For their careers, Kubel and Monroe have put up similar numbers. However, Monroe is on the wrong side of 30, while Kubel is coming into his “prime” years, the same years that Monroe had his career highs. In the second half of last year, Kubel hit .303/.379/.511, which are better numbers than Monroe has ever hit. Even looking at 2007 as a whole, Kubel hit better than Monroe had in all but 1 of his seasons. Pretty much everything from their careers (both minor league numbers and major league) should point to Kubel having a better year than Monroe.

Kubel is having a bad year. However, it’s only a month. Players have bad months. Given his minor league track record, and the numbers he posted in the second half of last year, I think it would be very wise of the Twins to continue to let Kubel bat, and see if he can get out of the funk he is in.