The TOP 40 VORP here at SBG continues with the 34th highest VORP total for a Twins player, Steve Braun.

Steve Braun played for the Twins for six seasons, from 1971 to 1976. He accumulated a total of 107.3 VORP with the Twins. He was Michael Cuddyer before Michael Cuddyer.

5’10 180 LBS. Batted Left and Threw Right. Born 1948.
Member of the Twins from 1979-76
VORP as a Twin: 107.3 Rank: 34th

Steve Braun was drafted in the 10th round of the 1966 Amateur Draft. He signed with the Twins on June 22, 1976. Steve Braun made the club in 1971 and he made his major league debut on opening day. In the seventh inning, Braun pinch hit for pitcher Stan Williams and grounded into a force out. Braun played sparingly his first month and got his first hit on April 16, 1971 off of Dave LaRoche in his fifth at bat.

Braun entered the starting lineup for an extended period on April 30th, replacing Rod Carew (who was obviously hurt, on suspension, off finding himself, or something). Braun got extended run until June 10th. When Carew came back, Braun found the bench. He played quite a bit at third base and ended up having a pretty solid rookie year, hitting .254/.350/.344 with an OPS+ of 95 over 402 plate appearances in 128 games.

In 1971, Steve Braun played 28 games at second, 73 games at third, ten games at shortstop, two games as the left fielder, and one game at third. He also pinch hit nine times. In other words, Braun was a utility player. Unlike other utility players who are on the club for their versatility, Braun was a decent hitter. Although he didn’t have much power, had a decent batting average (.284 as a Twin) and he had good plate discipline (.376 OBP as a Twin). Braun’s 95 OPS+ as a rookie was his worst result as a Twin. Over the next five seasons, Braun had OPS+ values of 110, 135, 107, 130, and 115. Even with those fabulous numbers, Braun never got a chance to play every day. Braun got over 500 plate appearances in just two seasons: 1974 and 1975. Braun responded by hitting a combined .291/.375/.396.

I mentioned before that Steve was Michael Cuddyer first. The following chart shows how Braun was deployed in the field.

Fact is, Braun never really was a full time player, but he was able to play in the major leagues for 15 seasons, which isn’t a bad life. After the 1976 season, Braun was drafted by Seattle in the 1976 expansion draft. He was traded to the Royals on June 1, 1978 and was released by the Royals on June 2, 1980 after a dreadful .043/.120/.043/.163 in 25 plate appearances. Braun latched on with the other expansion team, the Toronto Blue Jays for the rest of the 1980 season.

In 1981, Braun signed with the St. Louis and played for the Cardinals for five seasons. He played in two World Series, and was a member of the 1982 World Champions. In five seasons with the Cardinals, Braun never had more than 115 plate appearances. Braun played nine seasons after leaving the Twins, but had 2/3 of his at bats as a Twin. Even though Braun was never a full time player with the Twins, he got his best shot to play in Minnesota and gave the Twins six good seasons. It was enough to land him at 34th at this list.

After his playing days were over, Braun coached in professional baseball for 15 years, including stints as a hitting coach with the Red Sox, Yankees, and Cardinals organizations. He now runs the imaginatively named “Steve Braun Baseball” in New Jersey.