-- Schoenfield, Rogers Hornsby batted .424 in 1924. That's more than Hall of Famers Ryne Sandberg . 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. Anyway, most of you know that Bill James pretty much invented the Win Shares system, which so many take as gospel. 8) MLB Power Rankings: Trade candidate C.J. Gehringer debuted in 1924 but wasnt a regular until 1926. He currently writes for FantasyPros and Pitcher List and will vehemently defend the validity of the Dodgers' 60-game season championship. Kinsler spent eight years with the Rangers while Franco was in Texas for five. 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. Joe Morgan 4. Teams: Milwaukee Brewers, Houston Astros, San Diego Padres, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers. He is on the short list of the greatest right-handed hitters ever. In summary, Max Muncy rakes, and he turns it up a notch higher come playoff time. Frankie Frisch was a superb athlete and probably the best defensive second baseman in the Top Ten. 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. if u dont have Maz in the top ten,your list is bogus.NO-ONE did the double play pivot better,not to mention the only 9th inn walk off homer in a game 7 of the wrld series,not to mention ,against the highly favored New York Yanks! Teams: Minnesota Twins, Los Angeles Dodgers, Washington Nationals. Somehow, a quiet top-tier Hall-of-Fame second baseman because he was Ted Williams' teammate in Boston. Minnesota Twins (1967-78), California Angels ('79-85), Honors However, that same year, Lind committed a fielding error in the ninth inning of the seventh game of the NLCS that led to a come-from-behind win for the Atlanta Braves. AL Triple Crown (1901), Hall of Fame ('37), Career stats Despite his success in St. Louis, Hornsby was traded to the Giants after the Cardinals won the World Series in 1926. Frisch went to four more World Series with St. Louis, this time coming out on top in the latter two. LONG PEAK = WAR in best seven seasons. After that season, he was traded to the Mets. With catchers and first basemen in the books, next up is second base. What to watch the rest of this MLB offseason, The biggest winners and losers of this MLB offseason. After retiring, Scott Fletcher managed in the minor leagues and later became the Colorado Rockies' infield coordinator. 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,. Second basemen are an important part of a baseball teams defense. He made it to four World Series with the club, winning the first three. Following his MLB career, Dauer spent 19 seasons as a pro coach and won the 2017 World Series with the Houston Astros as a first-base coach. Defensively, Lajoie was also a standout player, leading the league in assists three times and putouts five times. Its a fair argument, but as we mentioned when discussing Roger Clemens, its hard to know who did what throughout the games history. In fact, other than the pitcher, catcher and shortstop positions, it is probably the most important defensive position on the field. Teams: New York Mets, St. Louis Cardinals. Fun fact: Hill is one of just five players to hit for the cycle twice in one year. He seemed destined to be a Yankee for life but shocked the baseball world in 2013 when he left New York to sign a $240M contract with the Mariners. 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. 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. 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. He finished second in rookie-of-the-year voting that season and led the league in walks. Modern measures credit him with an average of 9.5 WAR per season over a five-year period. Cron somehow survived last year's trade deadline and remained in Denver. These glovemen in the middle of the infield made the routine look easy and the difficult look routine. This week, were on to the keystone as we take a look at the best second basemen of all time. However, as Robinsons career was relatively short, he lags in the counting stats. And hes been to the All-Star Game four times. He bounced back and forth between playing shortstop and second base throughout his MLB career. Philadelphia A's (1906-14, '27-30), Chicago White Sox ('15-26), Championships It's why almost every historian ever calls him an "A +" defensively. -- Rob Peterson, ESPN.com senior MLB editor, Teams Basic stats like hits, batting average, OBP, SLG, HRs, RBI, etc., were fused with wOBA and wRC+ for the offense. 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. It didnt matter where Lajoie played in the field; he was excellent everywhere. What do you get when you combine those two facts? His best season came in 1977 when he took home the AL MVP after hitting .388/.449/.570 with a league-leading 16 triples and 100 RBI. And in 2013, he coached the Israeli national team in the World Baseball Classic. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1937, with the second group of Cooperstown legends. There are three second basemen that often present themselves before me as should-be Hall-of-Fame second basemen. Charlie Gehringers nickname was The Mechanical Man. He was dubbed so because of his robotic consistency and durability. I think so, maybe similar in style to Ichiro Suzuki, except playing a different position. Based upon Gold Gloves won, Ivan Rodriguez is the clear victor, while based upon fielding percentage, numerous players who spent more than 10 seasons in the Majors have a . Nolan Arenado /.9718/, 5. It's why he's a top tier Hall of Famer at the position. Bottom line: Jody Reed made his major league debut in 1987 with the Boston Red Sox as a shortstop, but switched to second base in 1989. His long career puts him high in the record books among second basemen. We believe our rankings are the most comprehensive, fair, and accurate. Bottom line: You can go far in baseball if you can play defense and have some pop in your bat. Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Mets, Milwaukee Brewers, Miami Marlins, New Yor Yankees. 1 second baseman for every club, as chosen by MLB.com's beat reporters. After release from Dodgers, what's next for Trevor Bauer? Rod Carew was one of the greatest hitters of his generation. His signature moment arrived during his 1984 NL MVP-winning season, when he hit two homers off Bruce Sutter in a five-hit, seven-RBI outburst to help the Cubs beat St. Louis. Should a below-average offensive player be in the Hall of Fame at any position other than the pitcher's? The great Rogers Hornsby was the clear choice for the best second baseman of all time. Welcome to All-Time #MLBRank, our ranking of the top 100 players in baseball history. Career Fld% Leaders:1.Placido Polanco/.9834/, 2.Mike Lowell/.9743/, 3. Everything he did in the field was smooth, it was elegant and it was a joy to watch. Bottom line: Joe Panik was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in 2011 and didnt get called up until the 2014 season. Do you want big names? 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. .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. Answer (1 of 30): I can't quibble with the other answers to this question, other than to offer the facts that 1. "Based on the distance that there was away from the goal line, I knew they were in sneak formation," Wilson said . In only his fourth season, Tommy Edman of the St. Louis Cardinals has secured the top spot 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 . In 2007, he tied the As team record for consecutive errorless games at second base (70). In college, Barney played on back-to-back championship teams at Oregon State University. 4 -- Philadelphia (1910-11, '13), Chicago ('17), Career stats Here is the No. 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. 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. Teams: Toronto Blue Jays, Arizona Diamondback, Milwaukee Brewers, Boston Red Sox, San Francisco Giants. Yankees top 5 >. Hornsby retired from playing in 1937 and was elected to the Hall of Fame five years later in 1942. 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. 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. To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Career Stats (1988 2004) San Diego Padres, Toronto Blue Jays, Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, New York Mets, Chicago White Sox, Arizona Diamondbacks, Career Stats (2005 2022) New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners, New York Mets, San Diego Padres, Career Stats (1919 1937) Kansas City Monarchs, Brooklyn Dodgers, Career Stats (1919 1937) New York Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Career Stats (1967 1985) Minnesota Twins, California Angels, Career Stats (1963 1984) Houston Colt 45s/Astros, Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants, Philadelphia Phillies, Oakland As, Career Stats (1924 1942) Detroit Tigers, Career Stats (1896 1916) Philadelphia Phillies, Philadelphia As, Cleveland Bronchos/Naps, Career Stats (1906 1930) Philadelphia Athletics, Chicago White Sox, Career Stats (1915 1937) St. Louis Cardinals, New York Giants, Boston Braves, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Browns. Second basemen are an important part of a baseball team's defense. Bottom line: After being drafted by the Washington Nationals in 2008, Danny Espinosa was called up to the bigs in 2010 and often served as a utility player at all the infield positions and in left field. Philadelphia Phillies (1981), Chicago Cubs ('82-94, '96-97), Honors His 84 defensive runs saved still ranks second among all shortstops since 2005, trailing . Since then, nine second basemen have posted a higher career fielding percentage than "Ryno.". 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. He hit north of .300 in five times while winning seven Silver Sluggers. 7. Sandberg went on to manage Philadelphia from 2013 to 2015. On top of his defense, Frisch was fast as lightning, leading the league in SBs three times. 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). 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). Teams: Chicago Cubs, Colorado Rockies, New York Yankees. The only knock on Muncy is defense, as he rates below average at the position, and he's coming off Tommy John. -- 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? The position is home to those who couldn't hack it at shortstop or slug enough to earn a corner-infield job. Carew retired after the 1985 season despite a still-productive season in which he hit .280 with a .371 OBP. The most decorated second baseman of all-time, Sandberg has won more Silver Slugger Awards (7) than anyone at the position to date, beginning with his 1984 NL MVP-winning campaign in which he hit . Rogers Hornsby Jackie Robinson Joe Morgan Rod Carew -- Schoenfield, Teams He was a three-time All-Star, won three consecutive Gold Glove Awards and was part of the franchise's two World Series championship teams. Alomar made it to the big leagues at the tender age of 20 in 1988 as a Padre and retired 17 years later with the White Sox. And he was the best the Rays have ever had. Because of how different eras of baseball have been played, it's difficult to nail down the best defensive catcher of all time. note-next to each player I will also list an offensive letter grade, so you know where they stand in that category, the way I see it (we can assume they are all an "A +" defensively, since they are among the top 10 all time, defensively). 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. Photo by Ben Gorman/Unsplash | Adapted by Justin Redler (@reldernitsuj on Twitter). 