Minnesota’s Jason Kubel rounds third after hitting a home run off Boston starter Tim Wakefield in the third inning at Target Field in Minneapolis on Monday August 8, 2011. (Pioneer Press file photo: Richard Marshall)

Until Thursday, where Jason Kubel would be playing next season was up in the air. His agent, Arn Tellem, had been talking to a number of teams about the 29-year-old, and even though they had signed Josh Willingham, the Minnesota Twins were still at least a fringe candidate to bring the outfielder back.

Then the Arizona Diamondbacks called.

At that point, when the team made a two-year, $15 million offer with a $7.5 million mutual option for 2014, Kubel was practically “all aboard,” he said tonight. The offer had far exceeded anything the outfielder received in free agency and came from a team that hadn’t expressed much interest beyond a few cursory conversations with Tellem. The offer got Kubel’s attention, and by Monday morning, he was on his way to the National League.

“It happened pretty fast,” Kubel said. “They had talked beforehand, but I was thinking it was out of the question.”

Now Kubel is going to a team that has much of what he wanted. The Diamondbacks will offer him a chance to play the outfield and not be a designated hitter, and he’ll be located much closer to his home in California. He toured the state-of-the-art spring training facility the team shares with the Rockies and said it was unlike anything he’d ever seen. And in Arizona, Kubel will play in a hitter-friendly ballpark for a team coming off a 94-win season.

“I’ve got a good feeling about this place,” Kubel said. “I love the area. I love Minneapolis, too, but this is closer to home, and

that’s another plus – I can live in the same place year-round (for spring training and the regular season). I like what they’ve got going on. They’re a very good, very young talented team. It kind of reminds me of all of us coming up the last couple years (with the Twins).”

Kubel said the Twins made him an offer, but it was the same deal they had proposed during the season. General manager Terry Ryan was still in conversations with Kubel’s camp until Minnesota announced it had signed Josh Willingham to a three-year deal, and though Kubel said Ryan talked with his agent several times after that, it seemed unlikely he would return to Minnesota, especially in light of the Diamondbacks’ offer.

“Everybody knows that they needed a right-handed bad, especially if they’re not going to get (Michael) Cuddyer,” Kubel said. “We were still in contact up until I came over here. We were still talking. But the warmer climate, closer-to-home thing kind of won.”

The outfielder, who played all or part of seven seasons with the Twins after the club picked him in the 12th round of the 2000 draft, leaves Minnesota on good terms. He spoke fondly of his time with the Twins, even if he made it clear he was looking for a chance to play the outfield every day and had a hard time turning down Arizona’s offer.

Now he’ll share a spring training home with Cuddyer and former Twins pitcher Kevin Slowey, who was traded to the Colorado Rockies earlier this month, in a growing group of ex-Twins in the NL West.

“I didn’t think almost all of us would be gone. It’s the way it worked out,” Kubel said. “It’s a business. All the other clubs are trying to improve, also.”

Read More: Jason Kubel (LF – ARI), Minnesota Twins, Arizona Diamondbacks

Jason Kubel played seven seasons with the Minnesota Twins, but an end of an era came over the weekend as the veteran slugger decided to sign with the Arizona Diamondbacks. It’s unclear what Minnesota’s front office was offering the South Dakota native, but it apparently wasn’t enough.

Or, according to SB Nation’s Rob Neyer, maybe the Diamondbacks offered Kubel too much.

The Diamondbacks are reportedly doing to pay Kubel $7.5 million per season in each of the next two seasons. He’s been a major leaguer for five seasons, 2007-2011. According to FanGraphs, Kubel’s been worth roughly $2.5 million per season. He’ll be 30 next May. The Diamondbacks have a left fielder who’s been worth roughly $8 million per season over the last two seasons, and who will be 25 next May.

Is Kubel capable of playing well enough to deserve $7.5 million? Sure. In 2009, Kubel played in 146 games, batted .300/.369/.539 and actually picked up a few points in the MVP balloting. His OPS+ that season was 136.

The problem is that Kubel’s career OPS+ is 112, and if it’s below 120 he’s not helping you.Especially if you’ve got him playing in the outfield. In the National League, Kubel shouldn’t be a left fielder, or even a first baseman. In the National League, Kubel should be a pinch-hitter. He should be the new Matt Stairs.

