Baseball America Releases MLB Top Tools List
Each year, BA releases it's MLB list of best tools as voted on by managers, scouts and executives
Every year, vaunted baseball publication Baseball America polls managers, executives and scouts to determine which players have the best tools across all MLB.
Twins players old and new dot the list, with a lot of usual subjects appearing down the ballot and just one — Byron Buxton — winning a category outright.
Let’s talk about former Twins for a minute. Aaron Hicks makes an appearance as having the best outfield arm in the AL — a claim validated by this play at Yankee Stadium back in 2013 where he threw out Vernon Wells on what seemed like an impossibly good throw:
Hicks was joined on the list by former Twins second baseman Jonathan Schoop, who was noted as the best defender at that position. That’s perhaps a curious distinction for a player who played 114 games defensively at first base in 2021 against just 38 at second, but there’s no denying he’s solid over there.
Further down the balloting, we see just one former Twin. It’s Josh Donaldson, who is listed as the No. 2 defensive third baseman in the AL.
Maybe the category Buxton won outright will surprise people but perhaps not: best defensive outfielder.
One would think he’d be in the mix for fastest baserunner in the junior circuit — and he was — but he finished second to divisional foe Bobby Witt Jr. The 22-year-old Witt has swiped 26 bags and been caught just four times, and to be fair it’s especially impressive to see Buxton even listed given how he’s been hobbled this season with a knee issue.
Buxton is also second on the list of most exciting players, trailing Shohei Ohtani and finishing ahead of Mariners rookie sensation and recent bag recipient, Julio Rodriguez. Again, with Buxton as limited as he’s been this season, this seems to be a good thing.
Carlos Correa is second on the lists of best defensive shortstop — trailing Andrew Velasquez of the Angels — and is also second in best infield arm, trailing Blue Jays third baseman Matt Chapman.
Both of those traits can be seen in spades here:
Luis Arraez also appears on a pair of the lists, ranking second in the AL category for best hitter — behind Yordan Alvarez and ahead of Rafael Devers — and is third in the AL in what BA calls “hit-and-run artist” behind David Fletcher of the Angels and Elvis Andrus, who recently signed with the Chicago White Sox.
The most surprising entrant from the Twins might be the one listed second on the “best reliever” list.
No, it’s not Jhoan Duran, somehow. It’s Jorge Lopez.
Don’t get it twisted; Lopez is incredible. But is he really better than Duran? I’m inclined to say no, but according to the folks polled by BA, the list goes Emmanuel Clase, Lopez and Clay Holmes with nary a mention of Duran.
For comparison’s sake, here’s how Lopez and Duran compare:
Lopez: 59.1 IP, 1.82 ERA/3.09 xERA/2.97 FIP/3.28 xFIP, 9.6 K/9, 3.2 BB/9, .252 BABIP, 0.46 HR/9, 58.4% GB rate, +0.26 WPA, 1.1 fWAR/2.2 bWAR
Duran: 56.2 IP, 1.91 ERA/2.27 xERA/2.83 FIP/2.25 xFIP, 11.6 K/9, 2.1 BB/9, .280 BABIP, 0.95 HR/9, 60.8% FB rate, +3.64 WPA, 1.0 fWAR, 2.1 bWAR