Be Like Ant: The Best 22-Year-Olds in Minnesota Twins History

[Cody Christie]

The Minnesota Timberwolves are in uncharted territory, opening as favorites in the Western Conference Finals. Anthony Edwards, a 22-year-old, has led the team in the postseason. Since the Twins will be playing (figuratively and literally) in the shadow of the Wolves for the next week or more, we might as well ask: who are Twins history's best answers to Ant-Man?

Minneapolis will be busy on Friday night, with the Twins facing off against the Rangers and the Timberwolves squaring off against the Mavericks. Anthony Edwards has become the face of the franchise during the team’s current playoff run. He’s only 22 years old, and has a phenomenally bright future ahead of him. Let’s look back at the history of the Twins to find the best players in their age-22 season.

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Recently, Twins Daily launched the Minnesota Twins Players Project. What is the Players Project? It's a community-driven, wiki-style project focusing on Twins players of all stripes. It's open to all Twins Daily users, and we've had contributions of current players, past players, and players who never made the major leagues but played in the Twins farm system. Some of the players from this story have already been added to the project, and you can add others.

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Honorable Mention: Miguel Sano (2.0 WAR), Byron Buxton (2.0 WAR), Luis Arráez (1.8 WAR), Rod Carew (1.7 WAR), Zoilo Versalles (1.5 WAR), and Butch Wynegar (1.5 WAR)

5. Chuck Knoblauch: 2.1 fWAR
Knoblauch burst onto the scene during the Twins' historic run to the 1991 World Series. In 151 games, he hit .281/.351/.350, with 31 extra-base hits and 25 steals. He finished two votes shy of being the unanimous AL Rookie of the Year, beating out future Hall of Famer Iván Rodríguez. Knoblauch is one of the best on-field players in Twins history, with four All-Star appearances, two Silver Sluggers, and a Gold Glove. His tenure ended sourly in Minnesota, and his poor off-field behavior has been well-documented. He is, sadly, a reminder that great fame and success at such a young age can mask (or even engender) unacceptable decisions.

4. Tom Brunansky: 2.6 fWAR
Brunansky had 138 big-league games under his belt before his age-22 season. He had been traded to the Twins in May 1982 with Mike Walters, for Doug Corbett and Rob Wilfong. In 1983, he hit .227/.308/.445 with 24 doubles, five triples, and 28 home runs. His 103 OPS+ was 26 points lower than his monster 1982 season, wherein he had a career-high WAR. He was an All-Star in 1985, when the Twins hosted the game at the Metrodome, including participating in the inaugural Home Run Derby. In 1987, he was a vital member of the team’s first World Series team. Unfortunately, the front office traded him to St. Louis for Tom Herr, in one of the most infamous trades in franchise history.

3. Carlos Gómez: 2.7 fWAR
Gómez was part of one of the most famous trades in Twins history, too, when Minnesota sent Johan Santana to the Mets for four prospects. His age-22 season was his first year in Minnesota, when he posted a 77 OPS+ in 153 games. Gómez was known for his tremendous center-field defense, but struggled to find a consistent offensive approach with the Twins. He provided 20.1 defensive value and -14.4 offensive value in his rookie season. He was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers for J.J. Hardy in November 2009. With the Brewers, he developed into a two-time All-Star, winning a Gold Glove and collecting two top-16 finishes for the NL MVP. 

2. Kent Hrbek: 3.3 fWAR
Hrbek has been a Twins legend since his rookie season, and was a critical component of the team’s 1987 and 1991 World Series teams. In 1982, he was a 22-year-old playing in his first full season at the big-league level. He hit .301/.363/.485, with a 128 OPS+. He made his lone All-Star appearance that season and finished runner-up for the AL Rookie of the Year, behind Cal Ripken Jr. He hit multiple important home runs in his career, including the game-winning home run in his MLB debut at Yankee Stadium and a grand slam in Game 6 of the 1987 World Series.

1. Joe Mauer: 3.4 fWAR
Mauer flew through the minor leagues as MLB's top-ranked prospect, and made his MLB debut without playing a game at Triple-A. His rookie season was cut short by a leg injury, so his age-22 season was his first full season in the big leagues. In 131 games, he hit .294/.372/.411, with a 107 OPS+. He provided value on both sides of the plate, and it was just the start of what he would bring to the Twins. Mauer won the 2009 MVP, three batting titles, six All-Star appearances, five Silver Sluggers, and three Gold Gloves. He became only the third catcher to be elected as a first-ballot Hall of Famer, and his excellence started in his age-22 season.

Of these players, Mauer is also the most directly comparable to Edwards, in that he, like Edwards, was the first overall pick and faced significant, immediate pressure to rescue a frustrated franchise. Of course, some of that pressure stemmed from his being a hometown kid, and Edwards doesn't have that extra burden or bond, but if he were to achieve anything akin to the long career and symbiotic relationship with the team that Mauer had with the Twins, Minnesota sports fans would have to count themselves among the luckiest in the country. For now, they'll just hope that Edwards gets the short-term on-field satisfaction (a championship) that eluded Mauer and his Twins teams.