Regardless, the man that came up in the clutch more than once for the Twins while blasting 104 home runs in his Minnesota career has now moved on from the friendly confines of the Twin Cities.

Read More: Josh Willingham (LF – OAK), Jason Kubel (DH – MIN), Michael Cuddyer (RF – MIN), Oakland Athletics, Minnesota Twins, Washington Nationals, Florida Marlins

Josh Willingham has bounced around a bit the last couple of seasons as the outfielder moved from the Florida Marlins to the Washington Nationals to the Oakland Athletics last season. It seems the 32-year-old slugger may be moving to a fourth team this year, too, as the Minnesota Twins closed in on an agreement with the free agent on Tuesday afternoon.

Willingham batted .246 with Oakland last season in 488 plate appearances, driving in  career-high 98 RBIs and scoring 69 runs in the process. He’s now looking likely the likely option to replace Michael Cuddyer in the Twins outfield, according to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports.

If the Twins lose Cuddyer and Jason Kubel and sign Willingham, as Rosenthal is reporting, they would net three high draft picks without losing any according to the veteran reporter. The Twins would gain two picks for Cuddyer, who is considered a Modified Type A free agent, and one for Kubel (a Type B free agent) while not losing any for acquiring Willingham.

This may or may not makes the fellas at Twinkie Town happy as they were waiting on something to happen with Willingham and Cuddyer for the past few days.

Twins right fielder Michael Cuddyer signals to a teammate during a game against the Boston Red Sox at Target Field in Minneapolis on Wednesday, April 14, 2010. (Pioneer Press file photo: Richard Marshall)

DALLAS – The Minnesota Twins have finalized some business at the Winter Meetings, signing closer Matt Capps and adding infield depth through the waiver wire. But they could well leave Thursday without achieving their top objective, signing Michael Cuddyer.

With three days down and only the Rule 5 draft remaining, the Twins still don’t know whether Cuddyer, the team’s top draft pick in 1997, wants to return. General manager Terry Ryan did not meet with Cuddyer’s agent, Casey Close, today, mostly because short of an answer, there was no point.

“We know where each other stands,” Ryan said.

The Twins have an offer out to their longest tenured player, reportedly a three-year deal worth roughly $25 million, who would fill right field and a power spot in the lineup. Because Cuddyer would require the largest chunk of money for any free agent expenditure, the team is somewhat hamstrung until Cuddyer says yes or no, though Ryan said today the team has offers out to other players.

“I don’t know how they can possibly accept at the same minute,” he said.

The Winter Meetings end at the conclusion of Thursday’s Rule 5 draft. The Twins pick No. 2 and will undoubtedly fill the one remaining spot on their 40-man roster with a selection, hoping to catch the same lightning in a bottle that got them Johan Santana and Shane Mack. Add Capps and shortstop Pedro Florimon, claimed off waivers from Baltimore on Monday, and the Twins will leave Texas with three new players on the

40-man roster.

But Cuddyer is the lynchpin. He was the team’s lone all-star last season, has 66 homers the past three seasons and can play infield and outfield. Plus, until he gives them an answer, the Twins won’t know how much money they have left to spend, or whether to seriously pursue another outfielder through free agency (Jason Kubel, Josh Willingham) or trade.

The Twins are talking with Kubel’s agent, Joe Wolf, but Ryan acknowledged today re-signing Kubel and Cuddyer is impossible.

“It’s

Minnesota’s Jason Kubel rounds third after hitting a home run off Boston starter Tim Wakefield in the third inning at Target Field in Minneapolis on Monday August 8, 2011. (Pioneer Press file photo: Richard Marshall)

not realistic to think we’re going to be able to bring back both,” he said. “I know that.”

Ryan said he anticipated resuming talks today “or the near future.” So, yes, the Twins are willing to wait a little longer, but only a little longer.

“They know where we stand, and in essence, I think they’d like to get something done here sooner rather than later, as well,” Ryan said about Cuddyer. “There is a point where everybody would like to have some finality about whether they’re coming back here.

“There’s no guarantee one way or the other; you could go into this thing all the way into February. There will be players that sign in February. That isn’t going to work in this situation.”