The Twins lost another free agent when outfielder/DH Jason Kubel, 29, signed on with the Arizona Diamondbacks for two years and $15 million with an option for 2014. The left-handed Kubel has been in the Twins organization since he was drafted by Minnesota in the 12th round of the 2000 amateur draft. Kubel has played in 753 games for the Twins over seven seasons between 2004 – 2011. Jason sat out the entire 2005 season due to a broken ankle. Kubel’s best season was in 2009 when he hit .300 with 28 home runs and 103 RBI’s. Like may other Twins, Kubel was injured in 2011 and appeared in only 99 games. Kubel made $5.25 million in 2011 and was not a fan of Target Field so I think moving on was a top priority for Jason.
If you check some of the D-Back blogs like Call to the Pen, this is not being looked on very well by some Arizona fans who feel that the D-Backs over paid for Kubel and feel that the Arizonans already have a solid outfield trio in Jason Upton, Chris Young, and Gerardo Parra. So it will be interesting to see how Kubel will fit in, then again maybe Arizona just signed Kubel to move him elsewhere in a deal. Parra seems to be the most likely to losing playing time with Kubel’s arrival in the desert.
I liked Kubel but I saw him primarily as a DH and did not like him as an outfielder and I would not have liked to see Minnesota pay him $7.5 million either. It looks like Kubel and Michael Cuddyer will be playing against each other on a regular basis now since they are both in the NL West.Good luck in Arizona Jason.