The Twins have been trying to keep him. The Reds talked to him. But the Dbacks got him: Jason Kubel is heading to Arizona.
Tom Krasovic was the first to report Kubel signing with the Diamondbacks. The exact terms of the deal aren’t yet known, but it’s two years and an option year per Rosenthal. UPDATE: Heyman says the deal is two-years, $15 million which sort of seems right.
It could be a decent fit. Kubel’s numbers have not been stellar over the past couple of years, especially for a DH/corner guy, but Target Field has hurt him a lot. last year he was .253/.314/.377 in Minnesota and .288/.345/.476 on the road. Chase Field will be much friendlier to him, one would assume.
Where he plays is an interesting question. Does he take time away from Paul Goldschmidt at first base in a platoon situation? Or does he take time away from Gerardo Parra in left? Or both? Kubel isn’t good with the glove in the outfield and Parra is, but you’d think the Dbacks would want to give Goldschmidt every opportunity to play every day. I’m not going to counsel Kirk Gibson about how to deal with this because he’d probably yell at me and frankly he scares me a little.
UPDATE: Rosenthal says Kubel will be the everyday left fielder. Should be interesting.