DECEMBER 17th, 3:06pm: The Giants announced that the deal is official.
DECEMBER 12th, 9:59am: Morse's base salary is an even $6MM, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.
9:15am: Morse will receive a base salary of roughly $5MM, and his contract contains additional incentives, according to ESPN's Buster Olney (on Twitter).
8:41am: The Giants have agreed to sign Mike Morse, according to Andrew Baggarly of CSN Bay Area (on Twitter). John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that it's a one-year deal for Morse, who will serve as the Giants' left fielder (Twitter link).
Morse, who is represented by ACES, battled significant injuries in 2013 en route to a career-worst .215/.270/.381 batting line with 13 homers between the Mariners and Orioles. His 2010-12 seasons were a different story, however, as Morse posted a gaudy .296/.345/.516 batting line with 64 homers in 1298 plate appearances for the Nationals as a first baseman/outfielder.
The caveat with Morse is that even in his most productive seasons at the plate, he's still a defensively challenged player. Morse has a career UZR/150 of -18.3 in left field, meaning he'll need to return to his 2010-12 form at the plate to provide a significant level of all-around value to the Giants. Morse also has experience at first base, where he's a more passable defender, so the Giants could at least entertain the idea of flipping him and Brandon Belt if Morse's glove is too rough in the outfield.
Morse will join an outfield alignment that will have Hunter Pence starting in right field, Angel Pagan manning center field and Gregor Blanco likely seeing plenty of time as a late-inning replacement for Morse in a fourth outfielder's role.
Earlier today it was reported that the Giants still hoped to add a right-handed swinging outfielder. The Giants were said to be in negotiations with Jeff Baker as recently as yesterday afternoon, but clearly elected to go a different route.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
To play 1B, right? Lol
He’s going to platoon with Brandon Crawford at shortstop and Brandon Belt at first, call it the Brantoon
Shortstop? Doubtful since it’s been over 6 years since he played the position.
I’m bit surprised his market wasn’t bigger. Sure he failed this year, but he should be a low cost alternative to Cruz.
I feel the same. This guy tore it up in Seattle up until he broke his hand/pinky(?). Then they rushed him back cause no one else was stepping up. Playing with an injured hand as a batter doesnt work very well. his numbers fell. Then he injured his leg and was on the DL a few times just trying to come back… struggled, lost playing time… and then was traded. If he’s recovered, he will be a beast again.
he tore it up until the pitching figured him out. steady diet of sliders…pinky injury sounds good though…
Left field? Ouch. I know SF was looking for a RH platoon type for LF but in that park with that wind, yikes.
LF is the easiest outfield position to field at AT&T. Aubrey Huff and Pat Burrell were able to play decent defense in LF, so Mike Morse should be ok. He can’t be worse than Tanaka or Torres.
I’m not sure what you mean by decent.
Huff played very little in the outfield but in 2011 he was NEGATIVE 75.2 runs in UZR/150. In 2012 he improved all the way up to NEGATIVE 13.4.
Burrell had one positive season while his last season he posted a negative 21.1 runs in UZR/150.
On the balance, neither played enough OF to really understand just how bad they were. However, it would be a stretch to consider his performance decent.
As for Morse – he is awful. To this point in his career he has averaged negative 18 runs in UZR/150 in the outfield. It’s not like he’s the type of player who is suddenly going to get better.
Morse is a DH. He should not be allowed to go into the outfield or really anywhere on the field.
Those are great stats, but the fact is, Left Field in AT&T is about as cake as any field can get. It’s a straight wall, not particularly deep with little foul ground. This isn’t Candlestick, the winds blow, but nothing like they used to.
Morse will be a RH platoon partner for Blanco. He will sit in close games as they get late. The metrics will look bad because he is a bad fielder, but the Giants have shown that it’s a deficiency they can play around.
Bochy says Morse is playing every day. But he’ll come out of the game when they’re up, just like Burrell did.
