Report: Twins to sign free-agent OF Jason Kubel to minor-league deal

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Jason Kubel is reportedly heading back to his baseball home, Minneapolis, where it all began: 

It's a minor-league deal, tweets ESPN's Darren Wolfson. 

Kubel, drafted by the Twins in 2000, spent the first seven years of his career in Minnesota, where he hit .271/.335/.459 in 753 games, with 104 home runs and 429 RBI. He signed with the Diamondbacks as a free agent in December 2011. 

After a productive first season in Arizona in 2012, when Kubel hit 30 home runs and slugged .506, he struggled in 2013, and was traded to the Cleveland Indians this past August. Kubel's .610 OPS and 61 wRC+ in 97 games this year were career lows. 

Kubel saw limited action with the Indians after the trade, and Cleveland declined his 2014 $7.5-million option, making him a free agent, setting up a reunion with Minnesota. 

Kubel, who'll turn 32 in May, made $7.5 million this past season. He has a career 107 wRC+ and is a below-average defender, according to FanGraphs.