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    Does the Logan Morrison Signing Make Sense for the Twins?

    Tom Froemming

    By Tom Froemming

    There are still a number of the top free agents still looking for work, and even after a busy offseason it appears the Twins are still shopping. One of the names the Twins have shown interest in is Logan Morrison, but would a left-handed hitting first baseman be a fit in the organization right now?

    ***UPDATE*** The Twins have reportedly signed Morrison!

    Image courtesy of Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

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    Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press was first to report the Twins had interest in Morrison, and that new acquisition Jake Odorizzi has put in a good word on the team’s behalf.

    ***UPDATE***

    https://twitter.com/jonmorosi/status/967834834788732928

    The DH spot is the only real apparent opportunity for an upgrade in terms of the starting lineup at the moment, but wouldn’t a right-handed, lefty killer make more sense?

    Maybe not.

    The Twins were much better against right-handed pitching than they were against lefties last year, but it’s not like they were hopeless against southpaws. As a team, they had a .744 OPS vs. lefties, which ranked 14th in all of baseball. Also, let’s take a look at Cleveland’s projected rotation:

    Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Trevor Bauer, Josh Tomlin and Danny Salazar. Mike Clevinger would be the sixth guy. What do they all have in common? They’re all right-handers. That squad has dominant lefty Andrew Miller in the bullpen, but you can always play matchups late.

    The best left-handed starting pitcher in the AL Central right now is Kansas City's Danny Duffy. After him it's guys like Carlos Rodon of the White Sox and Matt Boyd of the Tigers.

    But Target Field is a terrible place for left-handed power bats, right? Well, not really.

    Last season, the platoon splits were pretty much dead even. Right-handed hitters had a .802 OPS and homered in 3.68 percent of their plate appearances while lefties combined for a .794 OPS and 3.62 home run percentage.

    It also doesn’t hurt that LoMo has been a beast at Target Field. In just nine career games, he has six home runs and a .387/.472/1.065 line. That’s right, a 1.537 OPS. It’s only a small sample of 36 plate appearances, but it certainly doesn’t hurt his case.

    Plus, Morrison held his own against same-sided pitchers last season, posting an OPS of .761. But the 30-year-old’s strength is definitely hammering right-handers. He had a .905 OPS and hit 32 of his 38 home runs against right-handers in 2017.

    If signed, Morrison would slot in as the DH, but could definitely fill in at first when Joe Mauer needs a rest. There’s an open spot on the 40-man roster at the moment, but LoMo’s arrival would probably mark the eventual end of either Kennys Vargas or Robbie Grossman’s tenure on the Twins. Or maybe both, depending how things work out.

    To me, it seems like the biggest factor to take into account would be Miguel Sano’s health. If he’s looking less mobile after having a titanium rod inserted into his leg over the offseason, it would make a lot of sense for the club to leave the DH spot flexible.

    What do you think of the Morrison signing?

    Follow Tom Froemming on Twitter: TFTwins

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    Featured Comments

    Riverbrian

    Riverbrian 42,821

  • Old-Timey Member

    • Posted

     

    You are absolutely right Morrison had a career year but given the money we are talking it makes no sense to assume this decision had any bearing on them not signing a RH OFer.  AT least Morrison is in his prime and its reasonable to believe last year was a break-out season. 

     

    I also think it is a stretch to say their were multiple viable options available.  The only guy you listed that was considered in the top 50 available free agents was Gomez. Gomez was good last year and he might have a couple good seasons left in him.  Perhaps the front office did not believe in him or he simply might not have been interested in coming back here.  I just not that as simple as there were several good options.

     

    I agree with you. I'm just for adding the assets period. Lefty or Righty... is the lesser consideration. I'd prefer a Righty but they just added a 38 home run guy (career year or not) for a very reasonable contract. 

     

    Morrison may have been the equivalent of an impulse buy. Look at this 65 inch TV for 90% off. May have just been browsing. It doesn't matter... it's great value and they should gather assets where they may. 

     

    I would have liked Gomez... Can play CF or any OF spot very well... Speed and Power.  But... I didn't think it was going to happen. I assume there was a reason that Gomez was traded in the first place. 

     

     

     

     

    Major League Ready

    Major League Ready 10,427

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

     

    I agree with you. I'm just for adding the assets period. Lefty or Righty... is the lesser consideration. I'd prefer a Righty but they just added a 38 home run guy (career year or not) for a very reasonable contract. 