As “cake as any field can get” is still not easy enough for Morse to perform sufficiently in the outfield. You will enjoy his adventures, especially his random paths to the ball, that we all witnessed at Safeco. I love Morse as a person; he’s an awesome guy with a great attitude but he can’t field worth a damn.
he will be fine he’s a major league baseball player! he might be slow and he might not get to every ball but he’s going to at least make the routine plays. Great move for the giants! his bat in the middle of that order will make a big offensive improvement for the team compared to last year
I agree that Morse is a terrible, terrible fielder, but please don’t use UZR/150 to extrapolate partial season samples. Only use it to slice and compare larger samples. If a players is -1 UZR in one inning, that’s a UZR/150 of worse than -1000! Unfortunately, it’s also complete gibberish and not the least bit reflective of a player’s talent level. Samples of 100 or 200 or 600 innings aren’t much better.
Using single-season UZR samples isn’t much better in evaluating talent level. Ideally, you want 3 full season’s worth of data before you start saying with confidence what a player’s defensive value is.
Suffice to say though, for his career Burrell was a far, far, far better defender than Morse, about a win per season despite being noticeably below average overall. Morse is that bad.
Not only is LF the easiest OF position at AT&T, LF at AT&T is one of the easiest OF positions in baseball.
And AT&T doesn’t really have a gusty wind problem. It seems John Kreese thinks the Giants still play at the Stick.
i almost choked to death when you said huff played a decent left field. maybe not as bad as 2nd base, but he was awful out there. sitting in the left field stands when he was out there was absolutely painful.
He for sure wasn’t great, but he was decent IMO. He made no big mistakes and fielded what he could field in LF in 2010 (btw it was only 40 games or something). Don’t know what made him awful in LF.
really, sitting watching him chase the ball around was wrenching. especially after watching blanco’s great catches last couple of years. hey, i liked huff. he did great at 1st, but from my observation ” only “, i cringed whenever the ball came out to left, and it wasn’t just an easy pop up. again, i liked huff, really did.
Do you really talk about 2010 or 2011? I have a different memory of 2010 to be honest. The few games he played at LF in 2011 weren’t nice to watch, but I have nothing in mind of 2010 which I would call bad.
2011….a very bad year all around. i never sat out in left field in 2010, so wasn’t up close and personal with him then. i don’t even remember him playing OF in 2010. burrell was left field. i thought huff, ross, burrell came around the same time in 2010, and huff just played first. the torture games. 2010 was fun….2012 even better. 2010 was our first, with ” misfits and cast offs “, how great was that ? just don’t remember huff in LF in 2010. that was burrell’s baliwick. huff played 1st pretty well, no gripes at 1st.
Huff played 46 (24 of them from the start) games in LF in 2010. 😉 Burrell came around midseason. Was a great year with a great story indeed.
i’m surprised he played that much OF in 2010, but good for huff. i ran across this on another baseball sight, and it was so funny i thought i’d share it with you. it is now on youtube under 2012/0/29 morse awarded grand slam. it was a game when he was a national playing in busch stadium. about 4 minutes long. one of those things you see at games that are so wonderful, it makes you love the game even more. the 2nd time he is at home plate is laugh out loud. he runs like a big catcher….not fast ! hope you watch it and enjoy it, and lets make it 3 in 5 years !! have a great holiday !
09 was the day…
Nice, thanks for sharing. 😀
But he probably can hit with power and LF isn’t that rough to play in, if he can return back to his form when he was a National.
Glad to see Mikey found a home for next season, though I am surprised that it’s in the outfield.
nice move for the gigantes.
Very nice move. He will bounce back hugeee here in the Bay. We could have used Morse
Curious how Giants fan feels about this. What kind of production do they expect? Closer to 2013 or 2011?
injured in 2013, so i’ll settle for somewhere in between the two..
He’s always injured though. 2011 is quite literally the only season he didn’t suffer an injury that caused him to miss significant time. I love the big guy bit you’ll be lucky to get 110-120 games out of him if he’s actually going to be playing everyday.
Something in the middle. .250/.320/.420.
At least they did something. Not the best option out there IMO, but let’s call it decent. He has power. Got to stay healthy and find back on track.
That offense with a defense rating of -15 runs gives you a negative WAR player.
Here’s where the Giants can do something about it. He won’t play past the 7th inning with Blanco and Perez ready to go do what they do. Which is be +10 runs easy.
Don’t like the defense at all. It does give legitimate power off the bench on his days off though.
He won’t come from the bench. He will play LF regularly. Mark my words.
