The Diamondbacks weren't known to be seeking a left fielder, but they reached an agreement with Jason Kubel on a two-year, $15MM deal today. The latest on the team:
- Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic spoke to D'Backs GM Kevin Towers, who said outfielder Gerardo Parra "is still very much a part of this club and was a big part last year." Parra, a 2011 Gold Glove winner, will likely be pushed to a fourth outfielder role.
- Kubel will earn $7.5MM in each of the 2012 and '13 seasons, tweets Piecoro, and has a mutual option for '14 at the same amount with a buyout under $1MM.
- Dave Cameron of FanGraphs calls Kubel a "weird signing," saying that replacing Parra with Kubel is likely to be a net negative for the team. He doesn't think employing Parra as the fourth outfielder is a good use of resources.
- The D'Backs had once hoped to invest in Joe Saunders or Hiroki Kuroda, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney, but ended up allocating that money toward Kubel. The Kubel signing means the team is likely to round out their rotation with an internal candidate, writes Piecoro, although a cheap fifth starter signing is also possible.
The sad thing is, Parra wasn’t even the best defender in the Dbacks OF. But I have to agree with many of the above comments, there has to be something else in the works, this signing makes no sense.
2011 saw CY hit a major slump that seems to be the only thing that everyone remembers about him. I guess thee fact that during that slump he moved up to number 6 in the league in drawing walks wasn’t impressive. He’s also been ROBBED two straight years in CF in terms ob being rewarded with a GG. (Don’t get me wrong, I love Kemp as a player but he didn’t even belong in GG converstations.)
CY is a 30/30 threat every season playing ELITE level defense the likes of which is not as easy to replace as is often rumored.
CY is not a “throw-in for value” player in trade talks. He’s a key player in any trade. Not too many teams that are looking for a CF upgrade have what the Dbacks need.
I rather suspect Parra is on the move if anyone is.
Not a chance. Parra is NOT a good CF despite his speed. And he has nowhere near the offensive upside that CY does as a 30/30 threat and a walk taking machine.
CY is an elite tier CF, Parra is a GG winning CORNER outfielder. If the voters would put down the ganja before filling out their ballots, CY would have 2 GGs in CF now.
Parra played CF in the minors because of his speed. The few times he playeed CF for the Dbacks, it was painful to watch. He ahsn’t the feel for it, at least not the feel that CY does. CY is one of the most underrated CFs in all of baseball. Between Parra and CY, it’s far more likely that Parra is traded than CY.
I totally agree. This move make no sense at all. Unless KT is rolling the dice that Kubel returns to 2009 form or he has a trade partner for Parra, I just don’t understand this at all. It was noce having a downright scary defensive OF in 2011. I’m not looking forward to the Kubel hole in LF.
As long as he is healthy, Blum has a spot on the Dbacks. He’ll keep Roberts on his toes to keep his job at 3B, and can spell Roberts when Gibby thinks a day off is in order. Blum also give a good veteran bat off the bench.
If they were bringing Kubel in to switch positions to 3B I would agree with you. (Also what I thought they were doing when he first signed.)
Has to be Blum, Johnny Mac will spell Drew at short (if Drew is healthy), and Bloomquist will play the other infield positions. Overbay will play first (however he is looking more and more obsolete daily). No team has four back up infielders, so Blum is the one who goes.
I agree with your logic, I still think it more likely that once/if Drew is healthy that McDonald becomes the odd man out though. His biggest asset is his glove, but Bloomquist wll be fine in terms of spelling Drew if he needs it and can play more positions. The team, and especially Gibson REALLY like Blum, and his switch-hitting capabilities off the bench are a valuable asset. And unlike McDonald, he has some offense in him, though no HRs.
If for whatever reason Drew is unable to go and remains on the shelf, then the discussion is moot, but I would agree that Blum would then be the expendable one.
This deal sure makes the Dodgers look dumb for signing Rivera for sightly more than half as much and for one year instead of two.
You really wanna start comparing the Dodgers to the D’Backs? Is that a can of worms you really wanna open up?
Ha. That’s not what I was doing but nice try. The Rivera deal was criticized as being “too much” for his level of production. So try comparing Rivera’s career offensive line with Kubel’s and get back to me.