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Do you agree with the rankings? Should one of the honorable mentions make the top five? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion.

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[MABB1959]

I would go with Joe Mauer who started at 22 and took off right away.  He was a big part of the team making the playoffs.  Close second would be Berrios who also started at 22.  He had a rough first season but went on to be one of the best pitchers the Twins had since Johan Santana.

[IndianaTwin]

1. I get that it's hard to argue with WAR, but it's also hard to consider Gomez third-best with an OPS+ of 77. 

2. Particularly noteworthy with Sano is that it came in little more than a half season. With a full season, he may have reached Mauer level.

3. Peter Gammons upon Hrbek's retirement: "If he had kept in better shape, he could have been a Hall of Famer. But we wouldn't have loved him as much."

 

 

[nicksaviking]

Gomez at #3 is a pretty strong argument for why WAR isn't a good stat. Gomez was undeniably the WORST offensive regular on that team by pretty much every metric. Those regulars included Alexi Casilla, Brendon Harris, Nick Punto and Brian Buscher. The even more maligned Delmon Young was a better 22-year-old on that team.

If anyone remembers anything about the 2008 season, it was how disappointing the top piece of the Johan Santana trade played.

[RpR]

I see Go-Go batted .284 two years in a row, and added one more .284 years later on.

I wonder what player had most identical batting averages during a career, especially years in a row?

[bean5302]

35 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

Gomez at #3 is a pretty strong argument for why WAR isn't a good stat. Gomez was undeniably the WORST offensive regular on that team by pretty much every metric. Those regulars included Alexi Casilla, Brendon Harris, Nick Punto and Brian Buscher. The even more maligned Delmon Young was a better 22-year-old on that team.

If anyone remembers anything about the 2008 season, it was how disappointing the top piece of the Johan Santana trade played.

An average, every day position player should produce 2.5 WAR for a good team. Gomez was 2.7 fWAR vs 2.1 bWAR. Fangraphs had Gomez's defense better than Baseball Reference. Offensively, terrible. Defensively, exceptional in an premium defensive position.

The difference between a 5-6 WAR full season Buxton and a 2-3 WAR full season Gomez is all bat.

[ashbury]

The article said "players" and not specifically position players, so I feel it's a big oversight not to mention Bert Blyleven.  He already had considerable experience by 1973 and his age-22 season was at a similar high level as his previous ones, earning an All-Star berth and some Cy Young Award support.

[IndianaTwin]

1 hour ago, RpR said:

I see Go-Go batted .284 two years in a row, and added one more .284 years later on.

I wonder what player had most identical batting averages during a career, especially years in a row?

This isn't quite that, but I've always been amazed at the similarity between Eddie Murray's first two years: 

Other than drawing a bunch more walks his second year, which created much of the difference in OBP, which leads to OPS, which leads to OPS+, these numbers are virtually identical. 

They speak to the incredible consistency he had. Can you imagine what it was like as a manager to have seven years of writing Ripken and Murray in the 3 and 4 hole, nearly every day. 

It's hard to think of a guy with 3255 hits and 502 HRs as underrated, but wow.

[IndianaTwin]

27 minutes ago, ashbury said:

The article said "players" and not specifically position players, so I feel it's a big oversight not to mention Bert Blyleven.  He already had considerable experience by 1973 and his age-22 season was at a similar high level as his previous ones, earning an All-Star berth and some Cy Young Award support.

So you're saying a 9.7 bWAR is worth noting? 😀

"Some" overstates his Cy Young support. Somehow he only got one vote! Guess he didn't look good enough in underwear.

 

[Rigby]

3 hours ago, RpR said:

I see Go-Go batted .284 two years in a row, and added one more .284 years later on.

I wonder what player had most identical batting averages during a career, especially years in a row?

Khris Davis perhaps....

[IndianaTwin]

12 minutes ago, Rigby said:

Khris Davis perhaps....

Yikes. I guess...

[mnfireman]

Blyleven had 9.7 bWAR & 10.8 fWAR at age 22....NOBODY else on this list is close. Next poll please....

[ashbury]

7 hours ago, IndianaTwin said:

So you're saying a 9.7 bWAR is worth noting? 😀

"Some" overstates his Cy Young support. Somehow he only got one vote! Guess he didn't look good enough in underwear.

 

LOL, I saw the CYA-7 meaning 7th place and didn't look deeper to find out that just one vote was enough to tie with two others.  😀

[Linus]

Seeing Go Go in this list made me chuckle because Gardy used to call Go Go and Alexi Casilla loose canon one and loose canon two. They made some head scratching plays.