Is Carlos Correa the Best Shortstop in Twins History?

[bean5302]

24 minutes ago, Craig Arko said:

I think I’m in the ‘Leo Cardenas was highly underrated’ camp. Outstanding defender who really developed as a hitter.

Gagne was pretty great, too.

Cardenas was good to great for the 3 years he played for the Twins, and he had 2 other years in his 16 year career where he was good. Other than those sporadic seasons, he wasn't really starting caliber.

[sweetmusicviola16]

1 hour ago, Doctor Gast said:

SS is one of the most important positions defensively. I'd rank them by their intangibles & where they brought us. #1 Gagne brought us 2 World Series Championships #2 Versalles took us to the dance 1st. The rest is up for grabs. To compete, you have to have a very good SS, Correa did that for us. Trading away Correa is saying; "We can't put together a competitive team even with Correa, so we need to dump his salary & use him as a scapegoat. It's the player's fault."

"and we'll use the money we save on the Correa contract to invest elsewhere. Good trade." Yeah,uh huh, sure we will.

[Parfigliano]

Gagne.  '87 and '91.  Let me know when they win one WS.

[Parfigliano]

14 hours ago, NYCTK said:

Buck is a fun manager. He's a bit too much of an old head, but I actually really enjoyed him as the Mets manager. But he hated playing the Mets young players that he felt hadn't earned it, ie Vientos and Baty.

If that held true, he would be DESPISED by this website. And rightfully so. 

Wish, wish, wish TC had 80% of a  Vientos or Baty.

[JADBP]

Hey, WTH?  How can you ding Zoilo for a short but spectacular Twins tenure but not ding Carlos for his BRIEF contributions? Zoilo outclassed Carlos by 100%! 

[nclahammer]

Correa was expected to be an aquisition that really moved the needle and the Minnesota Twins to the next level, a big difference maker.    He didn't.   While having moments or short periods of that brilliance (and one playoff series win), he widely underachieved during his tenure  with the team.

[mnfireman]

21 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

I overlooked Guzman. He might belong ahead of Correa. Leo Cardenas was a fabulous shortstop for his 3 year run as a Twin. I guess I went with guys who played more years and also were glove shortstops.

Cardenas played more games and had a higher bWAR and fWAR than Correa despite playing 1/2 season less.

Guzman only had 7.6 bWAR and 5.1 fWAR, he is above neither.

[Bodie]

He was, undoubtedly, the best shortstop in Twins history with his only competition being Zollo (and his spellcheck-defeating last name!).

And I take Smalley or Gagne over him.  Smalley because I wanted to grow up and be him as a kid (and have that fine duck'sass on my head!).  And Gagne because he went out every day, played good (if not great) defense - something Correa never did.

Give me "good" seven days a week, not great for a month per season and invisible for a month followed by a DL stint.

[Whitey333]

Correa best Twins SS ever?  OMG this must be one of those satire articles.  Nevermind!

[JBK]

I think greatness is tied to winning.  

Forget the analytics.

I'll go with Greg Gagne.  Steady. Dependable. A leader. And something no other Twins SS can claim:  a winner.

[TwinsChupacabra]

Go back and watch the end of the 2024 "lowlights".  You'll see what a phony leader he was and how his lack of hustle cost the Twins.  Some idiots are born with natural talent but many of them don't maximize it.  He should be known for his uncanny ability to hit into DP's and his cheating.

[NYCTK]

8 hours ago, Parfigliano said:

Wish, wish, wish TC had 80% of a  Vientos or Baty.

Fun fact, back in the Fangraphs 2022 prospect rankings they ranked 62, 63, and 64.

Neither Baty or Vientos are that great. Baty is an everyday player because his glove is exceptional at either 3B or 2B, a position he happily learned on the go without complaining to the media, go figure. But Vientos is a statue and needs to hit 30 HR to be a decent player. 

I'd trade Vientos straight up for Lewis. Not if I were the Mets because that doesn't help them at all, but just saying in a vacuum I think I'd bet on Lewis going forward. 

Baty looks like he'll be the best of the batch. Defense is important! Who knew?! 

[Otaknam]

Shortstop is kind of a black hole for the Twins over their history. Aside from Versailles’ MVP outlier season in 1965, IMO Correa is clearly the best shortstop in team history when considering offense, defense, and leadership. Too bad his injuries hampered him while here, especially in 2024. Gagne gets a nod for his great defense and decent offensive numbers, Smalley for being consistently good but not great  over multiple seasons.  Leo Cardenas had 3 excellent offensive seasons with the Twins, and I believe his defense was very good too. And he played almost every games over three seasons, which doesn’t happen much these days so players can rest and recharge. 

[c24]

The lack of love for Tsuyoshi Nishioka here is appalling.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

No, but the 2023 - 2025 teams were better with him on it than not.

Gagne, Zoilo, Cardenas, Smalley then Correa.

[bean5302]

3 hours ago, mnfireman said:

Cardenas played more games and had a higher bWAR and fWAR than Correa despite playing 1/2 season less.

