How about Robinson Cano? JAWS (Jaffe WAR Score system) was developed by sabermetrician Jay Jaffe as a means to measure a player's Hall of Fame worthiness. That and the trips to the World Series tip the decision in favor of Kinsler. White, the best success story of the once famed Royals Baseball Academy in the 1970s, had a storied career with the Royals, earning eight Gold Gloves and a Most Valuable Player Award in the 1980 American League Championship Series. He was one of the most dominant second basemen of the '90s, helping the Astros win four division titles in five years (1997-99 and 2001), while also leading them to the postseason in 04 and the World Series in 05. The top 100 will roll out next week. Rockies top 5 >. Doerr is an "A +" offensively and he's one of the five best defensive second basemen in the history of MLB. Longtime St. Louis Cardinals standout Rogers Hornsby is the greatest second baseman of all-time, per Baseball-Reference's system. The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network. 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. His offensive prowess is among the greatest of all players, not just second basemen. The switch-hitter from Puerto Rico signed as an amateur free agent when he was 15 years old, and eventually went to two World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals (2006 and 2011) as the teams third-base coach. In 1937, when he won the batting title, Gehringer was also the AL MVP after hitting .371/.458/.520. St. Louis Cardinals (1915-26, '33), New York Giants ('27), Boston Braves ('28); Chicago Cubs ('29-32), St. Louis Browns ('33-37), Honors 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. He made it to four World Series with the club, winning the first three. 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. -- Schoenfield, He won the inaugural Rookie of the Year award in 1947. Twins top 5 >, White Sox: Nellie Fox, 1950-63Key fact: Won 1959 AL MVP AwardA strong and accurate case could be made for Fox or Eddie Collins as the top White Sox second baseman, and while Collins overall numbers are a little better, its Fox who gets the nod for having made a greater impact on the franchise overall. In 2008, the Dominican-American received his U.S. citizenship in a ceremony before a Tigers-Indians game. Players are evaluated on five criteria as the foundation of our rankings: We use Wins Above Replacement (WAR) as a basis for these calculations. Bottom line: "Ryno" was the gold standard for second basemen during his 16-year career. With catchers and first basemen in the books, next up is second base. (His older brother, Josh, is a rookie third baseman with the Rangers . His 377 home runs are tops among second basemen, and he has more hits than several Hall . During 1921-25, a five-year period, he hit .402. 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. Extrapolate that to an entire season, and you have an MVP candidate. 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Mets top 5 >, Nationals: Jos Vidro, 1997-2004 (Expos/Nationals)Key fact: Vidro leads all second basemen in franchise history with a 16.5 bWARThe switch-hitting Vidro played for the Expos and Nationals for 10 of his 12 Major League seasons, slashing .301/.363/.459 with an .821 OPS, 1,280 hits, 550 RBIs and 115 home runs during that time. "Based on the distance that there was away from the goal line, I knew they were in sneak formation," Wilson said . .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. He was the all-time home run leader among second baseman until Jeff Kent passed him. 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. Teams: Washington Nationals, Los Angeles Angels, Seattle Mariners, Tampa Bay Rays. NL All Star ('90), 11-time AL All-Star ('91-2001), 10 AL Gold Gloves ('91-96, '98-01), four AL Silver Sluggers ('92, '96, '99-00), All-Star MVP ('98), Hall of Fame ('11), Career stats Teams: Toronto Blue Jays, Arizona Diamondback, Milwaukee Brewers, Boston Red Sox, San Francisco Giants. Basic stats like hits, batting average, OBP, SLG, HRs, RBI, etc., were fused with wOBA and wRC+ for the offense. Let's talk about who the best ever were at that position, defensively speaking. Teams: Minnesota Twins, Los Angeles Dodgers, Washington Nationals. Bottom line: Remember when Tom Herr hit a walk-off grand slam in 1987 that led St. Louis past the New York Mets? The way it really is. The econd base position is one of the most important defensive positions on the field. Jackie Robinson 3. Which team will make a big move? 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) I'm taking him as the best second baseman ever. Should a below-average offensive player be in the Hall of Fame at any position other than the pitcher's? Minnesota Twins (1967-78), California Angels ('79-85), Honors 2. Frankie Frisch (1920s) offensive Rating: A +. History unblurred. Bill Mazeroski (1960s) offensive rating: C -. In only his fourth season, Tommy Edman of the St. Louis Cardinals has secured the top spot among second basemen. I think so, maybe similar in style to Ichiro Suzuki, except playing a different position. Ultimately, however, Pedroias body of work was just enough to put him a hair above Hall of Famer Bobby Doerr as the best to ever play second base for the Red Sox. They include All-Stars, World Series champions, Hall of Famers and baseball legends. Here is the No. I suppose that makes him one of the 10 best overall second basemen in the history of MLB. 