Minnesota Twins: Top 10 players on the Twins right now

8. 1B Joe Mauer

Finally, Joe Mauer enters the picture, although his ranking shouldn’t come as a surprise. Sure, there was a time he’d be at the top of this list, but those days are long gone. That being said, Mauer had a bounce-back year in 2017 after three disappointing seasons.

In particular, Mauer succeeded at the plate, hitting .305 with seven home runs and 71 RBIs. To his credit, he’s led the team in on-base percentage since 2012, so it’s not like he’s been a total bust at the plate. But, considering he’s making $23 million per year, the high on-base percentages aren’t enough to justify his value. In fairness, they do warrant him being a fixture in the two hole, something he’s stepped more into in the last couple of seasons.

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Furthermore, Mauer has transitioned rather flawlessly to first base after spending much of his career at catcher. In four seasons as the starting first baseman, he has only 12 errors and a fielding percentage of at least 99.6 percent in each of those seasons. As a result, it’s quite amazing he hasn’t been in serious consideration for a Gold Glove because he’s likely one of the best fielding first basemen in the league.