B. Evans already said he would be the everyday starter.. but look for the return of the platoon if he struggles
Yeah if he struggles of course. But I hope he doesn’t. 😀
fingers crossed. Just half of what he produced in 2011 would make me giddy with excitement
Well, the biggest problem for that might be his health. High of 146 games played, then 102 and 98. And the whole “how’s that wrist” question. Hopefully he’s not going to the same clinic as DeRosa on that one.
And there it is… Promised him everyday LF to get him to sign. Oh dear.
I wish we could have some more updates on how he is recovering from his October surgery. I’m not sold on it, but then again I won’t be sold on anybody until after they actually play @ A&T. I’m surprised BS would consider any type of defensive liability like him.
Mike Morse is terrible. It’s a waste of money.
Mike Morse is terrible. It’s a waste of money.
Kind of glad the Astros didn’t sign him. That would have reminded me of the Peña signing last winter. If they’re going to add a bat and block a kid, it should be a more reliable one.
CF – Pagan
2B – Scutaro
1B – Belt
C – Posey
RF – Pence
3B – Sandoval
LF – Morse
SS – Crawford
Pitcher
Doesn’t look too bad as long as Posey and Morse find back on track. Power from 3 to 7.
Pagan
Scutaro
Pablo
Posey
Pence
Morse
Belt
Craw
Belt still hasn’t proven anything. Not sure why he’d hit third, not exactly a power hitter.
He will bat third and in only 2 months he has shown why. Brandon Belt had an ISO of .193 last season. Not sure why he shouldn’t be a power hitter. If he wouldn’t play in AT&T which puts LHH at a disadvantage he would hit 25 bombs every year with ease. Many of his doubles at AT&T would have easily been homeruns in other stadiums. Maybe McCutchen or Votto aren’t power hitters, too. Since they got an ISO of .190 respectively .186 last year.
9 HR / .225
7 HR / .275
17 HR / .289
Belt has had a nice progression with his average, but also needed an ungodly hot streak over the last month or so to get to .289. I’m sorry, he is not a 25 home run guy anywhere, except maybe New York in a career year. He’s gonna hit about .270 with 15 bombs. That’s fine, because he is nice with the leather, but let’s not pretend he’s some kind of offensive force.
Sabermetrics people are so frustrating. Trust your eyes!
(it is kind of fun when they’re wrong…”but…but…my calculations said that’s not right!) Also, sabermetrics can’t account for clutch, and Belt is definitely not that.
Those who brush off metrics because they don’t understand them are also frustrating
Considering I have a degree in applied mathematics, I’d say I have a decent grasp of simple formulas. I just don’t believe that sabermetric formulas are accurate, or reflective of a player’s ability or value.
Yeah I know why: Because when you don’t like a player they don’t tell what you thought you had seen. When you see someone you don’t like and he has an ugly AB this 1 AB covers 10 good ABs and so you can keep on hating that guy because you don’t see the numbers. That’s why they aren’t accurate, right?
And he definately is more clutch than you think. You only see what you want to see, right? Brandon Belt had the 28th best clutch rating last year according to fangraphs in the whole MLB. With RISP his tOPS+ was 125 and his sOPS+ even 159. But yeah, he isn’t clutch…for sure.
Nah it’s not trust your eyes only. Because they trick you, numbers don’t.
You don’t need to understand advanced sabermetrics to see that Belt is a valuable player. He’s 25 years old, hit 17 HRS in his first truly full MLB season, and had a .360 on base percentage. Sabermatricians and baseball card stat guys agree, Belt is one of the most promising 1B in the game.
Actually, Fangraphs has a “Clutch” statistic which measures how much more a player has tended to raise their performance in high-leverage at-bats vs. low-leverage ones. Brandon Belt’s career tally in that stat is +2.24 which is actually considered excellent.
But your eyes don’t tell you that so it must be wrong, right?
(I bring this up to point out that many of things anti-saber people assume simply can’t be quantified, can. FanGraphs and others will tell you that while the clutch statistic describes what happened in the past, research shows it doesn’t have much predictive power.)
Ah and that’s why Belt’s SLG was .448 at home last year along .516 on the road, right?
Robinson Cano had an overall SLG of .516 last year. Only to tell you what you are talking about.
