Minnesota Twins All-Time Team

We're wrapping up the American League Central with a stop in Minneapolis. Let's take a look at the Twins All-Time Team.

The Twins won two titles while playing home games at the Homer Dome, in 1987 and 1991. The epic battle between Jack Morris and John Smoltz in Game 7 of the '91 World Series was the last time a Minnesota team won a major pro sports championship.

Tom Kelly guided the 1987 Twins to the title and the worst-to-first squad four years later. Here's his All-Time lineup:

 

Kelly's top six is set in stone, with five Hall of Famers and a potential HOFer in Joe Mauer. Gary Gaetti edged out Eddie Yost with four Gold Gloves and more power at the plate. The Red Sox' managerial switch means Hall of Famer Joe Cronin is now free to push for the Twins/Senators starting shortstop spot:

	Twins stats	WAR	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
	*Cecil Travis	30.4	0.314	0.370	0.416	0.786	108
	Joe Cronin	36.9	0.304	0.387	0.455	0.842	118

Cronin comes out on top. Cecil Travis will have to content with Chuck Knoblauch for a seat on the bench.

	Twins stats	WAR	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
	*Chuck Knoblauch	38.0	0.304	0.391	0.416	0.807	114
	*Cecil Travis	30.4	0.314	0.370	0.416	0.786	108
	Buddy Myer	42.4	0.303	0.393	0.408	0.801	108

Knobby holds on - barely.

The Twins have a very deep and talented outfield, with several options for Tom Kelly to consider.

Hall of Famer Heinie Manush slipped through the cracks in the original series; his .330 lifetime average and 2,524 career hits deserves a home somewhere. Is Minnesota the best fit for him?

	Twins stats	WAR	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
	*Bob Allison	34.1	0.255	0.358	0.471	0.829	127
	Torii Hunter	26.4	0.268	0.321	0.462	0.783	103
	Heinie Manush	21.6	0.328	0.371	0.478	0.849	121
	Clyde Milan	40.0	0.285	0.353	0.353	0.706	109

If we're comparing careers Manush would win easily. He finished top-5 in MVP voting four times and led the league in hits twice. Based on production with this franchise alone, it's much closer.

It's a tough call for Tom Kelly, but Manush makes the team.

Fun fact: Hall of Famer Jim Kaat compiled less WAR for the Twins/Senators franchise in 15 seasons than Camilo Pascual accumulated in 13 seasons. Yet it's Pascual fighting to keep his spot in the Twins' All-Time rotation:

	Twins stats	WAR	ERA	ERA+	K/BB	WHIP
	*Camilo Pascual	33.2	3.66	106	2.07	1.295
	Frank Viola	27.0	3.86	111	2.33	1.295
	Brad Radke	45.6	4.22	113	3.30	1.260
	Jim Perry	26.3	3.15	113	1.89	1.196

Radke was one good season away from passing Kaat in career WAR, but that ERA is too high for an All-Time team (even for a PED-era pitcher.) All four hurlers are flawed in different ways, so there's no real need to make a change.

There is room to upgrade the Minnesota bullpen, as pioneering closer Firpo Marberry and "Everyday" Eddie Guardado battled to keep their spots on the team.

	Twins stats	SV	ERA	ERA+	K/BB	WHIP
	*Firpo Marberry	94	3.59	117	1.17	1.323
	*Eddie Guardado	116	4.53	105	2.26	1.340
	Matt Guerrier	5	3.40	127	2.05	1.254
	Taylor Rogers	50	3.15	139	4.75	1.150

What was I saying about Radke's ERA being too high? Guardado might have the highest of any All-Time team reliever. Taylor Rogers takes his spot, leaving Glen Perkins as the only southpaw in the Minny 'pen.

Looking ahead, the Twins have drafted six shortstops in the first round since 2011 including #1 overall pick Royce Lewis in 2017. None have panned out so far, but that could change with 2022 first-rounder Brooks Lee, who is already starting at double-A.

Oh, and they're all currently blocked by the highest-paid player in franchise history.

TL; DR: Three changes from the original roster. Travis, Allison, and Guardado out. Cronin, Manush, and Rogers in.

 

The Twins are the 15th of 30 All-Time Teams so we're officially at halftime. The NL Central starts next week but before that I'm going to give away 300 cards. I hope you'll join me this weekend for The Collector's 600th TCDB Transaction Celebration Extravaganza!!!

 

Thanks for reading!

