Cody Christie

Yesterday was the first part of a series that will look at the road that lies ahead for the Minnesota Twins as they try to rebuild after back-to-back 90 loss seasons. The team has already started the rebuilding process by trading away two of their most valuable major league assets in Denard Span and Ben Revere. In the first part of the series, Kyle Gibson was looked at as one of the key pieces to helping the rebuild get off to a good start. He might not end up being an ace for the Twins but he could end up being a solid starter for the better part of the next decade. The Twins might be relying on him to form the first part of the rotation of the future. There are plenty of things that will be part of the rebuilding process but many fans are only going to notice some of the big changes. Today, “The Road to Rebuild” looks at trading away some of the team’s assets to get players for the next time the team will be competitive. ---------- [ATTACH=CONFIG]3205[/ATTACH] Denard Span and Ben Revere were two fan favorites over the last couple of years but the team jumped at the opportunity to trade these two players for young pitchers with upside. The Twins turned two former first round picks into three pitchers that should figure into the team’s equation over the next handful of seasons. It can be tough to trade away players that have been with the organization since they were teenagers. At TwinsFest, Terry Ryan made it clear that trading away Revere was one of the toughest decisions of his professional career. He said, "Ben Revere is like a son to me." These are decisions that the front office has to make with their head and not with their heart. There are a couple of other valuable pieces that the Twins could potentially trade in the next two years. This could help add more depth to a farm system that is already considered one of the best in all of baseball. Trades are one of the best ways to help rebuild a team. It seems that there will be plenty of other tough decisions for Mr. Ryan to make along the road to rebuild. Two of the team's best players will have their contracts with the club expire before the end of the 2014. The way the Twins are shaping their roster doesn't make it seem like the team will be competitive before the end of those deals. This could leave Justin Morneau and Josh Willingham on the trading block. Trading Morneau could be another tough decision for Ryan. Twins fans have cheered for Morneau through thick and through thin. The former MVP has had a couple of rough years in a row but the end of 2012 was a step in the right direction. He hit .289/.354/.439 in the second half of the year. If Morneau could get the 2013 season off on the right foot, he could increase his trade value. Morneau is in the last year of a six-year, $80 million deal. With Chris Parmelee on the roster, the Twins have a replacement for Morneau waiting in the wings. Parmelee will be a much cheaper option since he has yet to reach arbitration. A team looking to add a powerful left-handed bat for the stretch run might be willing to give up some pieces to acquire Morneau. Last offseason, the Twins signed Willingham to a very reasonable three-year, $21 million contract. He more than lived up to the deal during his first season in a Twins uniform. MLB honored him with a Silver Slugger Award after he knocked 35 home runs, the most by a Twins player not named Harmon Killebrew since 1963. This tremendous season helped to add value to a player the Twins got for a good deal. Willingham's contract will run through the end of the 2014 season but he will be 36-years old by that point. He is closer to the end of his career than he is to the beginning so it is hard to imagine him gaining any more value on the field. If the right deal is on the table from another club, the Twins might have to pull the trigger. For fans, it can be tough to watch their favorite players leave for another team. Especially when the players the Twins get back are still a couple years away from making an impact at the big league level. Trading away veteran players is part of the rebuilding process. And hey, fans can be rest-assured that Joe Mauer will be around for this rebuild... ...and maybe even the next one too.

