During the mid-2000s a fair argument could be made that Johan Santana was the best pitcher in Baseball.  From 2004 to 2007, Santana would win two Cy Youngs and finish in the top five in voting in the other two.  He would win two ERA titles, three Strikeout titles, three FIP titles, four WHIP titles, and led in bWAR for Pitchers three times.  This was the player that during that time frame, opposing General Managers coveted and wanted to build their rotation around.

It took a long time.  It took a long time for Baseball Hall of Fame voters to take a long look at his statistics, especially the advanced stats, to realize that Bert Blyleven was a Hall of Famer.  It would eventually happen on his 14th year of eligibility, in a career that saw half of it with the Minnesota Twins.

Tony Oliva was one of the most popular players in Minnesota Twins history and from 1964 to 1971 was named an American League All-Star, a period in which he was considered amongst the best hitters in Major League Baseball.

Playing his entire career with the Minnesota Twins, Joe Mauer has a case for being the best-hitting Catcher ever or at least being named as the best-hitting Catcher based on Batting Average.

Actually, let’s give him that one now.