     

    Morrison may have been the equivalent of an impulse buy. Look at this 65 inch TV for 90% off. May have just been browsing. It doesn't matter... it's great value and they should gather assets where they may. 

     

    I would have liked Gomez... Can play CF or any OF spot very well... Speed and Power.  But... I didn't think it was going to happen. I assume there was a reason that Gomez was traded in the first place. 

     

    Gomez was a great value at $4M as was Jackson at 2/6M.  It might be that they just don't want to give up on Kepler developing against LF pitching which I can get behind.

    Brock Beauchamp

    Brock Beauchamp 44,052

  • Site Manager

    • Posted

     

    And Morrison has had an OPS higher than the .730s once since 2012 and isn’t an OFer.

    There’s nothing wrong with adding Morrison, but we’ll see both how he hits and how he gets ABs. And I still would have preferred a RH hitting 4th OFer....which were available.

    I agree that Morrison wasn't my first choice but I think it came down to "get a $5m player at $4-5m or get a potential $10-12m player in Morrison at $5.5m."

     

    I think the decision made itself in that situation.

    Major League Ready

    Major League Ready 10,427

  • Verified Member

    • Posted (edited)

     

    I agree with you. I'm just for adding the assets period. Lefty or Righty... is the lesser consideration. I'd prefer a Righty but they just added a 38 home run guy (career year or not) for a very reasonable contract. 

     

    Morrison may have been the equivalent of an impulse buy. Look at this 65 inch TV for 90% off. May have just been browsing. It doesn't matter... it's great value and they should gather assets where they may. 

     

    I would have liked Gomez... Can play CF or any OF spot very well... Speed and Power.  But... I didn't think it was going to happen. I assume there was a reason that Gomez was traded in the first place. 

     

    Gomez or even Jackson at the price they signed are good examples of what you are saying.  Grossman would have brought something back (nothing great but something).  My hope is that not signing these guys leaves room to sign Lynn or Cobb.  Neither one of these guys are top of the rotation guys but still good assets and would give us good depth of solid starting pitching.  We have not had that in a long time.  It would be wonderful to have a problem of excess if we are so fortunate as to have Gibson, May, Sanchez or Hughes or a couple of them exceed expectations.  I am sure we can find someone willing to take our excess for a decent return. 

     

    Santana | Berrios | Odorizzi | Lynn | Gibson | Mejia | Hughes | Sanchez | Gonsalves | May  -  I like our odds of coming up with a solid rotation out of this group and maybe even having some trade assets at the deadline.  I am not sure how we workout the roster issues but that seems to have a way of working out.

    Edited by Major Leauge Ready
    Riverbrian

    Riverbrian 42,821

  • Old-Timey Member

    • Posted

     

    Gomez or even Jackson at the price they signed are good examples of what you are saying.  Grossman would have brought something back (nothing great but something).  My hope is that not signing these guys leaves room to sign Lynn or Cobb.  Neither one of these guys are top of the rotation guys but still good assets and would give us good depth of solid starting pitching.  We have not had that in a long time.  It would be wonderful to have a problem of excess if we are so fortunate as to have Gibson, May, Sanchez or Hughes or a couple of them exceed expectations.  I am sure we can find someone willing to take our excess for a decent return. 

     

    Santana | Berrios | Odorizzi | Lynn | Gibson | Mejia | Hughes | Sanchez | Gonsalves | May  -  I like our odds of coming up with a solid rotation out of this group and maybe even having some trade assets at the deadline.  I am not sure how we workout the roster issues but that seems to have a way of working out.

     

    I think Lynn or Cobb would have to fall into our lap with a significant price drop. Nothing to base that thinking on other than... we did add to our payroll with the additions of Odorizzi and LoMo. 

     

    All in All.. It wasn't Darvish but I could see the clear effort the front office put toward the product on the field and I'm going to be OK because the sun will rise tomorrow.  :)

     

     

     

    jimmer

    jimmer 9,961

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

     

    I think Lynn or Cobb would have to fall into our lap with a significant price drop. Nothing to base that thinking on other than... we did add to our payroll with the additions of Odorizzi and LoMo. 

     

    All in All.. It wasn't Darvish but I could see the clear effort the front office put toward the product on the field and I'm going to be OK because the sun will rise tomorrow.  :)

    I am satisfied with the effort the FO made this offseason to bolster this team for now and for next year too.  Getting Cobb would be great too, but even without that, it's been a very good offseason for the FO.



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