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Kansas City Royals All-Time Team

Let's head to the heartland for a look at the Kansas City Royals All-Time Team.

 

Kauffman Stadium has been the Royals' home for nearly their entire existence, including World Series title-winning seasons in 1985 and 2015. Amazingly, this stadium still bears the name of the club's former owner thirty years after his passing*.

*I've probably just jinxed this, and tomorrow they'll announce a naming rights deal with Hobby Lobby or something.     

 

 

The winningest manager in Royals history has a losing record with the club, but Ned Yost managed more than twice as many games as Kansas City's other Series-winning skipper, Dick Howser.

Let's see the lineup Yost can boast:

Full disclosure: Salvador Perez was batting seventh in the original lineup, but breaking the single-season record for home runs by a catcher and tying the single-season team record triggered a bit of a shuffle. Freddie Patek is the lightest-hitting starter we've seen so far. Kansas City has to have a better option, right? Welll...

The good news is, 12 of the top 50 players in Royals history (by WAR total) are shortstops.

The bad news? Five of them don't qualify. One of them (Jay Bell) needed just one season to compile more Royal WAR than Brian McRae and John Wathan. Another one (Mike Aviles) played 301 games over four seasons.

	Royals stats	WAR	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	GP w/KC
	*Freddie Patek	20.5	0.241	0.309	0.321	0.630	78	1245
	Alcides Escobar	8.1	0.259	0.292	0.344	0.636	73	1245
	U L Washington	8.5	0.254	0.316	0.347	0.663	84	757
	Angel Berroa	2.2	0.263	0.305	0.384	0.689	78	627
	Kurt Stillwell	6.9	0.256	0.318	0.373	0.691	93	524
	Bill Pecota	8.1	0.254	0.330	0.370	0.700	94	445

There's your starting shortstop battle. Yuck. Escobar has a Gold Glove and an All-Star nod, but Patek has three All-Star appearances and nearly 400 stolen bases. He'll stay -- for now.

Yost has some more palatable options for his bench bats, including a new middle infielder (unfortunately not a shortstop).

Whit Merrifield has led the league in stolen bases three times, led the league in at-bats and games played three consecutive seasons, and turned 34 years old in January. You'd think a player like that would have stolen at least 300 bases by now. Yet Whit has not even reached 200 steals, nor has he swiped as many career bags as catcher Jason Kendall.

Porter and Mayberry are safe, but what about the rest of the Royal infielders?

	Royals stats	WAR	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
	*Billy Butler	12.5	0.295	0.359	0.449	0.808	119
	*Kevin Seitzer	17.3	0.294	0.380	0.394	0.774	115
	Eric Hosmer	15.4	0.284	0.342	0.439	0.781	111
	Whit Merrifield	17.1	0.286	0.332	0.425	0.757	103

Billy Butler is basically a backup DH, but Merrifield isn't enough of an upgrade at the plate - and his speed isn't needed when the Royals can run with Patek, Otis, and Willie Wilson.

I know what you're thinking...

 

where's Bo Jackson?

	Royals stats	WAR	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
	*Willie Wilson	42.4	0.289	0.329	0.382	0.711	95
	Lorenzo Cain	24.7	0.289	0.342	0.421	0.763	106
	David DeJesus	18.1	0.289	0.360	0.427	0.787	108
	Bo Jackson	7.0	0.250	0.308	0.480	0.787	115

If Alex Gordon wasn't such a tremendous fielder, Yost could swallow the strikeouts and start Bo in left. Alas.

Can this squad surprise opponents by winning with pitching and defense? Probably not, but the Royals' rotation just got a whole lot better.

Zack Greinke returned to Kansas City in 2022 and is now beginning his ninth season in Royal blue. I can't possibly keep him on Arizona's all-time team, so he'll slide in behind Bret Saberhagen here. But who does that push out of the rotisserie: Paul Splittorff, Mark Gubicza, or .. both?

	Royals stats	WAR	ERA	ERA+	K/BB	WHIP
	*Paul Splittorff	22.4	3.81	101	1.36	1.340
	*Mark Gubicza	38.0	3.91	110	1.74	1.356
	Danny Duffy	20.2	3.95	110	2.43	1.316
	Larry Gura	18.7	3.72	107	1.26	1.253

If Danny Duffy's ERA were a bit lower, I could use this Camo card. Mark Gubicza gets the 5th starter spot.

At least the Royals bullpen is rock-solid. Two of the team's top ten players at all positions (Quisenberry and Montgomery) are closers, while the other four All-Time Royals relievers rank 15th, 19th, 20th, and 21st in WAR for the franchise.

