Article: The All-Time Worst Twins: Matt Walbeck

[Cody Christie]

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, Rondell White, and Scott Klingenbeck. Huskey offered some entertaining moments in his brief Twins tenure. White had an All-Star career but his time in Minnesota was lacking. 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 weeks 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 WalbeckWalbeck 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 tried to find his swing at the Low-A level. After playing over 90 games in 1988 and 1989, he missed a chunk of time in 1990. An injury-plagued season meant he made it into only 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 made 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 some 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 became 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 made some adjustments for the 1995 season and he compiled some of his best numbers as a professional. His 115 games played were a career high and he batted .257/.302/.316. It was the only season of his career where he compiled over 100 hits.

 

The 1996 season was the last for Walbeck in a Twins uniform. He lost 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 sent Walbeck to the Tigers for Brent Stentz.

 

It was an interesting journey for Walbeck during the rest of his career. The Tigers used him sparingly during the '97 season before being sent to the Angels in a deal that included future Twins player Phil Nevin. He made it into over 100 games in the next two seasons and put up numbers that were higher than his career average.

 

His career ended in 2003 after spending his last two professional seasons back with the Detroit Tigers. There were 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 was bumped up to the Tigers Double-A affiliate, the Erie SeaWolves, in 2007 and things really took off from there.

 

The Eastern League named him Manager of the Year for 2007, a great honor for the former catcher. He was also 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 fired him after one season in the position.

 

He landed 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 drove 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 fired 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 led them to a terrible first half record and he was fired in the middle of the season. This was the first time the Rome Braves had made a midseason change at manager. Walbeck now runs the Walbeck Baseball Academy in California.

 

With only a few more weeks until pitchers and catchers report, who else do you want to see profiled? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion.

 

Click here to view the article

[nicksaviking]

****Moderator Note*****

 

The sensitivity of the title aside, we still need to stay on topic. For the time being, please let's just discuss the player. For those that don't like the theme, I understand, but simply refraining from posting and or reading the articles is the best option. If anyone would like to discuss the issue further, please start a thread in the Questions about Minncentric. We can certainly discuss this issue and try to work through any problems.

 

http://twinsdaily.com/forum/13-questions-about-minncentric/

 

 

[glunn]

Moderator note - Nick is correct. If you don't like these threads then please ignore them. That is what I have been doing.

[NDTimIrish]

I love these threads. Keep 'em coming! 

[Doomtints]

* shrug *

Looks like a typical catcher of the era to me.  The Twins only sent him packing because he was about to start getting paid.

[DJSim22]

I thought Walbeck was good enough defensively to avoid this list.  Just .02

 

We're all waiting for Nishi...

[HitInAPinch]

still waiting for.....

http://www.accelerator3359.com/Wrestling/pictures/vonraschke.jpg

[mcrow]

I think Walbeck was pretty good behind the plate, not much at the plate but that was fairly normal for catchers of his time. 

[Birn]

Luis Gomez!  He had -0.5 total WAR and a 0.473 OPS in his four seasons as a Twin and somehow managed to have an OPS+ of -9 in 1975.

[DaveW]

Yeah I don't get why Walbeck is on this list. He basically is a backup or 50/50 catcher who was very good defensively.

 

Walbeck doesn't seem to fit in this series at all tbh.

[DaveW]

I think Walbeck was pretty good behind the plate, not much at the plate but that was fairly normal for catchers of his time.

Yeah Walbeck played 11 years in the majors and was pretty much consistent year in and year out.

 

It wasn't like he was a good player and then fell off a cliff when he joined the Twins: White, Bautista, Boone etc

 

He was what he was, and I personally wouldn't consider him for a list like this.

[dcbona]

I wonder why the Twins got rid of Brian Harper and Lenny Wester after 1993? I understand Harper was 33 years old and poor defensivley, but he was still an asset offensively. Webster was really bad in 1993, but he turned into a good backup for Baltimore.