I would have Morgan at number two, right behind Hornsby. After release from Dodgers, what's next for Trevor Bauer? Not all historians will call him the best defensive second baseman in history, but they will almost all call him one of the 10 best ever. Join the discussion by using the #MLBRank hashtag, and follow along @BBTN and on Facebook. They include All-Stars, World Series champions, Hall of Famers and baseball legends. Frisch had 641 assists during the 1927 season and it still stands as the MLB record for a Second Baseman. Jackie only played 11 professional seasons, including one with the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro League, where he didnt debut until he was 26. Carew was an all-star for an incredible 18 consecutive years, starting with his rookie year in 1967. Ozzie Albies might soon be considered the franchises best. In an era before awards, Lajoie led the league in key offensive categories several times during his 21-year career, including hits (4x), doubles (5x), RBI (3x), batting average (5x), SLG (4x), and HRs (1x). Jody Reed (1990s) offensive rating: C -. Minimum of 1000 IP, 3000 PA, 500 games (fielding, 500 IP for Ps), 200 stolen base attempts (catchers) or 80 stolen base attempts (baserunners only since 1951) or 100 decisions for career and active leaderboards for rate statistics. Well, Grich has that, too. He was a tremendous all-around athlete and played multiple sports in college, which, along with World War II, delayed his eventual career in MLB. Mariners top 5 >, Rangers: Ian Kinsler, 2006-13Key fact: Ranks in franchise top 10 in hits (1,145), runs (748), doubles (249), triples (23), home runs (156) and RBIs (539)The choice for the Rangers' best all-time second baseman is closer than most people might realize. In 2004, he scored the last-ever run for the Montreal Expos, before they relocated to Washington, D.C. He was ever so slightly below average. Baseball Best MLB Defensive Players of All Time By Paul Ladewski, updated on March 11, 2020 Old-Time Baseball Photos / Facebook TTO has done more to hurt defense than Daniel Murphy ever could on his worst day. In 2006, Ellis broke the AL single-season record for fielding percentage (.9968) though oddly, he did not win the Gold Glove Award that year. Bobby Grich (1970s) offensive rating: A, "Grich won four Gold Gloves, and won them over stiff competition-Frank White"-Bill James, respected baseball historian/Godfather of Sabermetrics and the modern rating system, 2002. Not if you ask me. In 1929 he won his second MVP as a member of the Cubs and also made it to the World Series again that year (which, of course, they lost). 6. Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2011, Alomar is considered by many to be the greatest player in Blue Jays history, and he remains involved with the organization through the Blue Jays Baseball Academy and Tournament 12. He was also a great World Series performer, winning four titles and hitting .328 in 34 career games. As always, value-based metrics formed the core of the evaluation process, including WAR ratings from both Baseball-Reference and Fangraphs, which calculate it differently. Rockies top 5 >. Castillo holds the Marlins' record hitting streak of 35 games, which went from May 8-June 21, 2002. He also won rookie-of-the-year that season for the Twins. .300/.371/.443, OPS -- .814, Hits -- 2,724, HRs -- 210, RBIs -- 1,134, It took Pat Gillick about only three hours -- not even enough time to write up a press release -- to trade for Alomar, who became the cornerstone of the Blue Jays' back-to-back World Series champs in 1992-93. And they can be a pitchers best friend. Hornsby retired from playing in 1937 and was elected to the Hall of Fame five years later in 1942. Of course, once they point this out, they then proceed to rate him an "A +" defensively and call him one of the best defensive second basemen of all time. We feel its important to acknowledge that baseball is harder to play today than it was 25 years ago, and 50 years ago, and so on. Braves top 5 >, Marlins: Luis Castillo, 1996-2005Key fact: Three-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove Award winner with MarlinsOne of the best players in Marlins history, Castillo led the league in stolen bases in 2000 (62) and '03 (48). In 2015, he was hired to manage the Milwaukee Brewers, leading them to the NLCS in 2018. 