THURSDAY: Morales signed for $2.975MM, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
WEDNESDAY: The Angels avoided arbitration with first baseman Kendrys Morales, tweets Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times. Morales hasn't appeared in the Majors since May 29th, 2010, when he broke his ankle in a home plate celebration. The Scott Boras client's salary is expected to remain close to $3MM.
According to MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez, the Angels are being cautious with Morales, who is ramping up baseball activities. When he is ready for Major League action, he may have to fight for playing time given the Albert Pujols signing and Mark Trumbo's emergence.
MLBTR's arbitration tracker shows that after signing Morales and Jerome Williams and extending Howie Kendrick, the Angels have two remaining arbitration eligible players in Erick Aybar and Alberto Callaspo.
why is he still on the team?
Because they have a contract.
Because when he is healthy this season, the 3-4 of Pujols/Morales will be deadly.
where the heck would he play? cant dh him they have trumbo. RF and LF are already taken with Hunter and Abreu, and these guys are to slow and dont have the range for CF. their better off trading Morales and Trumbo for a 3B. or some relief help.
You must not be keeping up with the Angels. LF is Vernon Wells and they are going to try and work Trumbo in at 3b. Depending on how healthy Morales is he can play some LF, Trumbo can play some RF and they can all DH. Scioscia like to rest Torii and will probably start doing the same with Wells. Abreu will probably not see that much playing time next year, Morales’ power is from the left side and Trumbo is a power hitting righty so Bobby may just be SOL
A healthy and productive Morales is far superior to Trumbo. The guy posted an OPS of 925 in his last full season. Not that I would expect him to return to form but an OPS in the 825-850 range seems reasonable.
Also, even if Morales is healthy I doubt he will be trotted out there for 162 games. Best plan would be 4 games/week and then let other guys rotate into the spot for a breather. This will keep his price down as he enters FA and hopefully keep him healthy for the playoffs.
Just walk them both. No one else can hit on that team.
Hunter would be behind K-Mo and then Trumbo..Be my guest if you want to walk them..and if Aybar/Howie get on base then you just created a major mess for yourself..
Because he was 5th in MVP voting the last year he was healthy, and was on pace for another 100+rbi and 33+HR season before he mangled his ankle during a WALK-OFF Grand Slam celebration- oh and they are only going to be paying him $3mm… That’s why. Oh and he is the only LH power option the Angels have
I hope he comes back to his former potential. I think he will, and I really would have wanted him on the cheap. I’ll be pulling for him.
Yeah, hopefully. Doesn’t have to be his 2009 version but I’d take anything close. If he raises his value, I say trade him at the 2013 deadline before he hits free agency and Boras starts asking for a ton. No need to trade him now when he’s cheap.
Wish him the best.
Maybe throw in a couple gallons of milk with the 3mm. I’m as out of shape as they come and last I checked jumping up and down never gave me any trouble.
Having said that, hope he regains most of his former self. Angels lineup with a healthy bam-bam is pretty dangerous.
Doesn’t matter how much milk you drink, you come down on someone else’s ankle during a celebration, and you could have just as easily snapped a bone. It’s not nearly as difficult as it may appear to break a bone.
Did he come down on a foot? I didn’t think he did but then again I only saw the replay of it once or twice and both times I just kinda did a >.< number and shook my head.
Cows milk is the worst thing you can drink to make “stronger bones”.. It actually takes away stuff you need and gives you stuff you can’t get rid of.Best way to get those bones healthy is working them out just like muscles..So you actually just harm yourself even more if you drink cows milk.
Seriously? Another lie fed as a child! Just for that I’m eating nothing but sausage and beer for the rest of my life. My funeral is tentatively scheduled for next Thursday.
Not a lie, just a perception most people don’t see clearly. It’s been known all too well that you need regular activity to keep bones strong. Drink all the milk you want, but bones will be weak if you just sit around. People generally get plenty of calcium in their diets, but that’s only one small factor.
Milk actually leeches calcium from your bones and makes you pee all nutrients out, even resulting in bone loss. The more milk you drink, the weaker you will become.
Is Morales healthy enough to handle LF? Even though he was below average when given a shot before emerging at 1B, it would increase his value to teams.
Best thing JeDi was able to do..i love it!
Funny how MLBTR had a poll where the majority of people responded Morales should be traded (to their favorite team?) and yet signing him for under $3M is a “bad idea”.
The Angels need to extend Aybar. Not so sure it’s as important to get Callaspo squared away unless he came cheap. If Trumbo doesn’t work out as third (as all the know-it-all’s seem to predict), I’m thinking a move for Kendrick to third and either Izturis or Segura at second. Not sure Segura is ready tho and Izturis has the reputation of getting hurt often.
Mariners send League to Angels for Morales. Makes sense for both sides, unless Ms are in on Fielder.
+Taijuan Walker,Alex Liddi, Danny Hultzen and Franky Martinez =)