Over the next couple of days I will be looking at a few different topics as it relates to the Twins getting back to their winning ways. It has been a tough couple of seasons for Twins fans but it looks like there is hope for the future. This might not come in 2013 but it is only the first step in the process. "The Road to Rebuild" series will look at some of the key figures or events that will be critical for the long-term success of the organization. There are plenty of things that need to go right and these are just a handful of those topics. The first article in the series looks at a young man that was on the fast track for the big leagues before an arm injury forced him to the sidelines. ---------- [ATTACH=CONFIG]3192[/ATTACH] During the next couple of seasons, there is going to need to be more than one thing that breaks in favor of the Twins for the team to get back to the top of the AL Central. There will be plenty of young talent ready to emerge for the club but this will mean that some things need to go right in the minor leagues. For Minnesota, the road to rebuild has already started and there will be plenty of other important steps along the way. Kyle Gibson could be one of the key pieces for the Twins on their road back to the top. The former first round pick back in 2009 will undoubtedly make his MLB debut this year after missing most of last season due to Tommy John surgery. Reports from the Arizona Fall League have his slider looking sharper and there seems to be a little more life on his pitches. This is great news for the Twins. The Twins hope their rotation of the future will include Gibson and recent acquisitions Alex Meyer and Trevor May. It will be a year or two before Meyer and May make it to the big leagues. This leaves Gibson as the first cog in the rotation of the future. He should have the most big league service time under his belt and this could help him to be a leader to these other young pitchers. When Minnesota looks ahead, the front office probably isn't considering Gibson a front of the rotation starter. His track record in the minor leagues didn't put him on the path for that elite level. But the team might not need him to get to this point; he still could be a very good number two or number three pitcher. If he can reach this level, he could be in the middle of the Twins rotation for the better part of the next decade. Gibson has a fastball that can hit in the mid-90s but it usually rests in the 91-92 range. His plus slider will be a pitch that could be fun to watch for Twins fans. The other above average pitch in his arsenal is a change up. Between the end of last season and the AFL, Gibson got plenty of work in so there shouldn't be any restrictions on the type of pitches that he throws. The plan for Gibson in 2013 is still up in the air. Since it will be his first full season since surgery, there will most likely be an innings limit placed on the right-hander. The other thing yet to be decided is where the 25-year old will start the season. He could be asked to begin in Rochester so he can be a starter and the team can have better control over his innings. The other option is to have him start the year in the bullpen for the Twins. In an interview conducted by Seth Stohs of Twins Daily, Ron Gardenhire had good things to say about Gibson and the coming year. Gardenhire said, "The first thing is to get him out on the field and get him going through the same thing as everybody else. I'm sure he can't wait to do that. And get right into the middle of the program. HE's ready to do that with no restrictions. Get back on the programs and do all the drills. I'm sure he's fired up about getting back in there. I'm excited to see the young man. He's a very talented young man." If Twins fans think Gibson is going to win multiple Cy Young awards and be a perennial 20-game winner, this might be setting the expectations a little too high. It does seem that at minimum he should be a strong middle of the rotation pitcher with the potential to do some very good things along the way. The road to rebuild is going to be an extended process and Gibson is a key figure. The Twins need some of their young starting pitching to succeed and Gibson will be the first of that young core to make his debut. Eyes across Twins Territory will be keeping their focus on Gibson and it will be up to him to perform at the big league level.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]3189[/ATTACH] Most sports fans are well aware that the Super Bowl was played last night. Those that watched the game also know that one of the biggest story lines of the night was when a power surge caused the lights to go out in the Superdome. It took about a half an hour for the whole ordeal to get worked out and for the players to get back on the field. The Twins played under the Metrodome roof for close to three decades and there are bound to be a few mishaps along the way. but that came after the Twins had moved across town to Target Field. There were some other delays when the Twins played at the Dome including multiple roof tears caused by heavy snow. A power outage also fits into the history of the Twins in their time under the roof of a domed stadium. On August 29, 1992, there was a power outage that caused a 23-minute delay in the game versus the New York Yankees. The outage happened in the third inning but there wasn't as much excitement after the outage as there was in last night's game. The Yankees would get out to a 3-0 first inning lead after some ineffective pitching from Bill Krueger with two outs in the frame. Don Mattingly cracked a double to get the rally started. After a walk to Danny Tartabull, Roberto Kelly hit a single that would score Mattingly from second. Another walk would load the bases before Jim Leyritz knocked a single to drive in two runs. Krueger would run into some similar issues in the second inning. He gave up a single to leadoff hitter Bernie Williams before walking Randy Velarde. Don Mattingly