DBacks shift gears, agree to terms with Kubel

看板Diamondbacks作者reasonchen (堅強的理由)時間13年前 (2011/12/20 21:06)推噓1(1推 0噓 1→)

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Source: http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/NickPiecoro/151054 翻譯請往下走... D-Backs shift gears, agree to terms with Kubel Tired of waiting around in their pursuit for pitching help, the Diamondbacks shifted gears and went after a bat, agreeing to terms with free agent outfielder Jason Kubel on a two-year deal worth more than $15 million. The deal is pending a physical scheduled for this afternoon in Phoenix. Diamondbacks General Manager Kevin Towers, reached on his cell phone in Paris , where he and his wife are vacationing, said the club had a "significant" offer out to free-agent right-hander Hiroki Kuroda for "10 days to two weeks" before signing Kubel. "We still want to improve our club instead of sitting on our hands," Towers said. "We didn't want to miss out on all the good players that are out there. We saw (Kubel) was still out there and we went after him." Kubel had three consecutive 20-plus homer seasons before 2011, when he hit .273 with 12 homers and a .766 OPS in 366 at-bats. He missed close to two months with an ankle injury. The signing comes as a surprise, not only in that the Diamondbacks seemed focused on pitching but because they seemed set with position players, including in the outfield. Kubel apparently will become the everyday left fielder with Gerardo Parra, who won a Gold Glove award this season, being pushed into a fourth outfielder role. Towers didn't rule out the idea of a trade but sounded more intent on keeping the depth the Kubel acquisition created. "As you well know, nobody is given a job here," Towers said. "Parra is still very much a part of this club and was a big part last year. You can't have enough good players. You have to have depth. We did that with the infield, too. We'll see how things play out in spring training and how they go along. As of right now, adding Kubel adds another corner bat. Parra is still somebody we think a lot of." The Diamondbacks now have 14 veteran position players under contract for next season, which creates a logjam on the Opening Day roster, assuming shortstop Stephen Drew is fully recovered from his ankle injury. "A lot depends on Stephen's health," Towers said. "If Stephen's not healthy, there's a spot for everybody. If he is, somebody's going to have to go at some point." Kubel's deal includes a mutual option for 2014 that includes a buyout that's worth less than $1 million, according to a source. Even after trading for right-hander Trevor Cahill and signing reliever Takashi Saito earlier this month, the Diamondbacks had been focused on upgrading their starting rotation, targeting Kuroda. Towers said he started talking with Kubel's agent a few days ago – at that point, he and his wife were in Bruges, Belgium – and then made one last call to Kuroda's camp. "They said they still needed more time so we withdrew our offer," Towers said. "I think all along we were a club that (Kuroda) had a lot of interest in, but when you got close to two weeks and still couldn't get a "yes, we didn't want to risk waiting much longer. "I kind of got fed up. I didn't like sitting here on Kuroda. My gut was, the longer this thing goes, it's not good." At the same time, Towers looked at what Kubel's addition could mean to the Diamondbacks lineup. He sees it looking something like this (assuming Drew's healthy): Drew, Hill, Montero, Upton, Goldschmidt, Kubel, Young, Roberts. "That's a pretty good lineup," Towers said. Meanwhile, he believes in his young core of pitching prospects, so much so that he doesn't feel adding another starter is an absolute must. "It's showing confidence in our young guys," Towers said. "We've got three (Ian Kennedy, Daniel Hudson, Cahill) and with Collmenter, who is very deserving, and between (Trevor) Bauer, (Pat) Corbin, (Wade) Miley, (Tyler) Skaggs, those guys are going to get a crack at it. It's a great opportunity for them." Towers said it's possible he scours the starting pitching market for bargains before the season but doesn't seem to view it as an area of need. 對追求投手感到疲憊，小蛇轉移目標簽下棒子，同意以兩年超過15M的價碼簽下Kubel，待今天下午體檢通過即可生效。 KT在巴黎過爽日子時接受電話專訪表示：「小蛇在簽下Kubel前，老早已經提供了一張大約給黑田桑，我們仍然想補強，而不是坐著空等，我們不想坐以待斃地失去市場上所有的好球員，Kubel還在那裡，所以我們改追他。」 Kubel曾經連續三季擊出20發以上的全壘打，這紀錄止步於2011年，腳踝傷勢使他報銷兩個月，在366個打數中繳出AVG 0.273/12HR/OPS 0.766的成績。這交易令人驚訝，因為小蛇一直被認為僅聚焦於投手補強，而且包含外野手在內的各位置，球員名單似乎早已大致底定，Kubel無疑將會成為先發左外野手，這將使本季奪得金手套的Parra被擠成第四號外野手。 KT不排除交易的可能性，但聽起來更想保持陣容深度，儘管Kubel入手後。「就像你知道的一樣，沒有人在這裡能保證有頭路，Parra仍然是小蛇重要的一份子，而且過去一年表現真的令人激賞；你無法擁有足夠的好球員，但你必須擁有深度，我們對內野陣容也有同樣的態度，我們將看到事情如何在春訓時落幕，還有他們將如何合作，現在，Kubel加盟增添了另一支角落棒子，而我們認為Parra還是會受到重用。」下季的小蛇已握有14名老將合約，假設Drew踝傷能完全康復，開幕戰名單勢必競爭激烈。「Drew的健康至關重要，如果Drew沒康復，每個人就有位置搶；反之，某人則將另做他用。」 Kubel的合約包含2014年的共同選擇權，內含小於1M的買斷金額。儘管本月稍早交易來Cahill和簽下齋藤大叔，小蛇仍然聚焦於升級先發輪值，瞄準黑田。 KT提到幾天前他才與Kubel的經紀人開始談話，在此同時，他和老婆在比利時給了黑田陣營最後一通電話，「但他們回覆仍需要更多時間考慮，所以我們撤銷了出價。」「我想我們始終是黑田有興趣效力的球隊之一，但當你花了近兩週時間卻還換不到一個 yes，我們就不想冒任何風險做任何的等待；我等到有點發胖了，我不喜歡一直坐著這裡等黑田的感覺，因為事情拖久就沒有好下場。」 KT看到Kubel的加入，意味著小蛇打序的成型：Drew、Hill、Montero、Upton、 Goldschmidt、Kubel、Young及Roberts。「這真是華麗的打線阿。」同時，他深信以年輕新星為核心所構築的投手陣容，以至於他認為再增加另一名先發投手並沒有絕對的必要性。我對我們的年輕傢伙們很有自信，我們已經有了大三元(Ian Kennedy、Daniel Hudson、 Cahill)和勞苦功高的Collmenter；Bauer、Corbin、Miley和Skaggs正往第一流的水準邁進，這對他們來說是力爭上游的絕佳機會。 KT說在季前他可能翻遍了先發投手市場的報價，但似乎沒必要從中找尋可用之兵。 -- ※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 125.231.135.79 ※ 編輯: reasonchen 來自: 125.231.135.79 (12/20 21:14)