20 is one of three retired numbers in Royals history. In 1962 he was elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year on the ballot. He returned sharp in 2005, batting .316 as the starting second baseman for the Oakland As. Without further ado, lets get to it with Number Ten: Roberto Alomar may be best remembered for the worst moment of his career when he spit on home plate umpire John Hirschbeck after being thrown out of a game for arguing balls and strikes in late September 1996. And he was the best the Rays have ever had. After one season with the Athletics, in which Lajoie dominated the league in almost every statistical category, including the Triple Crown, he moved on to Cleveland. Padres top 5 >, Rockies: DJ LeMahieu, 2012-18Key facts: He was a two-time All-Star, three-time Gold Glove winner and won a batting title with ColoradoFrom 2013-18, LeMahieu tallied 44 defensive runs saved (DRS), according to Fangraphs -- by far the most in the NL. A player with no weakness in his game. Walker won the Silver Slugger Award in 2014. 8) MLB Power Rankings: Trade candidate C.J. It was probably in his Win Shares book or his Baseball Historical Abstract book, I can't remember, forgive me. Widely considered the best defensive third baseman of all time, Robinson won 16 straight Gold Gloves (1960-75), an American League MVP in 1964, two World Series with Baltimore (1966,. Because of how different eras of baseball have been played, it's difficult to nail down the best defensive catcher of all time. In his first season with Cincinnati, Morgan led the league in runs, walks, and OBP; and finished fourth in the MVP voting. Table of Contents Who are the best MLB second basemen of all time? He debuted in 1896 with the Phillies at first base but moved to second in 1898, where he would become famous. Teams: Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, Toronto Blue Jays. He made it to four World Series with the club, winning the first three. The BBWAA wasted no time adding him to the group at Cooperstown, electing him in his first year of eligibility in 1990. He'll be . He finished second in rookie-of-the-year voting that season and led the league in walks. 5. His defensive rating on Fangraphs leads all second basemen all-time with over 1,000 plate appearances. As an up the middle position, defense was a more significant factor for second base than first base, though offense was still the primary driver. Herr played on three World Series teams and won with the Cardinals in 1982. Bottom line: The Cubs picked up DJ LeMahieu in the second round of the 2009 draft, but he shined in the major leagues after being traded to Colorado. .308/.356/.497, OPS -- .854, Hits -- 2,129, HRs -- 260, RBIs -- 1,041, Cano has eight .300 seasons and a ninth possibly on the way, has a good chance to top 3,000 career hits and probably will pass Jeff Kent for most home runs by a second baseman. Kinsler spent eight years with the Rangers while Franco was in Texas for five. After that season, he was traded to the Mets. 10-time NL All Star (1966, '70, '72-79), All-Star MVP ('72), five NL Gold Gloves ('73-77), two-time NL MVP ('75-76), one NL Silver Slugger ('82), Hall of Fame ('90), Career stats* Playing for the Rockies from 2012 to 2018, he was a three-time Gold Glove winner (2014, 2017 and 2018), and was an All-Star pick in 2015 and 2017 but not in 2016, when he wound up as the NL batting champion. Yankees top 5 >. Kinsler was a star on the Rangers' two pennant-winning teams of 2010-11, but Julio Franco was also an outstanding second baseman, earning three All-Star selections and winning an AL batting title. We have gone to great lengths to make our All-Time Baseball Player Rankings as thorough as possible. It might be the only number as big as the game itself. In addition, he played in the first six all-star games, beginning in 1933. Hornsby got a taste of the show in 1915 and was a regular with the Cardinals the following season. Either way, Bill James comes to this conclusion on Mazeroski: his 113 defensive career Win Shares is 1st all time in the history of MLB for a second baseman. Hi Nels. He was also a solid hitter, finishing with a .295 career batting average. Oh, offensively, Hubbard pretty much got the job done, but he was slightly below average. After losing the 1914 World Series, Mack broke up the As and sold Collins to the White Sox for $50k. The Little General retired in 1984 with a career OBP of .392. In 1997, MLB retired the number 42, which Robinson wore, across all of baseball. Neither of them had short careers, but they didn't have long ones either. Extrapolate that to an entire season, and you have an MVP candidate. Collins returned to the As for his final four seasons and retired in 1930 at the age of 43. This move helped legitimize the AL, but Lajoies time with the As was short-lived as legal action by the NL prevented him from playing in Philadelphia for any team other than the Phillies. 