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). I will list them in order, from oldest to newest: Fred Dunlap (1880s), Nap Lajoie (1900s), Lonny Frey (1940s), Eddie Mayo (1940s), Gil McDougald (1950s), Jackie Robinson (1950s), Red Schoendienst (1950s), Fernando Vina (1990s), Craig Counsell (2000s)and Pokey Reese (2000s), 9. Collins returned to the As for his final four seasons and retired in 1930 at the age of 43. .358/.434/.577, OPS -- 1.010, Hits -- 2,930, HRs -- 301, RBIs -- 1,584, His hitting stats are undeniable, even coming in a high-scoring era. Charlie Gehringers nickname was The Mechanical Man. He was dubbed so because of his robotic consistency and durability. Had Robinson played more seasons, he would have been towards the top of this list. When I was younger, I used to love to watch this guy play defense. Teams: Chicago Cubs, Colorado Rockies, New York Yankees. I almost agree. Acquired in a blockbuster trade that sent the popular Matt Williams to the Indians in 1996, Kent teamed up with Barry Bonds to give the Giants their most fearsome power duo since the Willie Mays-Willie McCovey era. Best Season: 2008 - .292/.380/.535 with 33 home runs, 104 RBIs, 64 walks, a .915 OPS, 6.0 offensive WAR, 3.5 defensive WAR and an 8.2 fWAR Being blocked by Placido Polanco early in his career and knee injuries at the back-half of his prime kept Utley from accumulating the type of counting statistics to make him a slam-dunk Hall of Famer. In 1920, he won his first of six consecutive (and seven total) batting titles when he hit .370. Cano continued to hit in Seattle, but his first positive test for an illegal substance caused him to miss half of the 2018 season. One of those players is Hall of Famer Roger Hornsby who was one of the best hitters of his generation and . He is on the short list of the greatest right-handed hitters ever. A teammate of Randal Grichuk on the Colorado Rockies, C.J. Somehow, a quiet top-tier Hall-of-Fame second baseman because he was Ted Williams' teammate in Boston. That wasn't very nice of me to say, I like Jeter, offensively speaking. Modern measures credit him with an average of 9.5 WAR per season over a five-year period. Neither of them had short careers, but they didn't have long ones either. Last season was a breakout one for the 26-year-old Marte, as he finished sixth in the Majors in fWAR among position players with a 7.1 mark, trailing only Mike Trout, Alex Bregman, Christian Yelich, Cody Bellinger and Marcus Semien. Also in 2001, Counsell was named the MVP of the NLCS. His defensive rating on Fangraphs leads all second basemen all-time with over 1,000 plate appearances. The Tigers popped Jung with the 12th pick in last July's draft by way of Texas Tech. I remember reading something that Bill James had written about Jody Reed. 2 jersey retired in '76 and has a sculpture with shortstop Luis Aparicio on the Guaranteed Rate Field concourse. Your email address will not be published. However it turns out, he should be remembered as a great hitter albeit one who may have had help along the way. 7. Its a fair argument, but as we mentioned when discussing Roger Clemens, its hard to know who did what throughout the games history. Alomar was decorated with many honors during his career, including 12 all-star selections, four silver sluggers, and ten gold gloves. 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. Walker won the Silver Slugger Award in 2014. The Sox made it to two World Series during that time in 1917 and 1919 winning the first one. Three years later, he became the first American League second baseman to hit 40 homers in a season, finishing with 42 overall. His 136 wRC+ last year would have placed him first out of all second basemen in 2021. Before we get to the players, below is some background on how the list was compiled. He's not even the best defensive 3rd baseman to play for El Toro High School's 2009 varsity baseball team. The position is home to those who couldn't hack it at shortstop or slug enough to earn a corner-infield job. Phillies top 5 >, Brewers: Jim Gantner, 1976-92Key fact: No. We have gone to great lengths to make our All-Time Baseball Player Rankings as thorough as possible. Thursday brings the Top 10 infielders by position of all time, followed by pitchers and catchers on Friday. During the Yankees' 2009 championship season, Cano hit 20 home runs and notched 204 hits (first among all second basemen that year). It's why he's a top-tier Hall-of-Fame second baseman, the earliest second baseman in the Hall of Fame and one of the 10 best second basemen in the history of MLB. Gantner was famously feisty, often tangling with opponents on the field and sometimes in the bar. It's why almost every historian ever calls him an "A +" defensively. 