Jason Kubel...the next David Ortiz?

It now sounds official that Jason Kubel has signed a deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Reports are saying he has a two year 15 million deal. I'm not real knowledgeable in analyzing numbers to say if a player is worth a certain amount but this is one player that I think the Twins will regret loosing in much the same manor as when they lot Ortiz.

I've heard a lot of people talk about how Kubel is just an average outfielder and should be easy to replace. I think the problem is average is not always as easy to find as some would think. Also consider that Kubel was likely one of the best hitters on the team. Despite his injury shortened year in 2011, he still managed to show that he had the most power on the team (outside of Jim Thome of course) and he could hit for a decent average too. I know the Twins didn't especially like his defense and Target field is certainly a better place for someone with a little more speed but Kubel has continued to improve offensively each year and I can definitely see him putting up some huge numbers for Arizona. For a Twins team that is short on power, loosing him is a tough pill to swallow. Yeah they get a draft pick and yes they did sign Josh Willingham but to me loosing both Cuddyer and Kubel makes that pickup a net loss. Not to mention it gives the team less depth. The argument can be made that they should use the money saved to go after pitching and that's fair but it's pretty sad that this team has decided it "has to cut salary" and as a result failed to bring back one of Cuddyer or Kubel.

In all fairness I suspect that Kubel wanted out as Target Field was not kind to his numbers which will look even better in Arizona. Get ready in a year or two to hear about the one that got away this year. It won't be Cuddyer or Nathan. People will be talking about Jason Kubel (the new Ortiz) and say "Remember when he used to play in Minnesota..sure would be nice to have someone like that on the team."

Too many outfielders: A good problem for the Twins

Denard Span has created a nice problem for the Minnesota Twins. He’s played so well since last being called up to the majors that when Michael Cuddyer get's off the disabled list the Twins will have some tough decisions to make on who get’s to play in the outfield.

Span has easily been one of the biggest reasons for the teams recent success. He’s been an on base machine and has really been taking good at bats now at the top of the line up. Additionally he’s played spectacular defense taking away plenty of hits and saving some big runs. Watching a game with Detroit announcers a few weeks back they raved on and on about how much ground the Twins cover in the outfield between Span and Carlos Gomez. On one ball hit to the gap they actually declared it a double and then Span ended up catching it. Needless to say only a fool would send him back down to the minors and it’s becoming very apparent that he needs to be in the starting lineup.

The problem is that the lineup could really use another good right-handed bat with some pop and Cuddyer fits that bill nicely when he’s healthy. He’ll definitely be starting again which means somebody is out of a starting job. Some have suggested that Delmon Young should be the odd man out but he has actually been hitting well now despite a rough start to the season and like Cuddyer provides a right handed bat that can drive the ball. The more realistic option that has been discussed would be demoting Gomez in center field. He’s struggled big time lately and could use more work in the minors. The issue is that he’s arguably can have the biggest impact on the team if he works through his offensive slump and as stated above having him and Sapn in the outfield means not much hits the ground. Of course the other option is to use Cuddyer at DH but there’s not much time for him there as Jason Kubel and Craig Monroe are already splitting time there.

Some people have also suggested that the Twins try to trade one of their outfielders but I don’t see that as likely. All of the them are young and don’t have much of a track record so I doubt they’d get much back. Cuddyer is the exception but having been injured most of the year he’s not going anywhere either. The truth is I think they are better off with all of them anyway.

So what’s my solution? It’s actually pretty simple. Shift Cuddyer back to third base for the rest of the season. Contrary to popular opinion he never was quite that bad over there when they played him there previously and I can’t imagine he’ll be any worse defensively then Mike Lamb. This would solve a lot of problems as it would give the Twins an upgrade offensively at third with a canon of an arm and in my opinion fields the best possible lineup. Cuddyer probably prefers to play right field but he seems like a team player who would do what’s necessary for the betterment of team. Of course injuries happen and if someone get’s hurt then he’s ready to step in. It’s not like Brian Buscher has done that bad of job at third but somebody has to go to the bench. It’s definitely a good problem to have and with all these guys being so young sure makes the future exciting to think about.

Twins loose but there's plenty to be excited about

The Twins lost the game and the four game series with the Angels this afternoon but there really was plenty to be excited about.

• Joe Mauer was swinging the bat pretty good...so good that they gave him an intentional walk in the ninth when he represented the tying run.
• Matt Tolbert looked really good in his pinch hit at bat in the ninth taking so tough pitches and fowling others off.
• Jason Kubel crushed the ball into the upperdeck for the Twin's first homerun of the year.
• Many of the Twins hitters including Cuddyer, Lamb and Young were hitting the ball hard but right at people.
• Best of all the pitching looked pretty solid today as Slowey was off to a pretty good start (hopefully his injury isn't serious), Bass pitch a few good innings before running out of gas and the rest of the pen looked good too.

Of course I'd feel better if the Twins had won the game but this season has to be looked at as a growing experience and in that regard things are looking pretty good. In fact as good as our pitching has looked so far it's quite possible that the team might be closer to making some noise then all those experts think. To early to know yet so we'll just have to keep watching.