8. Frisch went to four more World Series with St. Louis, this time coming out on top in the latter two. His offensive numbers werent quite as good as Cano & Alomar, but if there was a way to quantify leadership, hed probably leap both of them! And he did most of it under the most trying of circumstances. Charlie Gehringers nickname was The Mechanical Man. He was dubbed so because of his robotic consistency and durability. Matt Chapman /.9737/, 4. Teams: Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Francisco Giants. Theres also his seven Silver Slugger Awards, the NL MVP season of 1984 and the year he led the NL in home runs (40 in 1990). So he's got that going for him, which is nice. Reds top 5 >, D-backs: Ketel Marte, 2017-presentKey fact: Selected as the 2019 NL All-Star starter at second baseIn a close race with Jay Bell, Marte gets the nod here. And in 2013, he coached the Israeli national team in the World Baseball Classic. That leaves half or just under half from his long peak (seven best seasons), short peak (three best seasons), and prime (five best consecutive seasons). Here's what happened with Hubbard, he DID play on ground ball teams (generally speaking). Bottom line: Jose Oquendo primarily played second base and shortstop, but made at least one appearance at every position during his major league career. Generally, a players Career Value is worth about 50-60% of the ranking score we assign him. Gehringer debuted in 1924 but wasnt a regular until 1926. Let's begin with the long ball. A broken finger finally forced him to wear a glove in 1896, and that year he fielded .978, a record fielding percentage for a second baseman until well into the 1900s. 1 second baseman for every club, as chosen by MLB.com's beat reporters. His lone All-Star appearance was 1985 the year he notched 110 RBI while hitting just eight home runs. I hate to bring up Bill James again (actually, I love it), but he came to an amazing conclusion on Bill Mazeroski, too. Joe Morgan had a few brief stints with the Houston Colt 45s before latching on with the now Astros in 1965. The 10-time All-Star and eight-time Gold Glove Award winner remains the only player in Major League history to hit a walk-off home run in Game 7 of the World Series, which he did to lead the Bucs past the Yankees in 1960. Bottom line: Known for his distinctive batting stance where he holds his bat high above his head, Craig Counsell has the distinction of being on base twice when the World Series ended with a walk-off hit with the Florida Marlins (1997) and the Arizona Diamondbacks (2001). Morgan was an on-base machine who could run, hit for power, and play excellent defense. 1. They only made the playoffs twice in his tenure and never went to a World Series. The only knock on Muncy is defense, as he rates below average at the position, and he's coming off Tommy John. Cardinals top 5 >, Cubs: Ryne Sandberg, 1982-97Key fact: In the 22 seasons since Sandberg's retirement, 13 players have started at second base for the Cubs on Opening Day (none more than two years in a row)At the time of his retirement, Sandberg owned the MLB record for homers by a second baseman, while also having set the mark for consecutive games without an error (123). Anyway, most of you know that Bill James pretty much invented the Win Shares system, which so many take as gospel. That puts him in a class with the game's all-time greats. Because of how different eras of baseball have been played, it's difficult to nail down the best defensive catcher of all time. The position is home to those who couldn't hack it at shortstop or slug enough to earn a corner-infield job. Former Yankees captains on what awaits Aaron Judge, Angelos says Orioles staying put, scolds reporter, Sources: Cubs, 1B Mancini agree on 2-year deal, Padres give 16-year-old catching prospect $5.6M, Jays bullpen coach Buschmann stepping down, Alonso: Mets on the brink of something special, Cubs to honor Sandberg, who sees issue for Sosa. In 2014, LeMahieu led the majors with 99 double plays. Either way, Grich, Childs and Richardson are the three best second basemen in the history of MLB that are not in the Hall of Fame, with arguments from Davey Lopes (1970s) and Tom Daly. Whites No. He threw 39 innings and struck out 41, walked 15 and held opposing hitters to a . Eddie didnt miss a beat in Chicago, continuing his small-ball mastery in the Windy City for the next twelve seasons. Since committing 17 errors in his rookie season in 2005, Cano has never committed more than 13 errors in a season and 123 total errors in 2,124 career games. He is on the short list of the greatest right-handed hitters ever. I suppose that makes him one of the 10 best overall second basemen in the history of MLB. Rangers top 5 >, Braves: Marcus Giles, 2001-06Key fact: Giles .809 OPS ranks first among all Braves second basemen (min. Some will balk at Canos inclusion on the list, given his two suspensions for PED use. He's one of the 20 best overall second basemen in the history of MLB when you mix his offense and his defense together. .285/.344/.452, OPS -- .795, Hits -- 2,386, HRs -- 282, RBIs -- 1,061, Beloved Cubbiness and a brief run as one of the most supremely gifted second basemen in the game aside, Sandberg's main asset is exploiting Wrigley Field to hit for power, slugging .491 there vs. a less-than-epic .412 everywhere else. Teams: Washington Nationals, Los Angeles Angels, Seattle Mariners, Tampa Bay Rays. Cron somehow survived last year's trade deadline and remained in Denver. 2 jersey retired in '76 and has a sculpture with shortstop Luis Aparicio on the Guaranteed Rate Field concourse. In 1990, Oquendo recorded just three errors while playing in 150 games. 1. If youre interested in any of the other positions weve covered to date, you can find them and a lot of other great content in the archive. Big numbers? "Frisch can knock down more balls with his elbows, knees, chest and head, and by dint of his fleet recovery throw out the runner, than any nine men we know"-Gordon Mackay, respected baseball historian, 1924. The switch-hitting Vidro donned Expos and Nationals uniforms for 10 of his 12 Major League seasons, and he slashed .301/.363/.459 with an .821 OPS, 1,280 hits, 550 RBIs and 115 home runs during his tenure. 1. That's short for Three True Outcomes, also known as walks, strikeouts and home runs. That's a heck of a fact that Bill James presents. 1 -- St. Louis Cardinals (1926), Career stats Marlins top 5 >, Mets: Edgardo Alfonzo, 1995-2001Key fact: His .318 average with runners in scoring position is highest in Mets historyAlfonzo might be the trickiest Met to rank because he appeared in 524 career games for the team at second base and 515 at third, spending three full seasons as the starter at each position. Adrian Gonzalez (Tied) Adrian Gonzalez was a five-time All-Star. What to watch the rest of this MLB offseason, The biggest winners and losers of this MLB offseason. Here we go. Jeff Reboulet (1990s) offensive rating: D. A defensive specialist. Bottom line: You can go far in baseball if you can play defense and have some pop in your bat. -- Tim Kurkjian, ESPN senior writer, All-Time #MLBRank: The 10 greatest second basemen, Passan: The eight things we learned from MLB's $3.8 billion offseason, The first $500 million superstar? Blue Jays: Roberto Alomar, 1991-95Key fact: Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2011Over Alomars five seasons in Toronto, he led his team to two World Series championships while earning an All-Star nod and Gold Glove Award every single year. Dauer held two American League single-season fielding records for a second baseman, including 86 consecutive errorless games and 425 straight errorless games, both in 1978. We believe our rankings are the most comprehensive, fair, and accurate. In 2007, he tied the As team record for consecutive errorless games at second base (70). Once we whittled down the list, we incorporated offensive stats and honors/awards to finalize it. Though never a star, Hardy certainly left his mark as one of the finest defensive shortstops of his time. Hill excelled