Ah and only one thing to add: albeit his abysmal funk through midseason he got the 6th best wRC+ of all MLB 1B over the whole season. He was better than guys like Napoli, Fielder, AGon, Morneau, LaRoche and so on. But yeah, he isn’t an offensive force and will never be. Because Christopher Roland said so.
WOW, Belt is as good as Robinson Cano! Man, what a hitter!! Better lock him up ASAP!
Yep, because that’s exactly what everyone here was saying about Belt. Sigh…
His 4.0 OWAR would certainly suggest otherwise. That was good as 37th MLB-wide… let’s not pretend you’re some baseball guru.
I disagree. It wasn’t a hot streak, it was mechanical. Once BamBam got him to try lining up his knuckles on the bat, that made the difference. His power & production changed.
Throw out allof his numbers before the change in his setup at the plate. Giants have a new Belt.
And I like sabermetrics, but it didn’t explain that the jump in his numbers were mechanical & mental. I saw it with my eyeballs and heard about it in my ears from BamBam, Kuiper, Krukow, Baggerly and Belt himself.
not so much a hot streak as finally accepting and making the changes pushed by BamBam and Bochy. Call it knuckles if you want, but his swing and approach greatly improved after he sat during the PHI series. Look for that more consistent swing to return in 2014, and the numbers to improve. You’ll see another 290+ season from him, with 20+ HRs
Belt was the number one offensive force on the Giants last year based on slugging and the ability to get on base. It is measured by OPS. He led both Pence and Posey. Belt is most unappreciated Giant payer. If any Giants player makes gold glove status in 2014, I predict it will be him. We have not had one since about 2005.
I agree with Belt hitting third. The dude has always drawn walks and now he’s hitting for power.
I also agree that he’d hit 25+ in a hitter friendly park. He was sixth in the NL in 2B’s last year (with 39). So, it’s pretty easy to think that 8 of those doubles would have been bombs in other parks.
Solid lineup. Solid post. Solid numbers to back up your argument.
Typically the teams best overall hitter (and the one that would be considered the team’s MVP) hits 3rd. Seldom they hit 4th. No way is Belt a #3 hitter on this or any other team. Posey won the LEAGUE MVP two years ago and should hit 3rd. Also you just can’t say “Belt should this. Belt should that” and plug him in at #3. He strikes out way too much to be a #3 hitter (125 times last year!!) and his OBA was a below .360 for a #3 hitter. Compare that to Posey’s .408 OBA wih 96K two years ago, or is .370 OBA with 70K last year. Having Belt hit 3rd would be a titanic mistake for the Giants as Posey would be coming to bat with no one on base after Belt swung at yet again a ball in the dirt stranding runners at the corners the inning before. Even if Posey was not on this team I’d still pick Pence or Sandoval to hit 3rd over Belt. Best hits best when he hits lower in the order where his K’s do potentially less damage.
Predicting the future of a 25 year old based on his past (nice, right?) is really interesting. Never thought about him being able to improve even more, right? When you expect Belt to keep on K-ing as much as he did in the past, then why don’t you expect Posey to keep on being unable to hit any homeruns like he exactly did in the 2nd half of 2013? To be honest I don’t get that.
We’ll talk after the end of the 2014 season.
Belt doesn’t swing wildly at pitches in the dirt. You must be confusing him with Brett Pill. A bunch of Belt’s K’s were looking at borderline pitches.
It’s actually better for Posey to bat 4th than third. The third spot in the order bats with two outs and the bases empty most often. Teams have traditionally batted their best guy third, but they were also wrong. We know better now.
Belt is a hitter with above-average on-base skills, good power, and is an average runner at worst. He’s a great fit to bat in front of Posey.
For the Giants in 2013, Belt was 3rd in AVG, 2nd in OBP, and 1st in OPS. Why would you want that guy batting low in the order?
Easiest reason is because Bochy recently said he liked the Belt-Posey-Pence-Sandoval combo in the lineup and will most likely start the season with it.
I like Belt batting third. His #1 strength is his batting eye. When he’s able to be picky, where working a walk isn’t a detriment, he’s comfortable at the plate, allowing his power to emerge.