would be retired without any damage but Tartabull would provide all the pop for New York. His three-run home run would open up a 6-0 lead for the Yankees and they seemed to be well in control of the game. Minnesota would mount a small comeback in the bottom of the second inning to cut the lead in half. Shane Mack would coax a walk from Bob Wickman to start the frame. After Brian Harper advanced Mack to second, a single from Gene Larkin would put runners on the corners. Scott Leius would single and then steal second ahead of a double from Greg Gagne. Minnesota was getting closer and there was still plenty of baseball left in the game. The power outage would come in the next inning and it didn't seem to have too much of an impact on the game. Both starting pitchers would stay in the game. Wickman would go on to pitch eight innings and earn his first big league win in only his second start. Krueger got pulled after four innings and he was saddled with his six loss of the season. If the power outage had any impact, it was to cool down the offenses for both teams. There would only be five more hits in the rest of the game, three for New York and two for Minnesota. Also there would be no runs scored by either team. The power outage was just that for the two offenses in what looked like a slugfest after two frames. Close to 35,000 fans were there to witness the lights going out in the Metrodome. It wasn't nearly as big of stage as the Super Bowl but these things happen in stadiums of this size. San Francisco was able to turn the game around after the lights came back on. Too bad Minnesota couldn't do the same back in 1992.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]3183[/ATTACH] Based on the lines for the minor league autograph station at TwinsFest, Miguel Sano fever has hit the Twin Cities a couple years before he will most likely make his MLB debut. The team's top prospect had fans lining up for hours to get his signature on a ball, a bat, or their favorite photo. It was fun for fans to see the future star in person and it helps to give some hope to the future. Sano will be entering his fourth season as a member of the Twins organization next year. He has worked his way slowly through the Twins system and he continues to rank as one of the best prospects in the game of baseball. In the recently released MLB.com rankings, he finished in the top 20. His power is undeniable but his biggest flaw is his defense at third base. When the Twins signed Sano as a 16-year old shortstop, there wasn't too much hope of the "man child" sticking it out at a middle infield position. The team let him play a handful of games there in his first two seasons in the minor leagues. But last season, he made the shift to playing full time at third base and it was his first time playing in a full season league. In 2010, Sano played 36 games at third base and 18 games at shortstop between the Dominican Summer League and the Gulf Coast League. Over 54 games and 190 chances, Sano had 22 errors between his two positions. Most of those errors, 17 of them, came at third base but he was 17-years old. He was also becoming accustomed to a new position and baseball in a foreign country. The 2011 season saw Sano play the entire year with the Elizabethton Twins. He would play 16 games at shortstop but the bulk of his work would come during his 48 games at third base. Sano had double-digits in errors at both spots as he started to add some bulk to his body. His 26 total errors weren't great but there were some positive signs at the hot corner. Minnesota made a decision going into 2012 to have Sano play exclusively at third base. With his bigger frame and increased muscle mass, it only seemed like a natural progression for the young man. The Twins have been a defensive oriented club since their days back at the Metrodome and the focus hasn't changed in recent years. There were going to be some improvements made along the way. It would be a rough start to the season in the field as Sano tried to adjust to the colder weather in the Wisconsin spring and a longer schedule. In 69 games before the All-Star Game, Sano had 24 errors. He would improve in the second half of the year by having 18 miscues in 60 games. It was a small improvement but it was another step in the right direction. Following the season, Sano went to instructional league and one of his focuses was to improve on the defensive side of the ball. There were positive reports from Florida that the third baseman was making strides in the right direction. Jonathan Mayo, the top prospect writer for MLB.com, even did a featured article about his improvements. The Twins and other scouts seem to believe that Sano will be able to stick at third base. One of the biggest benefits for Sano on the defensive side of the ball could be the man that will likely be his coach at the start of next season. The Twins hired Doug Mientkiewicz to be the new manager for the Ft. Myers Miracle. A former Gold Glove winner at a corner infield position, Mientkiewicz might have a few lessons to teach his new third baseman. Sano will most likely be listed as weighing 235-240 pounds next season. This is a big man to be playing at third base. Nick Nelson of Twins Daily wonders if Sano is too big to stay at third. He compares his weight with the other regular starters in MLB. There are only a couple that are in that weight class and that might be a scary proposition for Twins fans. When there is as much hype surrounding a player like Sano, the fans are going to pay attention to plenty of what he does on his path to the major leagues. His defense will be a focal point for improvement and there have been some positive signs. Baseball America thinks he has the best infield arm in the Twins system and that is a skill that wouldn't be very useful if he had to move to first base. The Twins are going to give Sano every opportunity to stick at third. And with a talent like his, there is no reason to stray from that plan...yet.