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. They only won once in 1955, Jackies second to last season. Teams 1 -- St. Louis Cardinals (1926), Career stats Jackie Robinson 3. Also, took HOF too long to put Lazzeri into HOF, 1991 by vets committee. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you. Dozier started his career with the Twins in 2012, was an All-Star in 2015 and won a Gold Glove Award in 2017. 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. 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. Between the lines, Alomar was about as good as it gets. 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. 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. He was a 10-time All-Star (from 1984-93) and a nine-time Gold Glove Award winner (1983-91). Who is the best defensive catcher of all time? Just an opinion. Teams: Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers, Milwaukee Brewers, Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers. 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.. 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 hit, ran, and played defense with the best of them. Pratt set up Wilson, and Wilson forced the biggest fumble of his career. Generally, a players Career Value is worth about 50-60% of the ranking score we assign him. 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). And in 2019, he won his first World Series ring, with the Nationals. Hubbard played much of his career for those Atlanta Braves teams that had an overabundant amount of ground ball pitchers on their team. He's played half his innings at second base, and the rest at shortstop and various outfield positions. Big personalities? Welcome to another edition of Top Ten! The greatest defensive second baseman of his time, and perhaps of all-time, Mazeroski is ironically best remembered for an unmatched accomplishment at the plate. Hornsby bounced around considerably for the rest of his career for a player of his caliber. .338/.380/.466, OPS -- .847, Hits -- 3,243, HRs -- 82, RBIs -- 1,599, The first big star of the new American League in 1901, he ranks 23rd all time in Baseball-Reference WAR. Royals top 5 >, Tigers: Charlie Gehringer, 1924-42Key fact: 78.6 career fWAR ranks fifth all-time among MLB second basemenBorn and raised in Michigan, Gehringer played his entire 19-year career in Detroit, where his consistent greatness earned him the nickname The Mechanical Man. The Hall of Famer batted .306 or better in 13 of his 16 full Major League seasons, led the league in games played four times, played at least 150 games in nine seasons, and posted a .900+ OPS eight times. Kent was one of the best offensive second basemen of all time and arguably the position's best power hitter. 5. They only made the playoffs twice in his tenure and never went to a World Series. But he cemented his spot on the roster by participating in the Giants' World Series win in 2014, was named an All-Star in 2015 and won a Gold Glove Award in 2016. The other two are Cupid Childs (1890s) and Hardy Richardson (1880s). When the Hall of Famer retired in 1997, his .989 fielding percentage was a major league record. He won rings in Toronto. 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. Playing for the Colorado Rockies two years later in the best season of his career, Carroll committed just three errors at second base, and led all NL second basemen in fielding percentage. One of those players is Hall of Famer Roger Hornsby who was one of the best hitters of his generation and . Cano has not officially retired, but after being cut by the Mets and Padres this season, he may not get another chance. In 2014, LeMahieu led the majors with 99 double plays. Teams: Washington Nationals, Los Angeles Angels, Seattle Mariners, Tampa Bay Rays. Hughie Critz (1930s) offensive rating: D -, "The New York Giant infield of Hughie Critz, Bill Terry, Travis Jackson and Freddie Lindstrom, the million dollar infield as it was called, and it used to perform up to its namethey were so deft, so quick, so breathtaking that the fans would sit, first in stunned silence, and then in gathered bedlam"-Arnold Hano, respected baseball historian. Now that he's in the Hall of Fame, he's not only in, but he's a top tier second baseman. Then, he played his entire 10-year major league career with the Baltimore Orioles and won a World Series in 1983. Table of Contents Who are the best MLB second basemen of all time? Frank White was not only the best second baseman in Royals history, he is one of the greatest defensive second baseman in baseball history. He won 10 Gold Gloves while, oh by the way, hitting .300 with speed AND power. You missed out on Tony Lazzeri in top ten second baseman. Nap Lajoie 6. He ranks ninth on Fangraphs WAR for all offensive players and 12th on Baseball-Reference. Teams: St. Louis Cardinals, Toronto Blue Jays, Philadelphia Phillies, Detroit Tigers, Miami Marlins. He was also an "A +" offensively. 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. The way it really is. In addition to his batting titles, Hornsby led the league in runs five times, hits/doubles/RBI four times, triples/homers twice, and OBP/SLG nine times. You can find both and tons of other great content in the We Love Baseballsection. I remember reading something that Bill James had written about Jody Reed. 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. I would have Morgan at number two, right behind Hornsby. 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 (1890s). Polanco wore his Tigers jersey. Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates, Kansas City Royals, California Angels. 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.