What happened to Jason Kubel?

[BosRedSox5]

When you follow an offensively deficient team sometimes a name pops up that catches your eye. Today the Twins released Jason Kubel. 

From 2007-2012 (6 seasons) Kubel slashed .270/.337/.474/.811 with the Twins and Diamondbacks. He wasn't an MVP type, but he was a productive hitter that wasn't great in the field but managed to hold his own at the plate. Sure he struck out a little too often and didn't draw as many walks as one might like... but he was a decent player. 

So what happened to him? He started slow for Arizona in 2013, got traded to Cleveland and signed with Minnesota this offseason. He's flat out sucked this year. Since 2013 he's slashed .219/.300/.308/.609. 

It's kind of sad to see someone's career just fall apart on them. It seems so sudden and unexplainable. Like Dan Bard except not really as bad. 

Anyone got an explanation for this? 
 
I hope he can figure it out. Selfishly, I'd love for the Rockies to sign him because I have a hunch that he'd be successful at the AAA level and I live in Colorado Springs but who knows. 
 

 

[RingoOSU]

Kubel looks like one of those players Bill James referred to as having old man skills, those with power and walks, limited range. Lots of guys have had Kubel's career, and it's likely he is totally done.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

Didn't Kubel suffer a devastating knee injury at one point? I suppose it's entirely possible that several years on, his advancing age and the wear and tear on that knee have finally caught up to him.

 

[Plympton91]

I know it's jaded, but in a lot of these cases where a player falls off the map (Figgins, Crawford), I wonder if the answer is, "He decided that he'd already made enough money to set his family up for 3 generations, and so continuing to take performance enhancing drugs was no longer worth the health and reputation risks."

 

[SumnerH]

Didn't Kubel suffer a devastating knee injury at one point? I suppose it's entirely possible that several years on, his advancing age and the wear and tear on that knee have finally caught up to him.

He blew out his ACL and PCL in a collision in the AFL when he was in minors, and had serious knee surgery at that time.  He missed all of 2005 and parts of 2006.