He's an A + offensive second baseman, too. He won 10 Gold Gloves while, oh by the way, hitting .300 with speed AND power. The position is home to those who couldn't hack it at shortstop or slug enough to earn a corner-infield job. Grich also tops the Orioles' list for all-time best second basemen. Table of Contents Who are the best MLB second basemen of all time? In 2008, he was the AL MVP and won the Silver Slugger Award. "Based on the distance that there was away from the goal line, I knew they were in sneak formation," Wilson said . It's why almost every historian ever calls him an "A +" defensively. I think his system is flawless, except he puts too much weight on Length of Career, but that's another article. He played every position on the diamond before settling in at second base. Bottom line: Robinson Cano won a World Series title with the New York Yankees (2009) during his nine-year run with the Yanks. .320/.404/.480, OPS -- .884, Hits -- 2,839, HRs -- 184, RBIs -- 1,427, They called him The Mechanical Man, a tribute to his consistency. After that season, he was traded to the Mets. Also in 2001, Counsell was named the MVP of the NLCS. Do you want big names? Team (s): St. Louis Cardinals, New York Giants, Boston Braves, Chicago Cubs & St. Louis Browns. Hornsby got a taste of the show in 1915 and was a regular with the Cardinals the following season. St. Louis Cardinals (1915-26, '33), New York Giants ('27), Boston Braves ('28); Chicago Cubs ('29-32), St. Louis Browns ('33-37), Honors In 1949, seven years after he played his last game, Gehringer was elected to the Hall of Fame. Rogers Hornsby Jackie Robinson Joe Morgan Rod Carew Robinson won the MVP a few years later when he batted .342 with 37 SBs and 124 RBI in 1949. 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. This didnt slow him down, though. .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. This incident ruined fan perception of Alomar for better or for worse. Philadelphia Phillies (1896-1900), Philadelphia A's ('01-02, '15-16), Cleveland Bronchos ('02), Cleveland Naps ('03-14), Honors He was also a great World Series performer, winning four titles and hitting .328 in 34 career games. Glenn Hubbard played the position more frequently than anybody else and Mark Lemke will always be linked to the greatness of the 1990s. That's probably too high and he's not remembered in the same regard as, say, Ty Cobb or even Tris Speaker, but he was a graceful fielder who hit .338 lifetime. How about Robinson Cano? Frankie Frisch was a superb athlete and probably the best defensive second baseman in the Top Ten. The top second basemen make the routine look easy and the difficult look routine. Scott is a SoCal native who, after two decades of fighting L.A. traffic, decided to turn his passion for fantasy sports into a blog - the now-defunct Fantasy Mutant. The econd base position is one of the most important defensive positions on the field. 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). .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. He was traded to the San Francisco Giants, where he won a World Series in 2010. During 1921-25, a five-year period, he hit .402. .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. Cano won five silver sluggers and went to eight all-star games altogether, and even chipped in a couple of gold gloves. Now that he's in the Hall of Fame, he's not only in, but he's a top tier second baseman. In summary, Max Muncy rakes, and he turns it up a notch higher come playoff time. 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. Grich was a great offensive second baseman, an "A" offensively. Bold indicates active player. But it's his time in Cleveland that I think of first, when Alomar and Omar Vizquel mastered the dance of the double play as well as any duo I have ever seen. Teams: Tampa Bay Devil Rays/Rays, Oakland Athletics, Kansas City Royals, Chicago Cubs. He's played half his innings at second base, and the rest at shortstop and various outfield positions. That and the trips to the World Series tip the decision in favor of Kinsler. He was a 10-time All-Star (from 1984-93) and a nine-time Gold Glove Award winner (1983-91). (His older brother, Josh, is a rookie third baseman with the Rangers . Bottom line: Mark Loretta was a dependable fielder over a 15-year MLB career that saw him play on six different teams. -- Scott Lauber, ESPN.com Red Sox reporter, Second basemen aren't supposed to be great. 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. History unblurred. Join the discussion by using the #MLBRank hashtag, and follow along @BBTN and on Facebook. He'll be . His defensive rating on Fangraphs leads all second basemen all-time with over 1,000 plate appearances. Because we adjust for timeline and era, our rankings have fewer players from before 1941 than many other baseball player lists. Hometown fans wildly threw their giveaway seat cushions on the field in celebration. He wasn't a failure offensively, but he was the next best thing. Glenn Hubbard (1980s) offensive rating: D +. Yet he remained an offensive force. 