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Justin Morneau On Revocable Waivers
11:10am: Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer press reports that Morneau was placed on waivers yesterday, and the waiver period will expire tomorrow at noon CT (Twitter link).
10:02am: The Twins have placed Justin Morneau on revocable waivers, according to the MLB Network's Peter Gammons (Twitter link). It's unclear when he was placed on waivers, but because the waiver period is 47 hours, the latest he could be claimed or clear would be Thursday.
Morneau, 32, has had his career slowed by a season-ending concussion in 2010, which caused lingering effects into the 2011 campaign. On top of the concussion issues, he's dealt with injuries to his wrist and neck. The injuries have resulted in a .257/.318/.411 batting line over the past three seasons -- light years away from the .298/.372/.528 mark he posted from 2006-10.
Morneau, the 2006 American League MVP, is earning $14MM in the final season of a six-year, $80MM contract that he inked in January of 2008. Of that $14MM, approximately $3.6MM is still remaining. He was connected to the Pirates, Orioles and Rays prior to the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, but a dreadful July swoon and his remaining salary cooled interest in the Canadian slugger.
Since the calendar flipped to August, however, Morneau has been on a power binge. He's hitting .269/.296/.673 with six homers and three doubles in 12 games this month. While it's a small sample, the resurgence of his power stroke and the fact roughly $918K has come off his salary since the trade deadline could persuade teams to renew their interest. American League teams (in order of reverse standings) will have the first crack at Morneau before he is made available to NL teams (also in order of reverse standings).
The Twins have already negotiated on August trade, sending Jamey Carroll to the Royals in exchange for a player to be named later. Other August deals thus far have seen Alex Rios traded to the Rangers and Wesley Wright traded to the Rays. Four other players have reportedly cleared waivers and are eligible to be traded to any team.
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