With his on-base ability ahead of Posey you give Posey more RBI chances. Guys like Pence and Pablo make more sense behind Belt and Posey as they are either getting you the hit or making the out.
Batting Belt lower in the lineup is setting the table for Crawford or the pitcher’s spot, which really is pointless.
This is a really underrated point. Whatever people think of Belt’s power, his patience and on-base skills are far and away his best asset. Getting a free pass to first in front of Blanco/Crawford/pitcher isn’t going to get you much. Rather than asking Belt to be a different hitter than he is, bat him in a place where his talents are best utilized.
This is a really underrated point. Whatever people think of Belt’s power, his patience and on-base skills are far and away his best asset. Getting a free pass to first in front of Blanco/Crawford/pitcher isn’t going to get you much. Rather than asking Belt to be a different hitter than he is, bat him in a place where his talents are best utilized.
Brandon Belt has proven more than enough. Some fans are just incapable of understanding it.
He’s apparently proven all he needs to Bochy, who said recently that he’s expecting to start out with Belt/Posey/Pence/Sandoval as the 3-6 hitters.
not really a fan of morse batting that low…guess that’s how it will be though
Yeah, the last part of your post shows what I thought of when I wrote that down. I would put the lineup a little bit different but I tried to be Bochy-like. ^^
when he barely even played in baltimore he batted that low, and in seattle he was playing in RF..i think he’s definitely more comfortable in LF
How about
Pagan
Belt
Posey
Sandoval
Pence
Morse
Scutaro
Crawford
or (vs RHP)
Pagan
Scutaro
Sandoval
Posey
Belt
Pence
Morse
Crawford
(vs LHP)
Pagan
Scutaro
Posey
Pence
Sandoval
Morse
Belt
Crawford
Bochy already stated that he likes Belt at the 3rd spot and therefore I guess he will stick to that lineup placement most times. But Bochy also stated that he could switch the spots around vs. LHP, especially since Morse is a righthander. I think that the lineup vs. RHP will look like I stated above but against LHP it indeed could like your suggestion.
Bochy says a lot of things 🙂 Realistically, we’ll see many different lineups next year. I hope they still go after Jeff Baker as a utility guy.
Exactly the same lineup i would go with! its a great solid lineup and should put up quite a few runs for a great pitching staff
I expect he will be very similar to the type of player Pat Burrell was for the Giants, and I’ll take that all day. As long as Bochy doesn’t insist on playing Blanco against every RHP I like this move.
From what it sounds like, Bochy plans to use Morse as an everyday player, rather than be in a platoon.
The way they shade Pence over towards center in right (and he can cover ground), pagan can shade slightly to left to compensate Morse if it gets that bad. I think it’s a good sign.. RH hitters have never had much trouble putting the ball out to left at ATT.. it’s LH power that usually is dampened. He should fit in nicely.
The Pence shade is only at home. They do it so the CF can cover triples alley. Morse will have to cover LF, but that’s not a huge deal at AT&T.
As long as he’s healthy he is an upgrade. Even if he doesn’t get back to his .280 career line, I’d take .270 with 25 bombs
At $5MM this was a great move.
Not bad for 5M. Well worth the gamble.
Wow, lot’s of Belt apologists on here.
289/360/481 and a 142 OPS+, for the minimum. Nothing to apologize for.
Minimum? That was a career year for him, and he needed an incredible month long hot streak to get there.
He’s a .270 / 15 HR guy, that’s all.
He was bad in Mar/Apr and in July. The rest of the season was at least decent. He got an wRC+ of 146 in May, 124 in June, 196 in August and and 161 in Sept/Oct. Although the finish was really strong he still was more than solid in May and June. But like I said: you don’t WANT to see that so you WON’T see that. This guy is still 25 years old and you act like he would be 30 and had already 6 seasons with .270/15 HR on his back. But I bet that you arent interested in wRC+, because this stat is too advanced to tell something about a player, right? 😀
Belt had some unfortunate timing of stomach flu last season, which at least somewhat justifies his slow start.
Yeah, sabermetrics can’t explain that now can they??
I would contend that 4.4 WAR (4.0 OWAR) is more than “decent.”
We all know that this numbers don’t count…TRUST YOUR EYES. ^^
Sabermetrics are the invention of Satan himself. True story.