Terry Ryan talked about this at TwinsFest. He said that they messed up and they should have taken Manny

There are plenty of things that can go into making a player fit the mold of playing bad at the major league level. Being a high draft pick, signing a big free agent contract, or being part of a big trade can get hopes higher for a player than they ever should be. So far in the Worst Twins of All-Time Series, there have been a variety of ways that the players featured have joined the organization. Butch Huskey was a free agent signing by the club to try and fill a hole at DH. Terry Felton was a second-round pick out of high school so there are expectations with that high of a pick. Scott Klingenbeck was traded to the Twins as part of the Scott Erickson deal. Matt Walbeck was given the starting catcher's job after being traded to the Twins. As you can see, there are plenty of ways for a player to find futility as a member of the Twins. One of the easiest ways to not reach high expectations is to be a highly drafted player. There are a lot of bumps along the way to the big leagues and not every high draft pick is going to make it big. The Twins teams of the 1990s had plenty of high draft picks that went bust on the road to "The Show." This is only part of the story for the latest installment of the "Worst Twins of All-Time".... Dave McCarty ---------- [ATTACH=CONFIG]3175[/ATTACH] Things were flying high in the Twin Cities in 1991, as the team would be heading for their second championship in less than five years. It was a worst-to-first turnaround for the Twins. This meant that the 1990 club had done poor enough to give the Twins a high draft pick the following summer. The organization would look to the college ranks with the third pick in the draft and find a first baseman named Dave McCarty. McCarty's college experience would help him to move quickly through the Twins minor league system. He would skip a couple of levels to start his minor league career and he made it all the way to Double-A. Over 43 games, he hit .304/.422/.486 with 13 extra-base hits. The team would start him back at Double-A in 1992 and he would make his Triple-A debut that year. The 1993 season was one the best for McCarty in the minor leagues. His second stint in the Pacific Coast League was some of his best baseball. He batted .385/.477/.629 with eight home runs and 11 doubles in 40 games. The power wasn't exactly where the Twins would have liked it to be but it didn't seem to make much sense to keep him in the minor leagues. Minnesota would call-up McCarty in the middle of May and he would stick with the club for the rest of the season. His hot hitting streak from the minor leagues followed him to the big league level. During his first 18 games, he hit .365/.390/.514 and that included a 13-game hitting streak. He also had eight multi-hit games so things were off to a fast start. Things went in the tubes from there for McCarty. In his last 75 games of the season, McCarty would hit .178/.229/.233 with 61 SO and only 11 extra-base hits. It also didn't help that he was pretty awful on the defensive side of the ball. He had six errors in the corner outfield positions and three errors at first base. This all added up to a -2.9 WAR for the 1993 season. Over the next couple of seasons, McCarty would spend more time at the Triple-A level than at the big leagues. The Twins were disappointed with his performance and he didn't really redeem himself during the 1994 and 1995 season. It was time for a change of scenery and McCarty was sent to the Giants for left-handed pitcher John Courtright, an eighth round pick from the same draft as McCarty. For his career with the Twins, McCarty hit .226/.275/.310 with 34 extra-base hits over 575 plate appearances. His poor first season was tough to overcome and he finished with a -3.4 WAR during his Twins tenure. He was bad on the offensive side of ball and the defensive side of the ball wasn't much better. McCarty would actually put together a professional career that stretched all the way to 2005. He would make stops in San Francisco, Seattle, Kansas City, Tampa Bay, Oakland, and Boston. The Royals had him play over 200 games with their club in 2000-01 and these were his most productive years. He would be a World