Guzman only had 7.6 bWAR and 5.1 fWAR, he is above neither.

Leo Cardenas 1969-1971 (3.0yrs) = 10.9 fWAR, 11.1 bWAR
Carlos Correa 2022-2025 (3.5yrs) = 10.8* fWAR, 10.4bWAR
*added 0.2 fWAR for 2025 consistent with bWAR ratio of season WAR for Twins vs. Astros

[bean5302]

1 hour ago, c24 said:

The lack of love for Tsuyoshi Nishioka here is appalling.

We'll give him honorary "Life Most Destroyed" by playing for the Twins. Honestly, Nishioka's experience was truly brutal. Fall from stardom, marriage fell apart, lack of manager support, horribly injured early in his time on a dirty play and spent the rest of his time in the minors. He forefitted the rest of his contract in shame for having not held up his end of the bargain and slinked back to Japan.

[rv78]

Based on overall performance while being a Twin: 1.Smalley 2.Cardenas 3.Versalles 4.Correa 5.Gagne

Based on overall Value brought to the team: 1.Gagne 2.Versalles, 3.Smalley 4.Cardenas 5.Guzman

[nicksaviking]

I’ll take the guy with the career .940 OPS* at shortstop. No one’s voting for Miguel Sano?!

*2010-2011 MiLB 

[Fatbat]

Defense and winning matters most. Gagne was the glue that won 2 WS championships. He is a clear #1 in Twins SS history. Everyone else can be tied for #3 behind Roy Smalley. C4 is no doubt a great player but not a great Twin. There is a difference. 

[dxpavelka]

I'll put Gagne atop that list and ignore any argument any makes to the contrary.  Two rings at a premium defensive position IS a thing.

[Steve J]

I think one guy that could have ended up on the list was J.J. Hardy.  He was one heck of an instinctive player on defense and had some decent hitting years.  I thought Minnesota was a very good environment for him, with him being "besties" with Mauer.

Alas, the Twins got rid of him in some hairbrained scheme to retool for more base path speed from the infield.  Voila! he was replaced by collective disasters that were Nishioka, Trevor Plouffe and Matt Tolbert at Shortstop, none of them who were effectively any faster, even if they could have gotten on base.  None of them had any business being at short.  All the Twins got for Hardy was a couple "C" non-prospects that didn't go anywhere  

[ashbury]

5 hours ago, c24 said:

The lack of love for Tsuyoshi Nishioka here is appEalling.

FTFY

[Stew]

No! Hell no!

[Dawgzilla]

No!  Correa may have had star power, but Greg Gagne has got the hardware (World Series rings), let alone decent offensive and defensive stats.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

On 10/24/2025 at 3:53 PM, The Great Hambino said:

I do think that's the best case for Gagne.  I was too young to really watch Gagne and not yet alive to watch Smalley.  But in terms of defensive runs saved over the stretches I mentioned above, Smalley was pretty good on D (14 defensive runs saved), but Gagne was truly excellent (58! DRS).  That's a bigger gap than I was expecting

To me, this statistic seals the deal in favor of Gagne. Short stop is the most important defensive ;position on a baseball team for a reason.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

9 hours ago, nicksaviking said:

I’ll take the guy with the career .940 OPS* at shortstop. No one’s voting for Miguel Sano?!

*2010-2011 MiLB 

E-6

[Parfigliano]

11 hours ago, NYCTK said:

Fun fact, back in the Fangraphs 2022 prospect rankings they ranked 62, 63, and 64.

Neither Baty or Vientos are that great. Baty is an everyday player because his glove is exceptional at either 3B or 2B, a position he happily learned on the go without complaining to the media, go figure. But Vientos is a statue and needs to hit 30 HR to be a decent player. 

I'd trade Vientos straight up for Lewis. Not if I were the Mets because that doesn't help them at all, but just saying in a vacuum I think I'd bet on Lewis going forward. 

Baty looks like he'll be the best of the batch. Defense is important! Who knew?! 

"Neither Baty or Vientos are that great..." and they are both better then Lewis.

[Steve J]

Greg Gagne was absolutely awesome to watch.  He had this odd head snap when he threw to let you know he was putting his whole body into it, and if you see images of his throwing mechanics, you can see an incredible load on his arm as he threw.  He had an awesome, quick release.  It was like watching Dan Marino with actual legs.  

Starting here on this video gives you a pretty good idea of what we watched every day.  At about 5:20 it starts to show more defensive plays.  
 

 

[rv78]

Thanks Steve J for that video. Brought back many memories. Makes you realize how inept the Twins teams are now compared to how they played back then. Correa had nothing over Gagne defensively. Watching Hrbek stretch for the throws was awesome. Twins haven't had a 1st Baseman like him since he played. Morneau was good but didn't play like Hrbek. Someone should show the Pohlads the crowds they had when they put a good product on the field and compare it to the miniscule crowds they have now. And then they wonder why the fans don't show up. The current team is a joke compared to those teams back in the late 80's and early 90's. Thanks Pohlads and Falvey. You have given us nothing.