To create our list, an ESPN expert panel voted on thousands of head-to-head matchups of 162 players, based on both peak performance and career value. Also in 2001, Counsell was named the MVP of the NLCS. 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. During 1921-25, a five-year period, he hit .402. Bottom line: Jamey Carroll played second base, shortstop and third base during a dozen years in the bigs. Teams: New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners, New York Mets. 1. 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. Glenn Hubbard played the position more frequently than anybody else and Mark Lemke will always be linked to the greatness of the 1990s. Teams: Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers, Milwaukee Brewers, Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers. However, as Robinsons career was relatively short, he lags in the counting stats. 17 is not formally retired, but the Brewers have not issued it to anyone sinceRobin Yount, Paul Molitor and Gantner played together for 15 years, the longest tenure for a trio of teammates in Major League history until the Yankees Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera broke the mark in 2010. Fun fact: Hill is one of just five players to hit for the cycle twice in one year. -- Schoenfield, If Joe Morgan played today, he would be viewed as the ultimate Sabermetric player. He currently writes for FantasyPros and Pitcher List and will vehemently defend the validity of the Dodgers' 60-game season championship. He was the all-time home run leader among second baseman until Jeff Kent passed him. It just wasn't his forte, well below average, offensively. 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. Frisch became a player-manager for St. Louis in 1933 and continued managing after he retired. This incident ruined fan perception of Alomar for better or for worse. The 32-year-old posted a career-high 118 OPS+with. Thursday brings the Top 10 infielders by position of all time, followed by pitchers and catchers on Friday. Teams: Toronto Blue Jays, Arizona Diamondback, Milwaukee Brewers, Boston Red Sox, San Francisco Giants. Morgan made his first of ten all-star teams the following season, but it wasnt until he was traded to the Reds in 1971 that his career really took off. His 377 home runs are tops among second basemen, and he has more hits than several Hall . He ranks second in all-time WAR-162 and sixth in WAR7 among second basemen, representing his dominance. He finished second in rookie-of-the-year voting that season and led the league in walks. Second basemen are an important part of a baseball team's defense. I would have Morgan at number two, right behind Hornsby. He recorded a 20-20 (20 home runs and 20 stolen bases) in 2014. In fact, other than the pitcher, catcher and shortstop positions, it is probably the most important defensive position on the field. He wasn't a failure offensively, but he was certainly below average, unfortunately. Tigers top 5 >, Twins: Rod Carew, 1967-78Key fact: .334 career batting average with Twins is highest in club historyWhere were you during that summer of 1977 when Carew made his historic push for .400? 1 second baseman for every club, as chosen by MLB.com's beat reporters. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Teams: St Louis Cardinals, Minnesota Twins, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets, San Francisco Giants. Bottom line: Jose Oquendo primarily played second base and shortstop, but made at least one appearance at every position during his major league career. His long career puts him high in the record books among second basemen. The all-time leader at third base in value generated on defense with 38.8 WAR on defense alone, Robinson is sort of like Bill Mazeroski at second base -- a big postseason performance or two plus . Morgan was an on-base machine who could run, hit for power, and play excellent defense. In 2004, he won the Silver Slugger Award and made his first of two appearances in the All-Star Game. Alomar, meanwhile, was very good in San Diego, but he would reach another level after being traded to Toronto ahead of the 1991 season. ALL-TIME #MLBRANK, Top 100: 100-91 | 90-81 | 80-71 | 70-61 | 60-51 | 50-41 | 40-31 | 30-21 | 20-11 | 10-1, Insider analysis: 100-81 | 80-61 | 60-41 | 40-21 | 20-1, Top 10s: LHP | RHP | C | SS | 3B | 2B | 1B | LF | CF | RF, My Top 10: Kurkjian | Stark | Olney | Crasnick | Schoenfield, Stark: The perception of greatness in the Top 100, Szymborski: Who's in the future 100? In the field, he's smooth and effortless with a strong arm. 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. + - Indicates Hall of Famer. Photo by Ben Gorman/Unsplash | Adapted by Justin Redler (@reldernitsuj on Twitter). Kent, a career .290 hitter, holds the all-time record for most home runs by a second baseman with 351 (out of 377). 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). Pratt set up Wilson, and Wilson forced the biggest fumble of his career. 