Article: Twins Sign Jason Kubel to a Minor League Deal

[PSzalapski]

Um a big Jason fan , but huh? Isint this team filled with slow footed Dh types? I understand we want to replace some of Justins power from the left side, but where does he play , other then in Rochester? He is better then Willingham and Doumit in the outfield, But we are building a heck of a log jam,

I see no logjam--you can't count on anything from Parmelee, and it seems we will need Doumit at catcher. Great move to give the Twins one more option without any risk whatsoever.

[johnnydakota]

I see no logjam--you can't count on anything from Parmelee, and it seems we will need Doumit at catcher. Great move to give the Twins one more option without any risk whatsoever.

 

Willingham,Arcia,Colabello,Parmelee,Doumit,Kubel,Mastroianni, Hicks,and Presley

thats 9 Players for 4 spots and thats not counting Mitchel and Rameriez....It is a good move,low risk High reward,but where is he going to play? Like I said I hope that Terry has a plan to move some of the rest of these guys

[amjgt]

This isn't low risk..... it's NO risk

[David Woodley]

Kubel and Hart put up nearly identical lines in 2012 30 HR, .830-8.40 OPS 151 k's etc.

Both had miserable 2013's for different reasons and are only a year a part age wise.

 

I am guessing that if we signed Hart to a minor league deal (or any one year deal) people would be jumping for joy.

 

Giving Kubel a minor league contract is an absolute no brainer that has zero risk. If he can find his 2011/2012 form he becomes a legitimate contributor to this team, and adds much needed depth.

[raindog]

Disheartening. I thought the plan was to bring in veteran clubhouse guys to liven up the clubhouse and bring in a winning attitude. Kubel doesnt offer this. He pouted his way out of town a few years ago because it was too hard to hit HR's in TF, now he crawls into Ryan's office begging, and they take him back?

Tell me this is satire or something.

[ScottyB]

I guess we have to trade Willingham now so we can give Kubes #16 back.

[Riverbrian]

Not sure who we can count on after 2013... Bringing Kubel back home is bringing in competition for positions and that is a great thing.

 

Kubel can hit... We don't know if last year is Kubel this year. Bring in some 3B competition and Bring in some speed please while your at it.

[nick5253]

This isn't low risk..... it's NO risk

 

The risk is with Gardy. You give him the option of starting a veteran over a rookie or 2nd year guy (Arcia) and he's going to take the veteran nearly every time. Give him a veteran he's familiar with, and Arcia has no chance.

[Alex]

Nothing lost here on a minor league deal. If we open the season with Willingham, Arcia, Doumit, and Kubel all actually on the active roster, then I'll be more concerned with overall flexibility (lack thereof) on the roster.

[notoriousgod71]

This isn't low risk..... it's NO risk

 

Nothing is no risk. The risk is we trot him out there for 150 games and he has a season like he had last year.

[twinsnorth49]

Willingham,Arcia,Colabello,Parmelee,Doumit,Kubel,Mastroianni, Hicks,and Presley

thats 9 Players for 4 spots and thats not counting Mitchel and Rameriez....It is a good move,low risk High reward,but where is he going to play? Like I said I hope that Terry has a plan to move some of the rest of these guys

 

It's a minor league deal, I think org depth is a more appropriate description than logjam, he's not going to block anyone.

[David Woodley]

Nothing is no risk. The risk is we trot him out there for 150 games and he has a season like he had last year.

There is zero chance of that happening.

[IdahoPilgrim]

Does anybody know if he is being offered a ST invite? The Twins article didn't say.

[jm3319]

Nothing is no risk. The risk is we trot him out there for 150 games and he has a season like he had last year.

 

The team has bigger problems if they allow the manager to trot him out there for 150 games if he has a season like last year. Just because you sign a guy to a deal (MINOR LEAGUE DEAL) doesn't mean he's automatically given the starting job for 150 games.

 

This move creates depth and competition. If he earns playing time, great. If he sucks, he won't be playing anyway.

[Otto von Ballpark]

Willingham,Arcia,Colabello,Parmelee,Doumit,Kubel,Mastroianni, Hicks,and Presley

thats 9 Players for 4 spots and thats not counting Mitchel and Rameriez....It is a good move,low risk High reward,but where is he going to play? Like I said I hope that Terry has a plan to move some of the rest of these guys

It's not really 4 spots. It's more accurately 5-6 MLB spots (including backups) and another 5-6 spots at AAA. Plenty of room for all of these guys.

[nicksaviking]

The risk is with Gardy. You give him the option of starting a veteran over a rookie or 2nd year guy (Arcia) and he's going to take the veteran nearly every time. Give him a veteran he's familiar with, and Arcia has no chance.

 

Gardy can give his input for the 25 man roster, but it's Ryan's decision to make. If there is a log jam with no clear cut top dogs come opening day, Kubel will be the odd man out. Kubel can be sent to Rochester, Parmelee, Colabello and Doumit cannot without losing them.

 

Nothing is no risk. The risk is we trot him out there for 150 games and he has a season like he had last year.

 

Than the risk is the incompetent manager, not the player. No reason he has to play if he's terrible. Should we also be afraid that the Eric Fryer will play 150 games at catcher?

[h2oface]

Radke next? I guess if you throw enough at the wall, something might stick.

[Brock Beauchamp]

If this guy's name wasn't Jason Kubel, this thread would read very differently.

 

1. People wouldn't be concerned about him stinking up the roster for 150 games.

 

2. People wouldn't be overly optimistic about him getting back on track and OPSing at .800.

 

3. People would see this as the kind of organizational depth move teams make every offseason.

 

It's a decent move on a player that has a chance to rebound and be a role player. Nothing to get too excited about, nothing worth complaining about.