Series Champion in 2004 with the Red Sox and he even got to pitch in three games during that title run. As part of those appearances, he struck out Jayson Werth and Rafael Palmeiro. The Red Sox wanted to send him to the minor leagues at the beginning of the 2005 season but he refused so the club was forced to release him. He would be hired as a Red Sox analyst for the NESN later that season. McCarty would stay in that position until the end of the 2008 season. Minnesota had high hopes for McCarty when they drafted him with one of the highest picks in franchise history. He didn't live up to those expectations but he did put together a serviceable MLB career. He made close to $4 million and he got to play parts of 11 seasons at the big league level.

As the beginning of the season approaches, there can be a lot of focus thrown on different players for each team. Some fans will focus on starting pitching and other fans will look at the top players in the line-up. There are usually some players that sneak under the radar before putting together a very good season for the club. Last year, the Twins signed Josh Willingham and there wasn't a whole lot of buzz around him at the beginning of the year. Most fans were worried about the health of Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau. Willingham would put together the best offensive season of his career and he was rewarded with a Silver Slugger. If someone would have told Twins fans that at the beginning of the year, there would probably be plenty of people that would be surprised. Surprises have always been part of baseball and this year Twins fans might be surprised by the performance of one player in particular..... Mr. Chris Parmelee. [ATTACH=CONFIG]3164[/ATTACH] There are plenty of signs that are pointing to Parmelee finally putting it all together in 2013. His round body was looking a little less round at TwinsFest, he finally has an everyday position at the MLB level, and he has nothing left to prove in the minor leagues. Over the TwinsFest weekend, Terry Ryan spoke candidly about Parmelee and his weight. The Twins GM has talked to the new right fielder about where the team thinks he should weigh in at for the coming year. Last season, he came in at 6-foot-1 and 230 pounds. It looks and sounds like he will be a slightly slimmer version of himself for the start of the year. With the Twins trading away two of their outfield starters from last season, Parmelee finally has a position to play with the Twins. Last season, Parmelee broke camp with the club and he played in the team's first handful of games. It became frustrating to watch the way he was used from that point on because he would spend weeks at a time on the big league roster without getting to play every day. Parmelee figures that most of his playing time will come in the outfield this season. That's why he has been working on his first step quickness to help him get good jumps in the outfield. The loss of weight should also help him to get to balls. Out of his 673 minor league games, 282 of them have come as a right fielder. Most of those games were in the lower levels of the minors but the position isn't foreign to him so that should help. While the Twins were jerking Parmelee between the minors and the big leagues, he had plenty of time to show that he can destroy pitching at the Triple-A level. He hit .338/.457/.645 with 17 home runs and 17 doubles over 64 games in Rochester. If he got a few more at-bats in the minor leagues, there is a very good chance that the Twins would have named him minor league player of the year. When Parmelee was first called up at the end of 2011, he surprised a lot of people with his ability to hit consistently. He also added some power on top of that, which was nice to see. Parmelee's MLB numbers from last season don't look that great as he batted .229/.290/.380 over 64 games. Part of the problem was only getting sporadic playing time for the first portion of the year. In the last month of the season when Parmelee started to play on a more regular basis, he hit .262/.300/.452 with nine extra-base hits in 24 games. This included an eight-game hitting streak where he had five multi-hit games. His batting average for the season was sitting around .200 before this run so it made his numbers a little more respectable. Is Parmelee going to be the team MVP next season? No, probably not. But he could be a vital part of the rebuild that is taking place in Minnesota. He is ready to show that he belongs as an every day player for the Twins and there should be plenty of eyes watching his progress. All of the signs point to a breakout season from Mr. Parmelee.