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. -- Schoenfield, We're counting down the greatest players in baseball history. All-Star game appearances, MVP awards, and seasons where the player finished in the Top Ten in MVP voting covered the honors. Nine Gold Gloves ('83-91), MVP (1984), 10-time All-Star ('84-93), seven Silver Sluggers ('84-85, '88-92), Hall of Fame ('05), Career stats He played 10 seasons; give him another seven or eight and he'd be right up there with Rogers Hornsby and Joe Morgan. Hornsby bounced around considerably for the rest of his career for a player of his caliber. 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. Carew retired after the 1985 season despite a still-productive season in which he hit .280 with a .371 OBP. 1. Teams: Milwaukee Brewers, Houston Astros, San Diego Padres, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers. In fact, that entire infield made it into the Hall of Fame, except for Critz. 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. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. Those were his only .300 seasons, but he had many other years he could have won an MVP award: He drew an astonishing number of walks, was one of most efficient base stealers of all time, won five Gold Gloves and had a power at a time when few second basemen did. His 377 home runs are tops among second basemen, and he has more hits than several Hall . (Insider), Teams They only won once in 1955, Jackies second to last season. Teams Because of how different eras of baseball have been played, it's difficult to nail down the best defensive catcher of all time. Based on Baseball Info Solutions defensive runs saved from 2003 on and total zone rating developed by Sean Smith of BaseballProjection.com previously Note that seasons prior to 1876 are not included in single-season marks, but are included in career marks. However, as Robinsons career was relatively short, he lags in the counting stats. Also, took HOF too long to put Lazzeri into HOF, 1991 by vets committee. He was the AL second baseman in the first six All-Star Games, when he was already in his 30s. He hit, ran, and played defense with the best of them. But he was immediately fired, beaten over the head with wiffle ball bats and called names because of it. I think his system is flawless, except he puts too much weight on Length of Career, but that's another article. Seven-time All-Star (2006, '10-14, '16), two Gold Gloves ('10, '12), five Silver Sluggers ('06, '10-13), Career stats* He won the College World Series twice at USC. In 2008, he was the AL MVP and won the Silver Slugger Award. Glenn Hubbard played the position more frequently than anybody else and Mark Lemke will always be linked to the greatness of the 1990s. 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? Joe Morgan 4. Let's begin with the long ball. Alomar won back-to-back World Series titles with Toronto in 1992 and 1993 but never made it back to the Fall Classic with the Orioles or Indians despite four playoff appearances. 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. How close was it? Dozier started his career with the Twins in 2012, was an All-Star in 2015 and won a Gold Glove Award in 2017. 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. Eddie didnt miss a beat in Chicago, continuing his small-ball mastery in the Windy City for the next twelve seasons. That's more than Hall of Famers Ryne Sandberg . He also won rookie-of-the-year that season for the Twins. He had an incredible knack for getting on base and has the second-most home runs for someone his size (5-7) or shorter. 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. Join the discussion by using the #MLBRank hashtag, and follow along @BBTN and on Facebook. 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. I got sidetracked there. 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. Critz didn't make it into the Hall of Fame because of his offense. He currently writes for FantasyPros and Pitcher List and will vehemently defend the validity of the Dodgers' 60-game season championship. The reason that I'm telling you this is so YOU don't make the same mistake as that guy did. Castillo holds the Marlins' record hitting streak of 35 games, which went from May 8-June 21, 2002. + - Indicates Hall of Famer. What's more, he played in at least 150 games at the position in eight consecutive years, something only five second basemen have ever done, and in seven of those he had positive defensive WAR. Jody Reed (1990s) offensive rating: C -. Unfortunately for Carew, he wouldnt find much post-season success in Anaheim either. 10. During the 2012 season, Barney committed just two errors, and tied the major league record for consecutive errorless games at second base with 141. Because we adjust for timeline and era, our rankings have fewer players from before 1941 than many other baseball player lists. Here we go. Bottom line: Rich Dauer was a winner. By that time, Carew had shifted to first base, where he would remain for the second half of his career. 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