[twinsfan34]

as amjgt said...no risk. Minor league deal. If he hits great. If he doesn't, no real loss.

 

Nice to see players come back and have good things to say about the organization.

[Jham]

Question: Is anything but pride keeping players from choking up or moving to a lighter bat as their bat slows? On a related note, if corking the bat to make the barrel lighter increases bat speed, what advantage is their to swinging a heavier and therefore slower bat?

[John Bonnes]

Well, I think there's risk there, and yes, I think that is an indictment against Gardenhire. I don't think it means he's incompetent - it just means he has some weaknesses, and this seems to play on one of them. He also has his strengths, and overall, I think the strengths dwarf the weaknesses.

 

But this seems to play on a weakness, and I'd be happier if Kubel wasn't an option. I'm worried about Arcia and Parmelee's playing time. (And I recognize I might be the only one worried about Parmelee's playing time.)

[bird]

Well, I think there's risk there, and yes, I think that is an indictment against Gardenhire. I don't think it means he's incompetent - it just means he has some weaknesses, and this seems to play on one of them. He also has his strengths, and overall, I think the strengths dwarf the weaknesses.

 

But this seems to play on a weakness, and I'd be happier if Kubel wasn't an option. I'm worried about Arcia and Parmelee's playing time. (And I recognize I might be the only one worried about Parmelee's playing time.)

 

Provide a couple of examples where a young player represented a clear-cut improvement and I might agree with such a generalization. Castro over Bartlett comes to mind, but I'm not even sure if that decision was such a clear-cut mistake, and would still question why you'd think a bias in favor of a veteran over a youngster would represent weakness.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Question: Is anything but pride keeping players from choking up or moving to a lighter bat as their bat slows? On a related note, if corking the bat to make the barrel lighter increases bat speed, what advantage is their to swinging a heavier and therefore slower bat?

 

Parker's contact charts do look worrying. Brock's right though, if this was any other guy, this thread would read a little different for a guy just a year removed from a 30 homer season.

[TheLeviathan]

Provide a couple of examples where a young player represented a clear-cut improvement and I might agree with such a generalization. Castro over Bartlett comes to mind, but I'm not even sure if that decision was such a clear-cut mistake, and would still question why you'd think a bias in favor of a veteran over a youngster would represent weakness.

 

I won't get into the examples but Castro over Bartlett was a ridiculously obvious mistake.

[diehardtwinsfan]

power...

 

If the bat speed and where the contact made was the same, the heavier bat will send the ball further.

[diehardtwinsfan]

(And I recognize I might be the only one worried about Parmelee's playing time.)

 

You aren't the only one. There just aren't many of us. Parm never had a chance to get into a rhythm as he was the odd man out every time. I want him playing every day, even if the odds of him being a good major leaguer are low.

[DaveW]

Well, I think there's risk there, and yes, I think that is an indictment against Gardenhire. I don't think it means he's incompetent - it just means he has some weaknesses, and this seems to play on one of them. He also has his strengths, and overall, I think the strengths dwarf the weaknesses.

 

But this seems to play on a weakness, and I'd be happier if Kubel wasn't an option. I'm worried about Arcia and Parmelee's playing time. (And I recognize I might be the only one worried about Parmelee's playing time.)

 

Arcia is going to be in the lineup every day most likely, and if he isn't it means he is struggling quite a bit and needs more time in AAA.

 

The leash with Kubel would be short I imagine, let's just say he comes on like gangbusters in ST and earns a starting spot (likely DH). If he struggles the first 3-4 weeks of the season I can't see the Twins waiting to cut him loose.

 

I'm not really worried about Parmelee's playing time at all. Parmelee has shown next to nothing his last two seasons on the Twins, either he is going to flat out earn regular playing time or he isn't.

 

Other than Parmelee the only guy he really takes potential at bats from to start the season is Doumit, and maybe Plouffe later on (once Sano is up). I don't see a real issue there, since if Kubel is getting at bats on the reg, he is probably preforming. However, he absolutely should be in a platoon at the absolute most.

[DaveW]

You aren't the only one. There just aren't many of us. Parm never had a chance to get into a rhythm as he was the odd man out every time. I want him playing every day, even if the odds of him being a good major leaguer are low.

 

The thing is Parm wasn't even that good when given playing time in AAA last year, his numbers outside of rookie ball and his 2012 season at AAA are pretty mediocre across the board for a guy who brings you zero defensive value.

 

I still have some hope for him as he could suddenly "turn it on" but at this point of his career, Parmelee should be blocking exactly no one, especially a guy who is only a year removed from a .830 OPS and 30 HR's

[DaveW]

If this guy's name wasn't Jason Kubel, this thread would read very differently.

 

1. People wouldn't be concerned about him stinking up the roster for 150 games.

 

2. People wouldn't be overly optimistic about him getting back on track and OPSing at .800.

 

3. People would see this as the kind of organizational depth move teams make every offseason.

 

It's a decent move on a player that has a chance to rebound and be a role player. Nothing to get too excited about, nothing worth complaining about.

 

Agreed, however, .800 is a weird cut off, I think there is a more than decent shot he can give you 20 HR and a .770 OPS, especially if he is limited against lefties (.823 lifetime OPS against RHP)

 

20 HR and .770 isn't going to set the world on fire, but it should be noted that is pretty good production in the majors on a minimum contract even if the guy isn't bringing you any real defensive value.

[SouthDakotaFarmer]

Might as well see if we can trade Willingham and Doumit for a bag of baseballs or maybe some batting gloves and a low prospect. Nice to have a South Dakota boy back in the Twins mix. Plus, I like it when Kubel winks...constantly. What is that about?