3. He hit north of .300 in five times while winning seven Silver Sluggers. The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes. He should certainly be in the conversation, as Utleys 64.4 career bWAR and 62.9 fWAR rank 14th and 12th, respectively, among second basemen all-time. But, for now, the distinction belongs to Giles, who is the only second baseman in franchise history to produce a 110 OPS+ in at least three seasons. Longtime St. Louis Cardinals standout Rogers Hornsby is the greatest second baseman of all-time, per Baseball-Reference's system. Though never a star, Hardy certainly left his mark as one of the finest defensive shortstops of his time. Jace Jung, 2B (2023 seasonal age: 22). When it became evident Carew was destined to leave, the Twins traded him in February 1979 to the California Angels. Bill Mazeroski (1960s) offensive rating: C -. Zobrist was named MVP of the 2016 World Series. Jose Vidro, Expos/Nationals (1997-2006) Key fact: Vidro leads all second basemen in franchise history with a 16.5 bWAR. A native of the Dominican Republic, he is an eight-time All-Star, won the Silver Slugger Award five times and netted two Gold Glove Awards. In a few weeks, well keep moving around the diamond and rank the Top Ten Shortstops. The BBWAA wasted no time adding him to the group at Cooperstown, electing him in his first year of eligibility in 1990. Let's talk about who the best ever were at that position, defensively speaking. He remained with the club from 1902-14, and not only was he one of the biggest stars of his time, but his name still lives on in the Indians record book. Teams: Oakland Athletics, Colorado Rockies, Los Angeles Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals. Hornsby's 127.1 WAR is the ninth-highest score all . He's top 10 at the position, headed to top five, and leaving the Yankees shouldn't affect his ultimate legacy as one of the best at the position. The 26-year-old is coming off his first career Gold Glove award, making him one of the top defensive players in the league. -- Schoenfield, We're counting down the greatest players in baseball history. PRIME = WAR in best five consecutive seasons. In 1920, he won his first of six consecutive (and seven total) batting titles when he hit .370. Still, compare their three-year tenures specifically in San Diego, and its Loretta who comes out on top. 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). 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). As the Reds dynasty began to collapse, Morgan eventually moved on and played his final five seasons with four different teams. 10. Glenn Hubbard (1980s) offensive rating: D +. Alomars post-season totals are impressive: a .313 batting average, four HRs, 33 RBI, 32 runs, and 20 SBs in 58 games. Collins career would last another 23 seasons before he eventually retired in 1930. Oh, offensively, Hubbard pretty much got the job done, but he was slightly below average. In 1947, he was elected to the Hall of Fame by the BBWAA with 84.5% of the vote. Joe Morgan had a few brief stints with the Houston Colt 45s before latching on with the now Astros in 1965. No player in history has a higher single-season batting average with as many plate appearances as Hornsby had in 1924. The pinnacle years for both came during the '75 and 76 World Series championship seasons for the Reds, as Morgan earned consecutive NL MVP Awards. His 136 wRC+ last year would have placed him first out of all second basemen in 2021. With catchers and first basemen in the books, next up is second base. The contribution to championship teams (player performance in seasons where his team wins the pennant) is a small factor in most cases. 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. And in 2015, he participated in MLBs first second-baseman-to-third-baseman-back-to-second-baseman triple play. Defensively, Lajoie was also a standout player, leading the league in assists three times and putouts five times. Cron somehow survived last year's trade deadline and remained in Denver. 8) MLB Power Rankings: Trade candidate C.J. -- David Schoenfield, ESPN.com senior writer, Cano can do it all: He hits for both average and power, tied with Rogers Hornsby among second basemen for the most seasons (five) with at least a .300 batting average and 25 home runs. 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. It doesnt make sense, in our opinion, for most of the great baseball players to have played prior to World War II, when MLB was segregated. Bottm line: Freddy Sanchez overcame physical adversity to become a professional athlete, having been born with a pigeon-toed left foot and a club right foot. 1. Bottom line: Mark Loretta was a dependable fielder over a 15-year MLB career that saw him play on six different teams. How about Robinson Cano? 