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]3158[/ATTACH] The biggest topic of conversation (or at least one of the biggest) to come out of TwinsFest weekend surrounded Joe Mauer and how much he should be catching in the coming season. Mauer came out in multiple interviews and said that he wants to catch more next year. There are always positives and negatives when it comes to getting his 6-foot-5 frame crouched down behind the plate and it is up to the Twins to find the balanced formula for their All-Star player. One year ago, there were plenty of questions surrounding Mauer's health. The 2011 season had been a nightmare for the catcher and the team was looking for ways to keep him productive and on the field. With all of the guaranteed money the club had invested in Mauer, the team had to head back to the drawing board to find a solution to their problem. Mauer would finish back near the top of the AL in batting average (4th) and on-base percentage (1st). It took some creativity to get him to those numbers. He would play in 147 contests, the most games of his career, but he caught less than 100 games for only the second time. He played in 74 games at catcher, 42 as DH, and 30 at first base. This formula seemed to be one that worked to keep Mauer on the field. Last year in the American League, the leader board for games played at catcher looked like this: Defensive Games as C (AL) 1. Wieters (BAL): 134 2. Martin (NYY): 128 3. Pierzynski (CHW): 126 4. Avila (DET): 113 5. Saltalamacchia (BOS): 104 Mauer's game totals at catcher from 2005-2010 would have put him on this list. In fact, he finished second in the AL in games played in 2008 and he finished fifth back in 2010. Only 12 active players have caught more games than Mauer. Of those 12 other players, Brian McCann and Russell Martin are the only players with less years of experience and more time at catcher. The earliest Mauer can reach free agency is 2019 so this means he will most likely be in a Twins uniform for most of (if not all of) his career. It would seems that the most important thing is to find a way to get the most value out of him over the next six seasons. During that time, the debate will continue to rage over how much to use the hometown hero behind the plate. For the Twins to get the most value out of Mauer, he needs to play catcher as much as possible. His top four seasons for WAR have all been when he has been behind the plate for over 105 games. Terry Ryan said he would like to get Mauer back where he is close to the top of the leader board listed above and that will mean seeing Mauer behind the plate for close to 120 games. One idea brought up over the weekend was the thought of having Mauer catch as much as possible over the beginning portion of his current contract. His ticket to the Hall of Fame centers on his ability to continue to perform at a high level while still playing catcher. The problem with this method could be his knees holding up for the long haul. Twins fans will remember that Tony Oliva looked like he was bound for Cooperstown before injuries slowed down his career. The real value for Mauer comes from his ability to stay behind the plate especially with the type of player he has become. There were always hopes of Mauer developing more power as he was starting his professional career but that's not the Mauer fans are accustom to seeing. He is going to hit for a high average and get on base with a sprinkle of power mixed in. At his other major positions (first base and DH), his skills that are listed above are great but a little more power in those spots would be nice. He is also such a good athlete that it seems his skills get wasted when he is forced to DH for a game. He started more games at DH last season than in any other year. Look for that number to come down a little in 2013 and for his catching totals to increase. Finding the perfect formula for Mauer isn't any easy task but the Twins need to find someway to balance his health with getting him behind the plate for more games. To put it simply, Minnesota is a better team when Mauer is the catcher. His value is highest when he can control the pitching staff and put up consistent numbers at the plate. No matter what the Twins do to get to that point..... That is the solution to the Mauer Formula.