Minimum, as in league minimum salary sir. Yep, guys always have career years at age 25.
Minimum MLB salary. Belt is 25 years young, he just passed 2K pro PAs because he was rushed up, and he’s just getting started. All credit to the Giants draft and development, especially Doug Mapson.
Everybody, shut it down. Belt is a .270 / 15 HR guy, nothing more, because this guy says so.
Because no player at 25-years-old EVER gets better…. ever.
I guess Belt should retire, shouldn’t he? 😉
hard to call it a career year when dude is only 25
Yes, a lot of people defend the team’s second best hitter. Crazy.
Love his ability to hit, but man, watching him in the the field last year was dreadful. Maybe he gets a bit better, I guess we will see.
Oh, if you are used to see Torres or Tanaka in LF regularly, Morse can’t do much worse. 😀
he’s at least better than Frenchy
Good signing for the Giants. Morse is a force if he can stay healthy. It’s a big “If” though
Solid pickup by the Giants interested to see what he can do in that park, loved him with the nats
At least SF has a smaller LF than Washington, Morse might not look so lost.
Damn. I wish my favorite team had signed him.
Nice to see the Giants get a power bat but the whole starting in LF thing isn’t great and I don’t love a new reason to not play Brandon Belt at 1B consistently.
Morse in Houston would have been lethal, nonetheless, welcome to San Fran.
@Giant_Beast
Move Morse to 1B, trade Belt, Crick, and Hembree to the Rays for David Price? Thoughts?
No. Never. Why?
I’m thinking along the lines of having another premium lefty. He would definitely be an improvement than Vogelsong, who can be used as a long-innings guy/insurance pitcher.
The obvious hang-up would be Kyle Crick. I doubt Sabean wants to move him, especially after being burned on Wheeler.
I doubt it would happen, but if we were to pursue Price, I can’t see a deal being made without Crick or without a 1B.
I really wish BS would re-sign Jerome Williams to be that Long Man/6th SP/Vogelsong Insurance guy.
But then again, I’ve certainly had better ideas 😉
I’ve just always liked David Price, and would love to see him in SF.
Oh I would love him playing for the Giants, too. No doubt. But not for this price. Oh what a play on words. ^^
What would be a possible offer the Giants could give that would get Price and not kill our farm? Or is there a possible offer?
Don’t think that. The problem is that we don’t have any premier batters in the farm and I guess that all of the pitchers are in the plans for the future. When you look at the contracts of Lincecum, Vogelsong and Hudson, I guess that the Giants gave them those contracts based on when the respective contract ends, the young arms are MLB ready and take their places.
I figured that’s what the plan was. I would like to see another lefty in the mix, though. Obviously Bumgarner is going to continue to be outstanding… but I’d like to see one more LHP in the mix. I’m not sure if Kickham can be that guy.
Here’s your LHP starter: Edwin Escobar. Already was in AA last year. And he pitched very well.
Edwin Escobar is that guy…at least for this year.
It doesn’t exist.
I’m not cool with depleting the farm system for 2 years of Price, And I LOVE DP.
I love how outspoken he is, especially when he reveals he wouldn’t sign an extension with SEA if he gets traded there, and won’t take the Yankees $ in free agency because “He’s not down with their old school rules”.
That might be interesting IF Sandoval comes into camp in shape and they can work out an extension with Price before the trade. Otherwise, they can’t afford to give up Belt’s offense and they don’t want a rental.
Yeah, throw in Longoria and that will be just fine.
First off right now as it stands, Crick is untouchable, he’s also the force in the rotation if not mistaken a few years away, would be stupid to trade him.
Morse is a DH at this point in his career. Since he’ll be playing the field almost daily, expect him to be hurt and miss time, or play through it and hit like garbage.
Nice pickup for the Giants. He was a beast in the NL, could add a lot to their lineup if he returns to his Nationals form
I cannot understand why, in a league without a designated hitter, some fool would give Michael Morse $6 million.
He may be a great guy, and I wish him well, but he was useless for the Orioles, and it is doubtful he will be anything better than worthless.
So you’re declaring him worthless based on the 29 total ABs he had for the Orioles last year?