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,. When Fletcher was playing for the Texas Rangers, and former President George W. Bush was the owner, Bush named his dog Spot Fetcher, in recognition of Fletcher. Add in the questions about his defense, and you've got a guy that, yes, I'd include toward the bottom of this list, but only after guys like Chase Utley and Robbie Cano, never mind rating him with Alomar or Morgan. The loss in 1919 became known as the Black Sox Scandal when it was later revealed that several players conspired to throw the World Series. He hit .400 three times, including .424 in 1924, and .358 lifetime. To start the 2018 season, Panik set an MLB record by becoming the first player to hit solo home runs in back-to-back 1-0 victories. These rankings are for fun and debate purposes only, and fans were able to participate in Twitter polls to vote for their favorites. Hornsby bounced around considerably for the rest of his career for a player of his caliber. Philadelphia A's (1906-14, '27-30), Chicago White Sox ('15-26), Championships My candidates for the best defensive right fielder of all time are: Roberto Clemente (12 gold gloves) Dwight Evans (8 gold gloves) Al Kaline (10 gold gloves) Ichiro Suzuki (10 gold gloves) Larry Walker (7 gold gloves) Dave Winfield (7 gold gloves) Mookie Betts (5 gold gloves) Jason Heyward (5 gold gloves) Jesse Barfield (2 gold gloves, cannon arm) These are the second basemen with the best fielding percentages in major league history. And he did most of it under the most trying of circumstances. If you want to know how bad things got, over Kilian's first nine starts in Iowa, he went 2-0 with a 2.06 ERA. Houston Colt .45s (1963-64), Houston Astros (1965-71, '80), Cincinnati Reds ('72-79), San Francisco Giants ('81-82), Philadelphia Phillies ('83), Oakland A's ('84), Honors In total, he won seven batting titles and owns the third-highest lifetime batting average of any player who debuted after 1965, behind Tony Gwynn and Wade Boggs. Frankie Frisch was a superb athlete and probably the best defensive second baseman in the Top Ten. I just love that old quote from Hano. In 1997, MLB retired the number 42, which Robinson wore, across all of baseball. Vidro ranks among the top 10 in franchise history in doubles (third), hits (sixth), runs (seventh), RBIs (seventh), homers (ninth) and walks (ninth). The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. Teams: Washington Nationals, Los Angeles Angels, Seattle Mariners, Tampa Bay Rays. Robinson won the MVP a few years later when he batted .342 with 37 SBs and 124 RBI in 1949. 5. I remember reading something that Bill James had written about Jody Reed. Rangers top 5 >, Braves: Marcus Giles, 2001-06Key fact: Giles .809 OPS ranks first among all Braves second basemen (min. I almost agree. A modern-day comparison? After release from Dodgers, what's next for Trevor Bauer? These glovemen in the middle of the infield made the routine look easy and the difficult look routine. Adrian Gonzalez (Tied) Adrian Gonzalez was a five-time All-Star. He had a resurgent 2020 back in New York before missing all of 2021 due to his second positive test. After a falling out with Giants manager John McGraw in 1926, he was traded to the Cardinals after the season. He wasn't a failure offensively, but he was the next best thing. The top 100 will roll out next week. Table of Contents Who are the best MLB second basemen of all time? Nationals top 5 >, Phillies: Chase Utley, 2003-15Key fact: 62.0 bWAR from 2004-14 ranked third in baseballUtleys place as the greatest second baseman in Phillies history is indisputable. While it's hard, if not impossible, to compare across eras, there is a lot of evidence that baseball players have been improving defensively over the years, so fairly recent players a. That wasn't very nice of me to say, I like Jeter, offensively speaking. Rockies top 5 >. AND he was one of the best defensive second basemen ever. Teams: Colorado Rockies, Florida Marlins, Los Angeles Dodgers, Arizona Diamondbacks, Milwaukee Brewers. Which team will make a big move? Why Jeff Kent belongs in the Hall. More important than his stellar defense, though, was his ability at the plate. I think he was the best ever, barehanded. Modern measures credit him with an average of 9.5 WAR per season over a five-year period. Brooks Robinson is generally regarded as the GOAT defensively at third. He had an incredible knack for getting on base and has the second-most home runs for someone his size (5-7) or shorter. You might be surprised at who missed the cut. Grich played the final 10 years of his career with the Angels after spending seven seasons with the Orioles, as the Long Beach, Calif., native signed as a free agent with the Halos before the 77 season. 