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]3154[/ATTACH] TwinsFest is one of the most fun weekends for fans of the Minnesota Twins and this past weekend was no different. There is excitement building for the new season, fans can gather to talk about their passion, and the players are happy to interact with fans of all ages. During the last couple of years, one of my favorite parts of the weekend has been the fan question and answer session with Terry Ryan, Jim Pohlad, and Dave St. Peter. It offers fans the opportunity to ask any of these men a question about the changes of the offseason and the new direction of the team. With a big group of fans asking the questions, there are going to be some good questions and some bad questions. It is still a very unique opportunity to interact with the men at the top of the Twins organization. One of the more interesting quotes to come out of this session surrounded the middle infield for next year. Ryan was asked a general question about the four men that will be fighting to play shortstop and second base. He would talk about Pedro Florimon, Eduardo Escobar, and Jamey Carroll but he made one statement about Brian Dozier that stood out above the crowd. Ryan said that it was his fault for Dozier's poor performance in his rookie year. He thought that Dozier was rushed to the big leagues and the team pushed him too hard to find success at that level. He would add that the Dozier that fans saw in 2012 was not the player that the organization knows he can be. Let's turn the clock back a year to last year's TwinsFest. At that point, Dozier had to be sitting pretty. He was coming off of his best season in professional baseball and he was named the Twins minor league player of the year. Ron Gardenhire had been speaking well of Dozier to the press and it seemed that his stock would continue to rise. Fans of the team wanted to forget about the disaster that was Tsuyoshi Nishioka. This might have gotten hopes higher for Dozier than they should have been but he was coming off of a very good season. A lot of faith was put into him before he could ever find success at a level higher than Double-A. He would start the 2012 season in the middle infield for the Rochester Red Wings and things didn't exactly get off to a roaring start. He hit .232/.286/.337 with 14 extra-base hits over 48 games. There were also a few issues in the field as he had six errors in 159 chances at shortstop. As a 25-year old player, he hadn't found success at the Triple-A level but that didn't stop the Twins from calling him up at the beginning of May. As I wrote in an article featured in the Twins Prospect Handbook, his first year in the big leagues didn’t go exactly as planned. There were plenty of struggles as he tried to adjust to the pace of MLB action. When Dozier did find his swing, there was some pop in his bat but his inconsistency on the defensive side of the ball was tough to take for the club. By the end of the year, he would be demoted to Triple-A and it seems like a little luster had rubbed off of his once promising stock. 2013 is a new season and the Twins have another opportunity to help Dozier find success at the big league level. It now seems much more likely for him to settle into second base. This might help him to become more successful on the defensive side of the ball and hopefully that good vibe would transfer to his time in the batter's box. He turn 26-years old near the beginning of next season and there might not be a whole lot of time left for him find success in the minor leagues. The Twins need him to put it all together with the big league club and for him to take hold of a middle infield position. If Ryan was right and the Dozier on the field last year wasn't the true version of that player, it could be a bounce-back season for the player whose stock was so high one year ago.

