Dozier over Zoilo. Not really close.

[puckstopper1]

 

Dozier over Zoilo. Not really close.

 

Stringer - care to elaborate on your opinion? 

 

Dozier may have had a couple of better seasons, but Zoilo was an MVP and 2X all-star and gold glove winner (Dozier won one each). 

 

Zoilo also provided great defense and stability (5 seasons of 159 games played or more) at a critical position for the franchise.

[Number3]

 

Stringer - care to elaborate on your opinion? 

 

Dozier may have had a couple of better seasons, but Zoilo was an MVP and 2X all-star and gold glove winner (Dozier won one each). 

 

Zoilo also provided great defense and stability (5 seasons of 159 games played or more) at a critical position for the franchise.

Couldn't agree more. Dozier hit a big fly when he ran into one but when and where he did it was totally random except for the lead off against the Yankees in a wild card game. Ervin took care of that in a hurry. I remember Zoilo joining the Senators when I was a kid and right away could tell that he was a difference maker. Real good all round ball player.

[yarnivek1972]

Dozier had 22.7 WAR in 5 full and 2 half seasons. Versalles posted 14.7 WAR in 7 full seasons, half of that in 1965 when he won the MVP. Meaning that he averaged barely over replacement level for the other six seasons. Dozier had no lower than 2.4 every year other than his first cup of coffee and his last year as a Twin.

 

It’s close. IMO, Versalles’ pennant tilts the scale in his favor. Especially considering he was one of the only guys that hit at all during the WS.

[stringer bell]

I said this on another thread, one could make a decent case for Dozier being the Twins' MVP every year from 2013 to 2017, he finished in the top 3 in WAR in each of those years. Dozier put together one fabulous statistical season (2016) as did Versalles (1965), but was very good in four other seasons. Zoilo's OPS+ was above 100 only twice and one of those was at 104, not exactly dominant. I really don't want to rip Versalles, but he was a really good player in only one season, as demonstrated by OPS+ and WAR (and my memory), Dozier was better, longer--five seasons with a WAR above 2.4 and three above 4.5--Versalles had the one great season, but otherwise was pedestrian.

[puckstopper1]

 

I said this on another thread, one could make a decent case for Dozier being the Twins' MVP every year from 2013 to 2017, he finished in the top 3 in WAR in each of those years. Dozier put together one fabulous statistical season (2016) as did Versalles (1965), but was very good in four other seasons. Zoilo's OPS+ was above 100 only twice and one of those was at 104, not exactly dominant. I really don't want to rip Versalles, but he was a really good player in only one season, as demonstrated by OPS+ and WAR (and my memory), Dozier was better, longer--five seasons with a WAR above 2.4 and three above 4.5--Versalles had the one great season, but otherwise was pedestrian.

 

Stringer - thanks for the details. No doubt that Dozier was important to the Twins during his tenure.

 

My thoughts that while WAR and OPS+ are good measures of importance to the team, they do not tell the whole story.

 

Zolio's value goes beyond his batting. Remember the Twins had a strong hitting line-up during this era and anything they got from Zolio at the plate was kind of a bonus.  In my opinion he added significant value by providing consistency at at critical position (think of all the issues the Twins have had a SS over the years). This included being on the field every game, and was terrific defensively.

[#1ShaneMackFan]

Mack vs. Bruno at #24 is one of the more competitive ones. They played a similar amount of time and both contributed big time to a WS championship. The general public remembers Brunansky more and he will have the connection to the '80's teams who came up together and brought championship #1. But I think Mack was the better overall player.

[lecroy24fan]

37 I'd take Kenny Rogers over Scott Stahoviak.

63 Boshers wore 62 so I'd go Andrew Albers

 

[puckstopper1]

 

37 I'd take Kenny Rogers over Scott Stahoviak.

63 Boshers wore 62 so I'd go Andrew Albers

 

You are correct. 

 

That was an error on my part because I was getting tired of cutting and editing the list by the time I got to #62!