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. Here we go. Defensively, Lajoie was also a standout player, leading the league in assists three times and putouts five times. All he did his sophomore season was bat .342, win a silver slugger, and play in the all-star game. He was also named an All-Star that year, and won the first of two Silver Slugger Awards. He had power (career high 42 home runs) and his defensive metrics are better than his reputation, although in this case maybe you want to refer to the eyewitness accounts. Three times Hornsby hit over .400, including his .424 average in 1924. He took home five gold gloves in Cincinnati and led the league in OBP four times. Minnesota Twins (1967-78), California Angels ('79-85), Honors He worked to toughen his hands, and felt that he was more sure handed without the leather. SHORT PEAK = WAR in best three seasons. 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. Basic stats like hits, batting average, OBP, SLG, HRs, RBI, etc., were fused with wOBA and wRC+ for the offense. Kent, a career .290 hitter, holds the all-time record for most home runs by a second baseman with 351 (out of 377). Teams: Chicago Cubs, Colorado Rockies, New York Yankees. That said: I don't buy the consensus that he's the best second baseman ever. Second Base JAWS Leaders. And they can be a pitcher's best friend. 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). 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. That's more than Hall of Famers Ryne Sandberg . One of those players is Hall of Famer Roger Hornsby who was one of the best hitters of his generation and . 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. Once established, the Tigers wouldnt have to look for a second baseman until 1942. He helped lead the Dodgers (the Brooklyn version) to the borough's only World Series title. After retiring, Scott Fletcher managed in the minor leagues and later became the Colorado Rockies' infield coordinator. The BBWAA wasted no time adding him to the group at Cooperstown, electing him in his first year of eligibility in 1990. 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. 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 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. San Diego Padres (1988-90), Toronto Blue Jays ('91-95), Baltimore Orioles ('96-98), Cleveland Indians ('99-2001), New York Mets ('02-03), Chicago White Sox ('03-04), Arizona Diamondbacks ('04), Honors This week, were on to the keystone as we take a look at the best second basemen of all time. Matt Chapman /.9737/, 4. Gantner was famously feisty, often tangling with opponents on the field and sometimes in the bar. 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. Bottom line: His All-Star year was 1995, but one of Mickey Morandinis best all-around years was 1993, when he and the Philadelphia Phillies played in the World Series (losing to Toronto). I'm taking him as the best second baseman ever. Would his game translate to 2016? He debuted with the Yankees in 2005 on a star-laden team and quickly made his presence felt, finishing second in the rookie-of-the-year voting. Cano has always been an exceptional hitter, as evidenced by his career slash line of .301/.351/.489. Castillo holds the Marlins' record hitting streak of 35 games, which went from May 8-June 21, 2002. He recorded a 20-20 (20 home runs and 20 stolen bases) in 2014. Roberto Alomar FAQ Who are the best MLB second basemen of all time? The way it really was. Teams: Colorado Rockies, Florida Marlins, Los Angeles Dodgers, Arizona Diamondbacks, Milwaukee Brewers. 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! Because of how different eras of baseball have been played, it's difficult to nail down the best defensive catcher of all time. 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. Bill Mazeroski (1960s) offensive rating: C -. 1. Big personalities? Morgan is the Reds all-time leader with 406 steals, and he led the league in on-base percentage four times with the Reds. This week, we bring you the Top 10 at each position. Rockies top 5 >. Despite his personal success, Carews Twins teams did not win much. Anthony Rendon /.9715/, 6.Brooks Robinson+ . Extrapolate that to an entire season, and you have an MVP candidate. He ranks second in all-time WAR-162 and sixth in WAR7 among second basemen, representing his dominance. It's always made me wonder, what the hell did you point it out for then? Teams Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Mets, Milwaukee Brewers, Miami Marlins, New Yor Yankees. Still, he'll be totally fine and a top-three second baseman in . 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 . Espinal came to the Blue Jays from the Red Sox in trade for Steve Pearce back in July of 2018, one of those trades that worked out well for both teams. Rod Carew 5. It was in that same timeframe that the As became a dynasty, winning back-to-back World Series titles from 1910-11 and a third in 13. LONG PEAK = WAR in best seven seasons. And in 2015, he participated in MLBs first second-baseman-to-third-baseman-back-to-second-baseman triple play. 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. He finished second in rookie-of-the-year voting that season and led the league in walks. Whites No. 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). The 2007 AL Rookie of the Year has been a significant contributor to the modern-day success of the Red Sox. 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 The best defensive second baseman of his time, and perhaps of all time, "Maz" is ironically best remembered -- and memorialized outside of PNC Park -- for his unmatched accomplishment at the plate. 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. A modern-day comparison? The decision in favor of Kinsler was named the MVP of the Red Sox reporter, second basemen all... 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