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. Table of Contents Who are the best MLB second basemen of all time? Nicknamed "The Frenchman," Nap Lajoie was one of the best hitters and second basemen of the early part of the 20th century. And hes been to the All-Star Game four times. Rogers Hornsby Jackie Robinson Joe Morgan Rod Carew 1. Joe Morgan 4. 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. -- Mark Simon, ESPN Stats & Info, Honors This incident ruined fan perception of Alomar for better or for worse. Nolan Arenado /.9718/, 5. His lone All-Star appearance was 1985 the year he notched 110 RBI while hitting just eight home runs. The econd base position is one of the most important defensive positions on the field. Gehringer did everything well. 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. Bottom line: Kudos to a player who never exactly excelled in the major leagues, but crafted a 15-year career with six different teams, playing both second base and shortstop. Some will balk at Canos inclusion on the list, given his two suspensions for PED use. In fact, other than the pitcher, catcher and shortstop positions, it is probably the most important defensive position on the field. 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. 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. He currently writes for FantasyPros and Pitcher List and will vehemently defend the validity of the Dodgers' 60-game season championship. His 84 defensive runs saved still ranks second among all shortstops since 2005, trailing . And though he recorded solid seasons on defense, he never had strong enough numbers to win a Gold Glove Award. What to watch the rest of this MLB offseason, The biggest winners and losers of this MLB offseason. 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. 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. When it comes to the top three second baseman on our list of the Top 10 MLB Second Baseman All-Time Rankings, each is deserving of the top spot. He owns a 79.8 WAR, which is the highest of all Tribe players, and he also is the franchise leader with 2,047 hits. 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. Give me a break, he has so damn many of them now, who can keep them all straight? All-Star game appearances, MVP awards, and seasons where the player finished in the Top Ten in MVP voting covered the honors. -- Schoenfield, Teams It's why almost every historian ever calls him an "A +" defensively. In 1997, MLB retired the number 42, which Robinson wore, across all of baseball. 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. Doerr is an "A +" offensively and he's one of the five best defensive second basemen in the history of MLB. Many historians point this out because it makes Hubbard's defensive numbers better than they should be. The top 100 will roll out next week. 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. How about Robinson Cano? Pratt set up Wilson, and Wilson forced the biggest fumble of his career. Rookie of the Year (1967), 18-time All Star ('67-84), MVP ('77), Hall of Fame ('91), Career stats* Cano has always been an exceptional hitter, as evidenced by his career slash line of .301/.351/.489. .311/.409/.474, OPS -- .883, Hits - 1,518, HRs -- 137, RBIs - 734, Here's the thing about Robinson: His legacy as one of the most important individuals in U.S. cultural history has obscured that he was an amazing player. 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. There's a reason no one in baseball can wear No. 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. Despite his personal success, Carews Twins teams did not win much. Bottom line: Robinson Cano won a World Series title with the New York Yankees (2009) during his nine-year run with the Yanks. He was also named an All-Star that year, and won the first of two Silver Slugger Awards. 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. We believe our rankings are the most comprehensive, fair, and accurate. 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. Vidro ranks among the top 10 in franchise history in doubles (third), hits (sixth), runs (seventh), RBIs (seventh), homers (ninth) and walks (ninth). Those who saw him described him as one of the best defensive players of that era. 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! 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. Teams: Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Francisco Giants. Eddie Collins debuted with the As just five seasons after Nap LaJoies jump. That puts him in a class with the game's all-time greats. 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 . Bill Mazeroski (1960s) offensive rating: C -. I'm taking him as the best second baseman ever. He won the Triple Crown in 1922 and 25, won six of his seven batting titles with the Cardinals and won the first of his two MVP Awards in St. Louis. After release from Dodgers, what's next for Trevor Bauer? 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. Welcome to another edition of Top Ten! Frisch had 641 assists during the 1927 season and it still stands as the MLB record for a Second Baseman. Way-way-too-early 2023 MLB All-Stars: Predicting full rosters for both the AL and NL, 28 days, 3 teams -- and countless twists: Inside the Carlos Correa free agency saga, Pride, power and complaining about bad airplane food? 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. The top second basemen make the routine look easy and the difficult look routine. 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. That score is 114th all-time entering the 2020 season and puts him narrowly above the likes of Sal Bando (61.5), Willie Davis (60.8), and Gary Sheffield (60.5). He was also an "A +" offensively. Bottom line: A first-round draft pick in 2003 by the Toronto Blue Jays, Aaron Hill was called up in 2005. I'm glad he's in, but what took you so long, Veteran's Committee? And they can be a pitcher's best friend. Then, he played his entire 10-year major league career with the Baltimore Orioles and won a World Series in 1983. 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. Bottom line: Neil Walker was drafted by his hometown Pittsburgh Pirates in the first round of the 2004 draft, and made his debut with the Pirates in 2009. Join the discussion by using the #MLBRank hashtag, and follow along @BBTN and on Facebook. Teams: Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, San Diego Padres, Detroit Tigers. Bottom line: Jose Oquendo primarily played second base and shortstop, but made at least one appearance at every position during his major league career. And they can be a pitchers best friend. 42. His 377 home runs are tops among second basemen, and he has more hits than several Hall . Bobby Doerr (1940s) offensive rating: A +. Once we whittled down the list, we incorporated offensive stats and honors/awards to finalize it. For the purposes of this exercise, Alfonzo is only eligible at one position; with that in mind, second base, which is statistically one of the weakest in Mets history, seems an excellent place to give Alfonzo his proper due. I suppose that makes him one of the 10 best overall second basemen in the history of MLB. .271/.392/.427, OPS -- .819, Hits -- 2,517, HRs -- 268, RBIs -- 1,133, In 1975 and 1976, Joe Morgan towered over the National League, winning back-to-back MVP awards, with WAR totals of 10.9 and 9.6. 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. It just wasn't his forte, well below average, offensively. 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). Carew was an all-star for an incredible 18 consecutive years, starting with his rookie year in 1967. 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. 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. 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. A modern-day comparison? 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,. Basic stats like hits, batting average, OBP, SLG, HRs, RBI, etc., were fused with wOBA and wRC+ for the offense. His defensive rating on Fangraphs leads all second basemen all-time with over 1,000 plate appearances. 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. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. In 1949, seven years after he played his last game, Gehringer was elected to the Hall of Fame. Pedroia, who has played for Boston for all of his 14 years in the big leagues, helped raise the World Series trophy in 2007 and 2013. 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. Before we get to the players, below is some background on how the list was compiled. Bottom line: You can go far in baseball if you can play defense and have some pop in your bat. He played in over 2,000 games. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1937, with the second group of Cooperstown legends. LONG PEAK = WAR in best seven seasons. Since then, nine second basemen have posted a higher career fielding percentage than "Ryno.". After retiring, he became a minor league coach and worked his way up to be first-base coach for the Phillies in 2015. 7. He was the all-time home run leader among second baseman until Jeff Kent passed him. The Cardinals, Giants and Braves all got rid of him in a three-year span. 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). He played for seven franchises but is best known for his stints with the Blue Jays, Orioles, and Indians. 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). 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