As the weather continues to stay cold across most of Twins Territory, the baseball season continues to seem like it is light years away. This week's Twins Caravan and this weekend's TwinsFest will help to get fans back in the baseball spirit. It also means that it is creeping closer to the start of spring training. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. This part of the deep offseason can be full of a lot of downtime for baseball fans. Lucky enough for readers of this site, I have been offering up profiles of some of the worst players in the history of the Twins franchise. So far, the series has covered Butch Huskey, Terry Felton, and Scott Klingenbeck. Huskey offered some entertaining moments in his brief Twins tenure. Felton had plenty of ups-and-downs as he tried to find a spot in the starting rotation and the bullpen. Klingenbeck showed some positive signs in the minor leagues before bottoming out at the big league level. In all three of the previous posts in this series, I have asked for readers to chime in with their picks for the worst Twins of all-time. This week's featured player got plenty of votes over the last couple week and it made it tough to ignore his terrible time with the Twins. Introducing, the latest installment in the "Worst Twins of All-Time Series"... Matt Walbeck ---------- [ATTACH=CONFIG]3118[/ATTACH] Walbeck was drafted into the Chicago Cubs organization in 1987 as an eighth round pick. The California native joined the professional baseball ranks straight out of high school. For his first season in the minor leagues, he was only 17-years old and he did well in the rookie leagues. Over the next three seasons, he would try and find his swing at the Low-A level. After playing over 90 games in 1988 and 1989, he would miss a chunk of time in 1990. An injury-plagued season meant he only made it into 25 contests but he was now 20-years old and it was time to move up. The Cubs consistently moved him for the next three seasons and he would make his MLB debut in 1993. In 11 games with the Cubs, he hit .200/.226/.367 with one home run and two doubles. He had put together decent numbers in back-to-back years in the minors so there was a little hope for the future. The Twins liked what they saw in his minor league numbers and they traded for Walbeck and Dave Stevens in exchange for Willie Banks. Walbeck would become the team's primary catcher over the next two seasons by playing in 97 and 115 games. There were some struggles at the plate as he tried to adjust to being a full time player at the big league level. In 1994, Walbeck hit .204/.246/.284 with 17 extra-base hits over 359 plate appearances. Not exactly the best start for the Twins' new backstop. He would make some adjustments for the next season and he compiled some of his best numbers as a professional. His 115 games played were the most of his career and he batted .257/.302/.316 in 115 games. It would be the only season of his career where he compiled over 100 hits. The 1996 season would be the last for Walbeck in a Twins uniform. He would lose the designation as the primary catcher to Greg Myers and he still struggled to make consistent contact. At the end of that season, he was hitting .223/.252/.298 and it was time for the Twins to part ways with Walbeck. During the offseason, the Twins would send Walbeck to the Tigers for Brent Stentz. It was an interesting journey for Walbeck in the rest of his career. The Tigers would use him sparingly during the ‘97 season before being sent to the Angels in a deal that would include future Twins player Phil Nevin. He would make it into over 100 games in the next two seasons and put up numbers that were higher than his career average. His career would end in 2003 after spending his last two professional seasons back with the Detroit Tigers. There would be plenty of problems in those last couple years for a catcher with a lot of miles on his knees. His last season he batted .174/.197/.239 with six extra-base hits in 144 at-bats. Walbeck makes this list of all-time worst Twins because of his ineptitude in the batter's box. He had a negative WAR in all three seasons with Minnesota and this added up to a -2.0 WAR for his Twins tenure. In all three seasons, he hit .230/.271/.300 but there were some positives on the defensive side of the ball. He had a positive defensive WAR in each of his three years and he led the AL in base runners caught in 1994. Since his retirement, Walbeck has turned his attention to being a manager. He got his first job with the Low-A Tigers affiliate and he guided them to the 2004 Midwest League title. His team would again win the Midwest League in 2006 and it was time for a promotion. He would go to the Tigers Double-A affiliate, the Erie SeaWolves in 2007 and things really took off from there. The Eastern League would name him Manager of the Year for 2007, a great honor for the former catcher. He would also be named 2007 Minor League Manager of the Year by Baseball America. Following that season, the Texas Rangers hired him as third base coach. This job would be short lived, as the club would fire him after one season in the position. He would land back on his feet with the Pirates organization 2009. He was sent back to a familiar league, the Eastern League, to resume his managerial career. He would led the Altoona Curve to the 2010 championship and he was named EL Manager of the Year for the second time. In a surprise move, the club would fire him after the season. It seemed there were some disagreements about his managerial style. His most recent coaching job was with the Rome Braves, an affiliate of the Atlanta Braves organization. He would lead them to a terrible first half record and he would be fired in midseason. This was the first time the Rome Braves had made a midseason change at manager. Walbeck now runs the Walbeck Baseball Academy in California.