Article: Twins To Sign DH Logan Morrison

[SwainZag]

I always liked Vargas's potential, but for $6.5M to get a guy who is proven, is more versatile and only 3 years older?  Seems like a no brainer of an upgrade. 

[darin617]

Vargas to Korea or Japan. The Twins will sit him down and ask him if he would be open to going overseas to get some actual playing time. This way he could make a return to MLB with some confidence since he could get normal AB's in either Korea or Japan. Not sure which season would start sooner to be a quicker/better fit for him.

[Shane Wahl]

 

Doubt Vargas would get us much of anything in a trade.

 

Well I mean this might allow for a trade involving lower-level prospects.

[Otto von Ballpark]

This is a great signing. I do wonder if the Twins are interested in a trade for a starting pitcher now, since Vargas is a Major League bat to sweeten any deal involving prospects. Not sure.

Vargas should be virtually free by the end of spring training, either by DFA or waivers. I think teams will just wait for that, rather than bother to include him in a larger trade now. (Of course, if the Twins were willing to throw him in a larger deal now for virtually nothing, then another team might take him.)

Edited February 25, 2018 by spycake

[Otto von Ballpark]

Vargas to Korea or Japan. The Twins will sit him down and ask him if he would be open to going overseas to get some actual playing time. This way he could make a return to MLB with some confidence since he could get normal AB's in either Korea or Japan. Not sure which season would start sooner to be a quicker/better fit for him.

Vargas is out of options, so he has leverage. The Twins would either need to keep him in MLB or expose him to waivers, in which case he should get another MLB job.

 

The guys we've usually sold overseas had options remaining, so the choice was Rochester or overseas ball. Not so for Vargas anymore.

[MangLitch]

Love...... this...... move....... looks like a great value play with high upside

[Homer Hanky]

I would like to say goodbye to Vargas and Grossman

 

[KirbyDome89]

In terms of potential value this seems like it could be a good deal. I'm not sure they needed another DH/1B and I was hoping the bat they added would be a RH OFer. It might be an unpopular opinion right now, but I think they could've got production out of Vargas similar to what we could expect from Morrison this season, but for a whole lot less $$. 

 

If Morrison mashes again this season he's a clear upgrade over Vargas. If he has a season similar to any of the previous 5 seasons before this last one I'm not sure he's much of an upgrade. 

[ashbury]

If Morrison mashes again this season he's a clear upgrade over Vargas. If he has a season similar to any of the previous 5 seasons before this last one I'm not sure he's much of an upgrade. 

I suppose the Dodgers went into similar thoughts regarding Dozier a year+ ago. Forecasting is hard.

[Circus Boy]

 

Morrison also can play LF/RF If Rosario or Kepler get Hurt.

Wouldn’t be ideal as it would be a downgrade defensively, but he actually isn’t that bad.

Plus the other two can hide any decencies.

I'd just let Buck cover the outfield all by his lonesome.

[Otto von Ballpark]

The 2019 option vests with 600 PA this season.

[MaxOelerking]

Good move for the money. Morrison will be a solid bat in the middle of the lineup. 

Probably a .240/.330/.465 guy, if he gets 600 plate-appearances, could provide 70 runs for the good guys.

[notoriousgod71]

This is really bizarre and took me by surprise but I LOVE IT.

 

Even if Lomo regresses he i certainly better than Vargas/Grossman.

 

One more legitimate SP and I would (dare I say) call us a legitimate contender in the postseason.

[IndianaTwin]

Bring back the turf -- who needs grass when we've got the LoMo!

 

[yarnivek1972]

Granite is the clear choice for 4th Of since he can play good D.

 

Grossman probably doesn’t have a spot on this roster anymore with the Morrison signing.

Twins need Grossman in case Kepler still can’t hit LHP. They don’t need really Granite’s defense.

[beckmt]

This will play out this spring.  I think there is a chance the Twins will use a major league player to headline a deal for a front line starter.  

Still it is nice to have a lineup with 3 players that could well hit 30+ HR's.  Puts a lot more pressure on the lower end starters of other teams. 

[KirbyDome89]

 

I suppose the Dodgers went into similar thoughts regarding Dozier a year+ ago. Forecasting is hard.

Oh for sure, I don't think anybody thought Dozier was going to hit 40+ HRs again.

 

Idk if the FO is banking on Morrison hitting 30+ HR this season, but they must think he's going to be significantly better than he was the 5 seasons before this last one. 

[GP830]

Another aspect of that is that it was reported earlier that Odorizzi was trying to recruit Morrison and Cobb. If it worked for Morrison it may work for Cobb?

