Poll: Teflon Twinkies -- Who is the Greatest Third Baseman of the Metrodome Era?

This is a pretty interesting debate between two pretty good, rather different players, though Gaetti is currently dominating the vote.

Gaetti’s first several years with the Twins weren’t very good, even in context on the lower offensive numbers of the era. He was putting up OPS+’s in the high 80’s and low 90’s. Then all of a sudden in 1986-1988 he exploded into a big offensive force, especially when it came to power. In 1989, he suddenly reverted right back to his pre-1986 form, which was subpar, until he finally had a terrible year in 1990, his last with the Twins. So in basically 9 full seasons with the Twins he had 5 subpar seasons, 1 terrible season, 1 above average season, and 2 monster seasons, at least offensively.

Koskie was a different tale. In 5 1/2 or 6 full seasons with the Twins, Koskie was a model of offensive consistency, putting up OPS+’s in the high hundred-and-teens and low hundred-and-twenties every year. Koskie had some pop in his bat, though not nearly as much as Gaetti, but had a lot more patience at the plate, got on base a lot more, and made a lot less outs. Koskie was also rather fleet of foot earlier in his Twins career, though he lost that later, which brings us to the next point.

Gaeitti played over 150 games almost every year, a model of health for ost of his career (though what was probably his best season broke this trend when he played in “only” 133 games. Koskie, on the other hand, had lots of injuries, including bad back problems, that left him playing less than Gaetti, though he never dropped below 131 games until his last season with the Twins when he was 31.

Defensively, Koskie was a great defender, behind only the elite third basemen in the league. I honestly don’t know a lot about Gaetti’s defense, but I’m given to understand he was a pretty slick defender as well, though someone can feel free to correct me.

So Gaetti wasn’t very good for his first several years with the Twins, but on the other hand, when Koskie was that same age, he was in the minors, not playing in the majors. When Koskie became a full time player was the same age when Gaetti exploded. Both players were very good in their late 20’s with Koskie holding on better in his 30 and 31 year old season, but Koskie played in 83 less games from ages 26-31 than Gaetti did (though a third of that was in Koskie’s breakthrough year, not necessarily his fault). Gaetti also has the advantage of having played, even if below-average, in years when Koskie was in the minors.

I’m using pretty simple stats here, I’d kinda like to see what their runs created/VORP were through those peak years to get a better feel for how badly Koskie’s missed time affected him. A lot of it comes down to preference though. How much does a yearly stint on the 15-day DL bother you? Would you rather have a lefty with more patience at the plate and some pop or a righty with big pop but much worse on base skills? Gaetti has the emotional advantage of having been involved in a world series title, though Koskie contributed to a lot of great Twins teams as well.

If the question were who I’d want on my team, it would depend. At the moment, the Twins could use a player of Gaetti’s profile more, but Koskie would be better for many teams. The poll asks who the greatest Twins player is, and because of his longer time with the team and added playoff lore, I have to go Gaetti, but it’s a very fun comparison.

Gaetti was really a tough, tough out in big situations, and he has that ring, which means something.

Koskie was a nice player, but he had one really good year and a bunch of above average years, punctuated by a lot of injuries. Gaetti was the best third baseman in the league for a few years. He was an All-Star, a gold glover, and an cornerstone of the ‘87 championship. He’s a cut above Koskie.

despite my liking of Koskie. However, Gaetti was the best 3B the Twins ever had, you just have to look at the numbers to realize that. Koskie was a great 3B but not the best!

3B – Gaetti

Gaetti all the way.

Loves me a little Canadian Koskie, but Gaetti was just the better player.

Too easy.

Koskie did not play 1,000 career games, and he didn’t hit 125 career home runs.

After the ‘91 season, Gaetti had become only the sixth player in American League history to play 1,000 games (1,361) at third and to hit at least 200 home runs. This was a helluva MLB feat, let alone a Twins’ feat.

The other five men who had done it were Brooks Robinson, Graig Nettles, George Brett, Doug DeCinces and Sal Bando, putting Gaetti in fast company.

And just for the fun of it: at the end of the ’90 season, he had started four of the last six triple plays in the majors.