Chris Lubanski has signed a minor league deal with the Toronto Blue Jays. As the fifth overall pick of Kansas City in 2003 he spent seven years in the Royals minor league system.
Lubanski was once part of a group of players many believed would turn Kansas City around. As a 20 year old in the High Desert league in 2005 he hit 28 homers, 39 doubles and drove in 116 RBI but hasn’t shown that type of power since. The following year he hit 15 homers while compiling a .282/.369/.475 line at Double-A and things have pretty much went downhill for him since.
I’ve kept tabs on Lubanski since the start of the 2006 season and all the signs point to a guy on his way out of baseball.
At the Triple-A level he’s struggled to hit for average, a bad sign for a guy whose power swing has never developed. His stolen base numbers have dropped, his strike outs have gone up, and he’s a defensive liability even in left field.
An organization switch may bring minor improvement but it’s likely Lubanski may never receive more then a complementary cup of coffee as a baseball player.