 

Also, I wonder if Garver gets starts against LHP to help offset the lineups lefthandedness.

[gunnarthor]

Our current OF options are Buxton, Kepler, Rosario, Grossman, Granite and Morrison. All but Buxton are lefties. Our current DH/1B options are Mauer, Morrison and Vargas. Vargas is a switch hitter but iffy and the others are lefties. I would guess that our final opening day roster will add another RH bat with Granite starting the year in AAA.

[Nick Nelson]

So with LoMo added, here's how the Twins could maybe line up against RHP:

 

1. Dozier

2. Mauer

3. Buxton

4. Morrison

5. Sano

6. Rosario

7. Kepler

8. Polanco

9. Castro

 

And they'll have tons of flexibility for subs against lefties, or late in games, with three switch-hitters on the bench. Molitor's going to have a lot to work with offensively this year.

[TFRazor]

Honestly, if this move comes down to keeping either Grossman or Vargas, I have to go with Grossman. A high OBP guy who doesn’t seem to be affected by time between at bats and has at least decent positional flexibility, that’s valuable

[ThejacKmp]

Granite is the clear choice for 4th Of since he can play good D.

Grossman probably doesn’t have a spot on this roster anymore with the Morrison signing.

 

What twins outfielder needs a defensive replacement? Grossman is clearly on over granite - hits righty and has no options. That's just common sense. The twins 4th of is not a defensive replacement.

[caninatl04]

Like the move, Love the price. I really doubt he will even approach 600 PAs this year, so this is essentially a one year deal. This is consistent with the Twins aiming for 2019 with an outfielder / 1B / DH to be determined. First best option would be someone in the minors now. If none of them are ready a year from now, exercise the option on Morrison.

 

The only part I don’t like is that he is a LH hitter with worse splits against LHP. As numerous other posters have pointed out, this seems redundant.

[TKGuy]

Twins taking advantage of slow market with team friendly deal

[ashbury]

The 2019 option vests with 600 PA this season.

That's a very team friendly PA level, IMO, with league leadership usually being a shade north of 700. He barely cracked 600 for the first time last season. And if the option doesn't vest, the team still has the choice to exercise it - say he hits great but is out for a month with an injury.

 

If he doesn't hit well, the team legitimately throttles back on the playing time; there would be room for shenanigans but hopefully our FO doesn't operate that way.

 

I couldn't find it spelled out whether the player can turn down the option if it vests, in mirror image to the team's latitude the other way, but that would be an issue only if he has a monster season, which we all would hope for.

 

It's said frequently here that there's no such thing as a bad 1-year contract. Even better is a team option for a second year, and this is only just shy of that.

[tvagle]

Here's a look at Twins Payroll...Just shy of $124M with LoMo added...Sanchez $2.5M...and Grossman over Granite for last bench role

 

 

Clearer view and you can Make a Copy of the Twins Payroll Tool here

Edited February 25, 2018 by tvagle

[FlauerPauer]

Excellent signing that could pay huge dividends if he hits like he did last year. Suppose this means the end of Vargas. Tough break for the guy as he’s never really gotten a fair shot with the team, in my opinion. Maybe they can trade him, probably not. Sucks to lose a guy like that for nothingnif that’s the case.

[sploorp]

 

Pretty sure this means it’s curtains for Vargas as a Twin

I think that's the case too.  It makes me a little bit sad.  I don't think Vargas ever really got a decent shot at being an everyday player.  It's kind of hard to put up decent stats when every third day is a travel day between Rochester and Minneapolis.

 

I hope the Twins can trade him someplace where he can play everyday.

[d-mac]

Great value pick up. MLBTR pegged LoMo for a 3 year $33 mil contract. Another power bat in the lineup never hurts. If he regresses, just costs us $6.5 mil and JT Chargois. But I think that he can replicate last season. He boosted his power numbers by increasing his launch angle. Top 30 in both barrel% and exit velo last year. Boosted his walk rate. Statcast says he slightly under performed his xwOBA by a few points.

[sploorp]

 

Our good lineup just got better. Great move. Get Lynn now

Agreed on the lineup.  Partially agreed on Lynn.  My number one wish (among others) going into this off season has been a starter that slots unquestionably in front of Santana.  No mamby pamby if healthy or if last year wasn't a fluke kind of stuff, a guy everybody agrees is the new number 1 guy.

 

Yu was my first choice.  After that, it's been a trade for Archer.  In all honesty, I don't care who it is, I just want somebody who clearly slots in front of Santana.