Jason

Kubel

Kubel could get a nice smattering of at-bats once the Twins clinch the AL Central. He’s got enormous potential, but his value lies mostly in keeper leagues.

Kubel, who is hitting .343 with 16 homers in 89 games for Triple-A Rochester, has a strong arm and could be the Twins’ starting right fielder next season. He is someone you definitely should acquire this week if you are rebuilding your fantasy squad for next year. Minnesota will make a paper roster move by optioning reliever Jesse Crain to Class AAA for one day to make room on the roster for Kubel.

Kubel had three hits against Jon Lieber in the Sept. 29 game. He might DH in place of Lew Ford.

If it’s a torn ACL, Kubel, who was expected to start in right field for the Twins next season, could miss the first two or three months. That would probably result in Lew Ford playing right and open up playing time for Matthew LeCroy or Michael Restovich.

Kubel is batting .346/.365/.485 in 32 games since joining Rochester.

Pittsburgh still wants one or two of Minnesota’s top prospects (Jason Kubel, Justin Morneau and Michael Cuddyer) in exhcange, and the Twins are not willing to make that kind of offer. Benson seems likely to end up with the Mets.

Kubel is hitting .351 with 21 doubles, seven home runs, and 41 RBI in 58 games at Rochester and is considered major-league ready. While the Twins rightly value him highly, it’s certainly not going to hurt them to part with an outfielder since the organization is so deep at that position. It’s good theatre watching to see if the Pirates or Twins flinch first.

His hitting has also dropped off with inconsistent at-bats at designated hitter. “I just haven’t gotten a feel for anything lately,” Kubel said.

The Red Sox took a 2-1 lead against Jesse Crain in the top of the 12th, but they had already gone through their two best relievers, putting Tavarez into the game to start the bottom of the 12th. An impressive strikeout of Joe Mauer started the inning, but Michael Cuddyer was hit on a 2-2 count and Justin Morneau killed a liner to center that would have tied the game at 2-2 if it didn’t hop over the wall. An intentional walk to Torii Hunter followed, and with two strikes, Kubel hit a high fly to right that got over the baggie. It was his first career grand slam.

The homer was his fourth in five games and his fifth this month. He needs to be active in AL-only formats by now, and it can’t be ruled out that he’ll have value in mixed leagues this season.