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. His 84 defensive runs saved still ranks second among all shortstops since 2005, trailing . Collins returned to the As for his final four seasons and retired in 1930 at the age of 43. In 2007, he won the Silver Slugger Award and was named to his first of two All-Star Game appearances. But Bill James presented this conclusion, Jody Reed is second all time in the history of MLB in defensive Win Shares per season for a second baseman, behind only Bill Mazeroski. On top of his defense, Frisch was fast as lightning, leading the league in SBs three times. Gehringer debuted in 1924 but wasnt a regular until 1926. -- Schoenfield, Teams Teams: Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs. Phillies top 5 >, Brewers: Jim Gantner, 1976-92Key fact: No. 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. 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. Alomar made into the Hall of Fame in his second year of eligibility after just missing on his first attempt likely due to that famous spitting incident. Before we get to the players, below is some background on how the list was compiled. A two-time Gold Glove winner best known for his defense, Kolten Wong quietly put together the best offensive season of his career in 2022. Hornsby led the pack in nearly every category and dominated in WAR. He was only 19, though, and didnt stick with the team until 1908. Yes, he broke in as a first baseman and rarely played second base over the final four seasons of his 10-year career, but Robinson was a second baseman in four of his six All-Star seasons, including his NL MVP-winning year of 1949. Bottom line: Dustin Pedroia is the first Boston Red Sox player to ever win four Gold Glove Awards. Whites No. The fact is, if I did a cross section of the 100 most respected baseball histoians in the United States, I can almost guarantee you that Mazeroski would show up as the best defensive second baseman in the history of MLB. What we do know is that Cano owns the second-highest OPS among second basemen whove played in the last 50 years (first was Jeff Kent, in case youre wondering). He was a World Champion and the NL MVP in both seasons. That puts him in a class with the game's all-time greats. Astros top 5 >, Athletics: Eddie Collins, 1906-14, '27-30Key fact: His 55.9 fWAR is third highest in franchise history among position players (first among second basemen)A member of the famed $100,000 Infield" assembled by owner Connie Mack in the early 1900s, Collins was an elite hitter who went six straight seasons (1909-14) without batting lower than .324. No one loves a good debate quite like baseball fans, and with that in mind, we asked each of our beat reporters to rank the top five players by position in the history of their franchise, based on each player's career with that franchise. Get Jay Jaffe's book The Cooperstown Casebook where he outlines who should and shouldn't be in the Hall of Fame based on his JAWS metric used here.. It's why almost every historian ever calls him an "A +" defensively. Until Ryne Sandberg retired in 1997, the Chicago Cubs two-bagger was considered the gold standard at the position, winning the top fielding award nine seasons in a row. Two NL Triple Crowns (1922, '25), two-time NL MVP ('25, '29), Hall of Fame ('42), Championships Kinsler spent eight years with the Rangers while Franco was in Texas for five. 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). 2 jersey retired in '76 and has a sculpture with shortstop Luis Aparicio on the Guaranteed Rate Field concourse. Hi Nels. Nolan Arenado /.9718/, 5. LeMahieus 877 games and 849 starts for the Rockies at second base were more than twice as many as the next player on the list (Eric Young, 413 and 389). Corrective surgery allowed him to excel at baseball, and after being signed by the Boston Red Sox he blossomed with the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he was a three-time All-Star and won an NL batting title in 2006. Anyway, most of you know that Bill James pretty much invented the Win Shares system, which so many take as gospel. In 1962 he was elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year on the ballot. Jeff Reboulet (1990s) offensive rating: D. A defensive specialist. .328/.393/.429, OPS -- .822, Hits -- 3,053, HRs -- 92, RBIs -- 1,015, The Tony Gwynn or Ichiro Suzuki of his era, Carew was a master of bat control and one of the great bunters in the game's history. In the field, he's . Its a fair argument, but as we mentioned when discussing Roger Clemens, its hard to know who did what throughout the games history. He pretty much got the job done offensively, too. Lajoie played most of the rest of his career in Cleveland, finally returning to the As for his final two seasons in 1915-16. Teams: Cleveland Indians, Cincinnati Reds, Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Angels, Boston Red Sox. They only made the playoffs twice in his tenure and never went to a World Series. Kent slashed .297/.368/.535 and averaged 29 home runs and 115 RBIs over his six years in San Francisco. The job description requires them to be nimble and quick in the field, with a good arm, range to pick up ground balls, and adept at turning double plays.
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