Although WAR is not always the best answer on how good a player is/was, I find it useful in doing player comparisons. The B-R tool regards a WAR of 2+ as a starter, 5+ an All-Star and 8+ as MVP worthy. Remember too what I am doing here covers position players only, we will leave the pitchers for another day.
First Base – Having watched the Minnesota Twins for many a year I was pretty sure what Twins player had the best season in team history and when I put Play Index to work, sure enough it verified for me that Hall of Famer Rod Carew and his 1977 season in which he made a run at hitting .400 at the age of 31 stood at the top. If you missed seeing Carew play ball in Minnesota I feel bad for you because you missed out on seeing one of the best baseball players ever. There have been eleven seasons by Twins players when someone had a WAR of 7.0 or greater, Carew had four of them.
Second Base – The next best season in Minnesota history belongs to the famous or maybe infamous Chuck Knoblauch. Knoblauch put up a very nice 8.7 WAR in 1996 at the age of 27 but he could do no better than finish 16th in MVP voting. Knoblauch didn’t have the greatest personality and that worked against him where ever he went. Knoblauch was even elected to the Twins Hall of Fame but personal issues again raised their ugly heads and the Twins announced that he would not be inducted in the Twins Hall of Fame.
Catcher – The recently retired Joe Mauer had a season to remember in 2009 when he put up a WAR of 7.8 (tied for fourth best in Twins history) and won the AL MVP at the age 26. Mauer developed concussion issues and started his move to first base in 2011. The home-town Mauer was a great player that was under-appreciated during much of his career because of the $23 million salary he drew and the fact that fans wanted to see him play in more games. Mauer will be more and more appreciated as time goes along.
Center Field – Tied with Mauer for the fourth best WAR in a single season is Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett who put up a 7.8 WAR in 1988 and finished third in MVP voting for the second year in a row. Puck was 28 that season. Unfortunately Puckett’s career was cut short due to glaucoma in one eye in the spring of 1996. Puckett also had a WAR of 7.1 in 1992.
Right Fielder – The sixth best WAR in a Twins single season belongs to Bob Allison who put up a WAR of 7.4 in 1963. Allison was one tough dude that was a fixture in the Twins line-up for ten seasons. Not many people know that Allison was the AL Rookie of the Year in 1959 while he was with the Washington Senators before they moved to Minnesota after the 1960 season.
Shortstop – That would be the 1965 AL MVP Zoilo Versalles who put up the seventh best WAR of 7.2 in a single season at the age of just 25. A lot of folks say he should never won the MVP award with a .273 average but his all-around play and the fact that the Twins won the AL pennant propelled him to the award.
Left Fielder – Shane Mack is the guy here with a 6.5 WAR in 1992. Mack was acquired by Minnesota in December 1989 as a Rule 5 pick from the San Diego Padres. During the strike in 1994 Mack signed a two-year deal with the Yomiuri Giants of the Japanese League.
Third Base – Corey Koskie‘s 6.3 WAR in 2001 when Corey was 28 just beat out the 33 year-old Harmon Killebrew‘s 6.2 WAR at the hot corner in 1969.
Here is a link to the complete list of Twins position players that had a WAR of 4.0 or higher from 1961-2018.