2025 MLB All-Star Game: Building the Best Twins Lineup

Fox Sports

2 days ago

This list goes beyond the Twins legends that were once launching dingers at the Homer Dome.
Obviously, there's Kirby. And Hammerin' Harmon. And even Hall of Famer Rod Carew. Plenty of top stars who kept things on target in the Twin Cities.
Manager: Tom Kelly
Tom Kelly took over as the manager of the Twins in 1986, after Minnesota went 59-80 with him the year after his own term as a midseason replacement. Kelly was the sixth Twins' manager of the decade at that point — Minnesota had yet to post a winning season in the 80s, and likely only escaped the AL West cellar in '86 thanks to Kelly's promotion. In '87, the Twins won the World Series, and they did it again in '91: Kelly remained at the helm for 15 years, and in addition to the championships, ranks first for Minnesota in wins.
Starting pitcher: Walter Johnson
There are positions in Twins' history where there's room for debate about who deserves the nod, but not at starting pitcher. Bert Blyleven is a Hall of Famer, as is Jim Kaat. Johan Santana would have been, if his body had let him. Walter Johnson is inner-circle, however, behind only Cy Young in career wins above replacement owing to over 5,900 innings with a 2.17 ERA. That figure isn't just because of the Dead Ball era, either. Johnson's ERA+ is 147: he led the league six times, and he's the all-time leader in shutouts with 110, too.
Reliever/closer: Joe Nathan
The Twins acquired Joe Nathan (as well as Francisco Liriano and Boof Bonser) from the Giants in exchange for A.J. Pierzynski, just as Nathan seemed to be figuring out how to succeed in relief. Over the next seven years, he was significantly better than his best effort with San Francisco, racking up both saves (246) and strikeouts (518, 11.1 per nine) as a key member of a Twins' team with annual postseason aspirations. He'd end up leaving a year later, but not before becoming the franchise's all-time saves leader with 260, passing Rick Aguilera.
Catcher: Joe Mauer
Joe Mauer was a true Twins' lifer. Not only was his entire 15-year major-league career with Minnesota after they drafted him first-overall in 2001, but he was born in one of the twin cities that the team is named for: St. Paul, Minnesota. Mauer was more than just a local boy, though. He could hit, and not just for a catcher. Mauer finished his career with the second-highest on-base percentage (.405) for a catcher, one of just two backstops over .400, and was also a Gold Glove-caliber defender. Even with the injuries, he was a no-doubt Hall of Famer.
1B: Harmon Killebrew
Harmon Killebrew's career began in 1954, at age 18, allowing him to play for the Nationals, Senators and Twins iterations of the franchise. Killebrew isn't just the all-time home run leader for the Twins — at 559, he's the only Twins player with over 300, 400 and 500 long balls — but he's also 12th all-time in MLB with 573, who led the league in homers four times (and the AL another two). That power is part of why there are fans of a certain age who know him best from 1990s reruns of the 1960s television show, "Home Run Derby".
2B: Rod Carew
How many other Twins second baseman were named dropped by the Beastie Boys? Exactly. To Carew's credit, he was more than just a name that rhymed, as he was about as sure of a shot as you could get for a base hit: in 12 seasons with the Twins, he second baseman won eight batting titles, and led all of MLB in average in four of those seasons. For his career in Minnesota, Carew batted .334, and produced a 137 OPS+, third-best among Twins, while his .393 on-base is tied for first — those weren't empty batting averages by any means.
3B: Gary Gaetti
Gary Gaetti's league-average 1987 season was flanked by two superior campaigns. In '86, he mashed 34 homers with a then-career-high .856 OPS, and in '88, he produced what would end up being his lone season with an OPS over .900. Gaetti didn't forget to bring it when it counted, however: in the 1987 postseason, he hit .300/.348/.650 with two homers in the ALCS against the Tigers, earning series MVP honors, then .259/.333/.519 with another home run and four RBIs against the Cardinals, helping the Twins to their first championship since 1924.
SS: Cecil Travis
Cecil Travis led the majors in hits in 1941 with 218, while batting .359/.410/.520. The next three seasons would be spent on military bases and overseas, as part of the United States military. Travis lost what was left of his prime years on the diamond to World War II, and while that impacted more than just his final career tallies, we can still recognize his highly productive run before then. From 1934 through 1941, Travis averaged about four wins above replacement per year while batting .327, often playing high-quality defense at shortstop, to boot.
OF: Torii Hunter
It took Torii Hunter a few years to get going in the majors, but in 2001, at age 25, he broke out all at once. Hunter won his first of nine consecutive Gold Gloves — the first seven with Minnesota — and his bat finally took a step forward. And then another step in 2002, earning Hunter his first of five All-Star berths, and a sixth-place MVP finish. From 2001-2007, Hunter hit .272/.326/.484 alongside his excellent defense. While he left for the Angels in free agency, he did return to the Twins in 205 for his final year in MLB.
OF: Kirby Puckett
The franchise's successor to Rod Carew and predecessor to Torii Hunter. While Puckett won just one batting title compared to Carew's eight, the latter never had to contend with being in the same league as Wade Boggs: Puckett still hit .318 for his career, and .329 from 1986-1992. As for the Hunter connection, Puckett won his first Gold Glove in '86 for his play in center field, then five more before his career ended. Puckett was forced to retire early due to loss of vision in one eye, but even with the shortened career, proved an easy entrant to Cooperstown.
OF: Sam Rice
Sam Rice, like Harmon Killebrew, played all but one season of his career with the franchise. Unlike Killebrew, though, he did it all well before Minnesota was ever in the picture. Rice got a late start in his big-league career, coming up at age 25 with Washington, but he stuck around until he was 44 to make up for it. He led the league in hits once, and the AL another time — both seasons had 216 knocks — and batted .323 for the Nationals across 19 seasons. Rice was inducted into the Hall of Fame through the Veteran's Committee in 1963.
DH: Justin Morneau
Justin Morneau was drafted in the third round by the Twins in 1999, out of Canada. He'd debut four years later in the majors, and had a hold on the first base job by mid-2004, which allowed him to go deep 19 times in 74 games. He won the AL MVP in 2006 after batting .321/.375/.559 with 34 home runs, but would top that mark in 2008 with 47 blasts. Morneau is fourth in Twins' history with 221 homers, and tied for 10th in doubles with 289. He's also fourth all-time among Canadian-born players with 247 homers.
Honrable Mentions: Bucky Harris (manager)
Ron Gardenhire (manager)
Clark Griffith (manager)
Bert Blyleven (starting pitcher)
Brad Radke (starting pitcher)
Johan Santana (starting pitcher)
Jim Kaat (starting pitcher)
Jim Perry (starting pitcher)
Eddie Guardado (reliever/closer)
Glen Perkins (reliever/closer)
Rick Aguilera (reliever/closer)
Kent Hrbeck (1B)
Buddy Myer (2B)
Chuck Knoblach (2B)
Brian Dozier (2B)
Eddie Yost (3B)
Corey Koskie (3B)
Joe Cronin (SS)
Roy Smalley (SS)
Zoilo Versalles (SS)
Greg Gagne (SS)
Goose Goslin (OF)
Michael Cuddyer (OF)
Tony Oliva (OF)
Jacque Jones (OF)
Larry Hisle (OF)
Bob Allison (OF)
Tony Oliva (OF)
Shane Mack (OF)
Nelson Cruz (DH)
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