Twins sign Josh Willingham

Share

Per a report, Minnesota has signed outfielder Josh Willingham, effectively ending Michael Cuddyer's (and maybe Jason Kubel's) with the Twins.

Willingham has been consistently average to above average for the last six seasons, posting a WAR between 2.1-3.0 every season since 2006. His OPS during those seasons has never fallen below .810, although his value has been brought down by generally below-average defense.

This is pretty meaningless, but in 60 career plate appearances against the Sox Willingham owns a .619 OPS. The bigger story in terms of against-the-Sox splits is that they may not have to face Cuddyer or Kubel as members of the Twins as much anymore.

In 585 career plate appearances against the Sox, Cuddyer has a .817 OPS with 19 home runs. While Cuddyer's been good, Kubel's been great against the Sox, hitting 22 home runs with an .896 OPS in 303 plate appearances. Hopefully, for the White Sox sake, both of those guys will be out of the division.

Update: MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger is reporting a deal with Willingham isn't done, but expects one to be completed tomorrow.

Contact Us