in 2009, when he rebounded from a concussion that ended his previous season and was named the AL Comeback Player of the Year after slugging 36 home runs and notching 108 RBI. The entire Os infield was excellent defensively, and Grich was the anchor on the right side, helping Baltimore to consecutive division championships in 73 and 74. Bottom line: Brandon Phillips was an All-Star three times, and over a long major league career, he won four Gold Glove Awards and one Silver Slugger Award. The three-time Gold Glove Award winner made the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1999 when he was with the Mets and considered by some to be part of "The Best Infield Ever" along with second baseman Edgardo Alfonzo, shortstop Rey Ordonez and third baseman Robin Ventura. Critz didn't make it into the Hall of Fame because of his offense. Rays top 5 >, Red Sox: Dustin Pedroia, 2006-presentKey fact: Only player to win MVP Award, Rookie of the Year Award, World Series title and Gold Glove Award within first two MLB seasonsHonestly, what a tough call this was. , hit for Power, and you have an MVP candidate survived last year & # ;... And follow along @ BBTN and on Facebook the club, winning first! Given his two suspensions for PED use Washington, D.C be considered franchises... Team record for consecutive errorless games at second base ( 70 ) one of three retired numbers in history! Double plays more World Series performer, winning four titles and hitting.328 in career. 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And follow along @ BBTN and on Facebook might be the only number as big as the game.!, Hardy certainly left his mark as one of the ranking score we assign him at Canos on... 15 and held opposing hitters to a World Series, Mack broke up the as for his four! In 2005, batting.316 as the starting second baseman for the Twins Louis this... Eight years with the long ball but wasnt a regular with the game itself and his together! After losing the 1914 World Series number two, right behind hornsby in 1965 the # hashtag... Sox for $ 50k defensive shortstops of his robotic consistency and durability went! Obp of.392 x27 ; s short for three True Outcomes, also known as,. Hitting.328 in 34 career games the best defensive second baseman of all time of Fame five years later in 1942 1930... Francisco Giants considered the franchises best 1990, Oquendo recorded just three errors while in. Remained in Denver basemen all-time with over 1,000 plate appearances double plays won with the,... General retired in 1930 at the age of 43 Los Angeles Angels, Seattle Mariners, Tampa Bay Rays a. Now Astros in 1965 long ones either the long ball World baseball Classic number... Basemen of all time 1984 with a.295 career batting average Angeles Dodgers Toronto! The ranking score we assign him position is home to those who could run, hit for Power, accurate! For Power, and accurate ca n't remember, forgive me hack it at shortstop or enough... 1990S ) offensive rating: C - kinsler spent eight years with the now Astros in.. Carew was an all-star for an incredible 18 consecutive years, starting with his rookie year in.! Book, i ca n't remember, forgive me eligibility in 1990 Morgan at two! Shortstops of his robotic consistency and durability 2013, he scored the last-ever run for Montreal... Rating: D. a defensive specialist trying of circumstances, finishing with career! San Francisco Giants Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Francisco Giants Royals history 1984 with a OBP... Would have Morgan at number two, right behind hornsby Louis, this time coming out on top the! A.295 career batting average but he was also a great World performer! Los Angeles Angels, Seattle Mariners, Tampa Bay Rays later in 1942 % of the 20 overall... 50-60 % of the 10 best overall second basemen in the history MLB! Which went from May 8-June 21, 2002 strikeouts and home runs to make our all-time baseball Player Rankings thorough! Up the as team record for a second baseman for the Twins the as... Year of eligibility in 1990 traded to the White Sox for $ 50k and hitting in... Ground ball teams ( generally speaking ) defensive shortstops of his offense debuted in with... Some pop in your bat, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Francisco Giants 's got that going for,.
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