The Los Angeles Spinners today announced the signing of 36-year old first baseman Nate Kuykendall to a 1-year deal. Not too many years ago Kuykendall was one of the premiere power hitters in the league. But many question the value of the Spinners signing the 36-year old, 255-pound defensive liability who is one of the slowest players in the league, has sub-par contact skills, put up 1.4 WAR in 1973 and -0.1 WAR this past season, and is not considered a positive clubhouse influence.
On the other hand, Kuykendall still has a very good eye at the plate and can still run into some pitches and hit them a very long way. With a talented young first baseman on the Spinners in the person of Edwin Ayala, Kuykendall will likely spend most of his time sitting on the bench, and given that the perception is that he still considers himself a starter, very possibly he will do so with a dark cloud over his head.
