Baltimore Orioles: The best third-basemen in Orioles history

Since the franchise moved from St. Louis in 1954, the Baltimore Orioles have had many great players come through the organization

Some of those players have helped lead the Baltimore Orioles to World Series titles, while others haven’t been as lucky; but all of them have left their mark on the team and the city. We’re looking at the best of the best.

We’re now just 22 days away from Baltimore Orioles pitchers and catchers reporting to Sarasota, and 33 days from the first spring training game. If you’re not a fan of spring training, don’t worry; meaningful baseball is right around the corner.

But since the Orioles aren’t deep in the free-agent market right now and Birdland is all-too quiet, we’re diving back into our “best Orioles of all-time” series.

Today we’re looking at the best third basemen in Orioles’ history. You all probably know where this is going to end up but getting there will be fun.

Because our boy Brooks played for so long, it slightly limits how many other guys can be on this list.

The list of all-time second-basemen was similar because of Bobby Grich, and the shortstop list will be as well, because of Cal Ripken Jr.

And because those guys were so good during their time in Baltimore, other Orioles pale in comparison. The bottom of the second-basemen list was underwhelming, but it feels like this one holds up.

There are four guys who belong on this list, followed by a group of players who made contributions for the O’s, but never stood out enough to belong here. For that reason, we’re limiting this list to just four names, rather than our usual five.

We can cover most of the Orioles’ success over the years by just including these four second-basemen, from the Orioles’ initial stretch in the 1960’s, to the run they made in the early 1970’s and 1980’s, and to the most recent run of AL East success in the 2010’s.

Do the Orioles have another stretch of AL East dominance in the cards? Absolutely, but it will likely take a few years to get there. Will an Orioles third-baseman help get them there? Potentially. The Orioles have just one Hall of Fame third-baseman in franchise history. Time will tell whether there’s another one waiting in the organization.

As always, we’re omitting St. Louis Browns players from this series. 

No. 3 Melvin Mora (2000-2009) – 29.1 bWAR

Melvin Mora played for all of the terrible early 2000’s Baltimore Orioles teams and at the end of his tenure in Baltimore, seemed to have long overstayed his welcome with the franchise.

Mora bounced around as a utility player with the Orioles until he took over as the primary third-baseman in 2004, and he stuck there until he left Baltimore.

Mora made two All-Star teams as an Oriole, in 2003 and 2005, and he received down-ballot MVP votes in 2004, which was his peak season. During those three years, Mora hit a combined .312/.391/.513 with 69 home-runs and he posted a 138 OPS+.

After the 2006 season, Mora signed a contract extension with the Orioles for 3 years and $25 million. Unfortunately for everyone involved, Mora’s best playing days were behind him at that point.

During his ten years in Baltimore, Mora hit .277/.350/.431 with 158 home-runs, 93 stolen bases and he racked up 29.1 bWAR.

But in the years after he signed the contract extension, his performance had degraded and he didn’t take kindly to it. Mora became defensive about his play and in 2009, threw Dave Trembley under the bus for allegedly not respecting him.

We’re choosing to remember the early 2000’s Melvin Mora, rather than the one that went off the rails near the end of his career. It’s much more fun to remember Mora as the All-Star third-baseman who put his heart and soul into the city of Baltimore than it is to remember the one who went a bit crazy after his skills started dropping off the table.

No. 2 – Manny Machado (2012-2018) – 30.9 bWAR

Manny Machado is one of the most purely talented baseball players the Baltimore Orioles have ever had. His hit tool is outstanding, and he was an exceptional defensive third-baseman during his time in Baltimore.

Over Machado’s six and a half years with the Orioles, he posted a .283/.335/.487 slash line with 175 homers. He appeared in four All-Star games, won two Gold Glove awards, and finished top-5 in American League MVP voting twice.

From the time Machado was called up to Baltimore to the day he was traded in 2018, he was a superstar.

Machado hit a triple in his first career at-bat and followed it up with back-to-back home-runs the day after. He was a highlight reel at third-base, which isn’t actually his true defensive position.

Machado was drafted as a shortstop, but the Orioles had J.J. Hardy at the position when Machado broke into the majors. Hardy was a Gold Glove caliber defender up the middle, so the Orioles transitioned Machado to third-base, and he adapted to the new position very well.

Machado was one of the best hitters in the majors in 2015 and 2016. He fell off a bit two years ago, but returned to form in 2018, posting 5.7 bWAR and a 146 OPS+ between Baltimore and Los Angeles. Last year, Statcast had him in the 92nd percentile for average exit velocity, and the 94th percentile for hard-hit rate.

Many baseball fans have a problem with Machado’s attitude and work ethic, but nobody can deny the raw talent that Manny possesses.

He’s a premier free-agent right now and it’s curious why more teams aren’t vying for his services. We recently wrote about why Machado might be having a hard time finding work right now and how if his price drops significantly, how it might benefit the Orioles to bring Machado back.

Chances are that Machado will never return to Baltimore, but he’ll forever be remembered as one of the best Orioles players ever.

No. 1 – Brooks Robinson (1955-1977) – 78.4 bWAR

Brooks Robinson is unquestionably the second-best player to have ever put on a Baltimore Orioles uniform, behind only Cal Ripken Jr.

Brooks spent his entire 22-year career in Baltimore. He won an American League MVP award in 1964 and finished in the top-5 in MVP voting four different times.

He appeared in 15 consecutive All-Star games, is one of 6 players in Orioles history to have his number retired, and his 16 Gold Glove awards tie for the most all-time with former pitcher Jim Kaat.

Brooks won two World Series championships with the Baltimore Orioles, in 1966 and 1970. He earned the World Series MVP award in 1970 thanks to a 1.238 OPS, 2 homers and 6 RBI.

He was voted the Most Valuable Oriole four times, in 1960, 1962, 1964, and 1971, and was a first-ballot Hall of Famer, elected in 1983 along with Juan Marichal.

He finished his career in Baltimore with a .267/.322/.401 batting line and 268 career home-runs. His 2,848 hits, 482 doubles, 1,232 runs, and 1,357 RBI are all good for second in Orioles history in their respective categories, trailing just Ripken in each.

At the time of his retirement, Brooks’ .971 fielding percentage was the highest all-time among third-basemen. That record has since been surpassed, but his mark is still good for fourth all-time.

Brooks had the rare combination of having an exceptional peak, plus longevity. JAWS (Jaffe War Score) rates Brooks as the 8th best third-baseman of all-time. Not only is he one of the best players in Orioles history, but he’s undoubtedly one of the best in MLB history as well.

The Baltimore Orioles have a handful of third-base prospects in the organization right now with some upside, including Ryan Mountcastle, Rylan Bannon, and Jean Carlos Encarnacion. Will any of them be the next great Orioles’ third-baseman?