Looking ahead, Bobby Witt Jr. - the best young player Kansas City has seen in at least a decade - doesn't have to work too hard to become the Royals' all-time greatest shortstop. Brady Singer and Scott Barlow have a longer road to making this squad, but they're on the right track.



TL; DR: One change from the original roster. Splittorff out, Greinke in.

 

Come back Thursday for our next All-Time Team, the Minnesota Twins.

 

Thanks for reading!

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A quick NHL research post

The NHL's Stanley Cup Playoffs start tonight, and I'm more excited than usual as both my New Jersey Devils and Seattle Kraken have qualified. Not going to bother with a whole big post about who I think will win each series, though I do wish I'd done that more than once.

Anyway, this is just a quick research and observation post for my own curiosity that centers around the NHL Draft. This year's prize is Connor Bedard, who is projected to be a franchise-altering superstar.

Anaheim has the best odds to land the #1 overall pick, followed by Columbus and Chicago.

Personally, I'd say this is less than ideal for the NHL. If Connor Bedard is truly the next great superstar in waiting, one would hope that he ends up with either a long-suffering franchise that has a hearty fanbase (like if Victor Wembanyama ended up in Portland), or a gold star franchise that's finally hit a wall after several years of playoff appearances (like if Wemby became a San Antonio Spur).

Anaheim is a black hole for game-changing greats. Columbus signed last year's top free agent and got worse. 

See, what had happened was...

Chicago does have post-Tim Duncan era Spurs vibes. Except that Gregg Popovich would never abide by what the Hawks franchise has done. Hold that thought.

The point of this post isn't really "who tanked hard for Bedard?" It's actually inspired by this comment:

Excellent question that wasn't addressed to me, but I'll answer anyway. Let's find out together, shall we?

I used to buy these large encyclopedia-type books at Barnes & Noble every year for such questions, but hockey-reference saves me a ton of time, money, and closet space. Now what do I do with my old guides?

While the NHL isn't exactly like the NBA or NFL in that top-10 picks aren't automatically added to the main roster, there's less chance of a top-10 pick getting stuck in the minors without ever making the big club as there would be in MLB. Side note: how have the Astros put together a near-dynasty while wasting back-to-back #1 overall picks on these guys?

 

 

We now return to our regularly-scheduled hockey research, already in progress...

 

 ....now that Luke Hughes has joined the Devils wearing half of his big bro Jack's number, the top nine picks in the 2021 draft have seen NHL action. (We're still waiting on #10 selection Tyler Boucher, but let's assume he gets there.) Every top ten pick in 2020, 2019, 2018, and on through the past 30 years of NHL Entry Drafts have reached the NHL.

 

 And then I found one that didn't. Finally, a top-10 pick who never played a single NHL game.

I remember pulling Ryan Sittler cards back in the day. The Flyers selected Sittler seventh overall out of Michigan in 1992. He did play in the AHL, which was part of Olle's question, but I'm going to ignore that.

Sittler is the son of Maple Leafs legend and Hockey Hall of Famer Darryl Sittler. They were the first father-and son duo to be drafted in the top ten. So... what happened?

Injuries - and lots of 'em. Separated shoulder, fractured orbital bone, torn MCL. He just couldn't stay healthy. 

Every top ten pick in 1991 played in the NHL. Same for 1990, and 1989, and 1988...all the way back to 1975, where we find our second no-show: Robin Sadler. I've never heard of him. Did he play in the WHA perhaps?

No. Sadler was drafted to the WHA as well, but didn't play there either. From this article it appears that he struggled with the pressure of pro hockey in North America and decided to ply his trade in Europe.

Every top-ten pick in 1974 and 1973 appeared in the NHL. Assuming the active top tens eventually make it, that's 50 years of top-10 picks. 500 players, and only two never played a game. 

While I was scrolling through these lists I noticed a much more recent first rounder had no NHL stats.

He was selected just outside the top ten. When I saw his name, my heart sank.

Chicago selected Kyle Beach eleventh overall in 2008....

...and then they ruined his life. Not just his career. His life. I knew exactly why he didn't reach the NHL.

Let's hope the 'Hawks handle Connor Bedard much, much better. Or whoever they draft this year.


Can you recall any top-ten picks in other sports who never made it to the majors, and why?


Who are you cheering for in this year's Stanley Cup playoffs?

Back to baseball tomorrow. Thanks for reading!



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