Well, we knew his defense was worthless. That is not part of the debate. And he’s going to the National League, where there is no designated hitter, so right there, the acquisition makes no sense.
But, yes, I am calling him worthless based on the fact that he is a one-dimensional player, and that single dimension was terrible last year.
But I wish him well, and no hard feelings… Well, maybe a few…
If he can put up what he did when he was a Nationals he’ll be good either way the Giants needed a LF with Power & he brings both regardless if he’s bad or what not, its a steal if you ask me.
If Morse can stay healthy, it could be a nice pickup for the Giants.
Good move for the price and years (year?). Not quite a fan of Morse as the everyday LF, but I expect Bochy to pull him for a defensive sub late in games a la Pat Burrell 2010.
Great comparison with Pat Burrell… I was thinking the same thing.
Awful signing for any NL team, let alone a spacious park like AT&T. Morse posted his worst defensive metrics last year and was 12 runs below average (-11.9 UZR) in only 88 games! Considering his skyrocketing K rate (25.8%) and documented injury woes, the Giants just payed 6+ mil for a likely negative WAR player.
If he’s healthy he won’t put up negative WAR numbers. And besides that it’s only a one year deal. Don’t know why some guys act like that. There were contracts signed over the past few weeks which were way worse than that one.
That’s a big IF there wudlaner. He’s had major DL stints in three of the last four seasons. I just don’t think a poor fielding, oft injured DH candidate is worth the risk for a NL team with a spacious home-park.
I agree the Giants minimized the financial risk with a 1 year deal, but he shouldn’t have been signed in the first place.
The problem is that the Giants need power. There aren’t many options out there. Especially proven ones (although he was injured often lately) and guys who would be willing to sign for not much money and a short amount of time. It’s only one year. What do the Giants have to lose with Michael Morse? 6 mio. $, that’s all. If he doesn’t fit or will be injured he will be replaced next year. Giants don’t have any prospects that could be dealt without missing them too much. So what to do? Nothing? Not even trying? It’s a typical low risk attempt. Can’t lose much, but could play out significantly.
I’m not a SF fan so I don’t have the right to be too opinionated, but breaking camp with Morse only means he’ll be that much pricier to replace as the season develops and sellers gain leverage.
Hopefully he hits 20+ bombs, stays healthy for 120+ games and is worth 15 million. But equally if not more likely is 6 million in the drain and a poorer climate to find a replacement.
The Giants DO need power, but that being the case, they should be out signing POWER. Not signing a stop-gap that might do something kinda good if all the planets align. On paper, it’s a good signing, if you’re only basis of judgment is the risk factor. But ultimately, all this means is that they’ll be right back here, next year, looking for another outfielder.
Where are they going to get POWER that wants to be at AT&T?
They aren’t. But they also aren’t solving their power problems by getting Morse. How does Morse fit into that lineup? The only open spots are 2,7, or 8. And he’s not a #2 hitter, so that leaves 7 and 8.
I think their offseason efforts could have been better spent looking for another #2 hitter, then sliding Scutaro down to #8, with Crawford at #7.
Choo fit perfectly, but that contract was atrocious. Gardner would have fit nicely and for that matter, Ichiro would have fit nicely, as well, but I dont know who would have been traded to make that work (most likely Hector Sanchez +)
So really, is this what the Giants need? A #7-8 hitter with negative defense?
Oh, I don’t think that this is the solution at all. But I also don’t think that a lack of power is the Giants’ biggest problem. I’m a lot more concerned about the rotation because this team in this part is about stellar pitching, solid defense, and timely hitting. The “solid defense” part is what scares me about Morse.
Besides, Scutaro will always hit second, because apparently, Bochy’s version of the rulebook states that second basemen must bat second.
I dont think that the lack of power is their biggest problem either. I just think that if they go looking for power, then they should buy legit power. Don’t waste a valuable OF spot on a question mark. And right now, Morse is a question mark.
As a lefthander Choo wouldn’t have fit perfectly. Lefthanders are at a major disadvantage in AT&T. It’s a fact, these aren’t things made up. And Choo is already over 30 years old and for sure wouldn’t have come as cheap as Morse.
Right now there are currently still unsigned:
– Cruz (won’t come to SF for sure and is already 33, then there was this clinic)
– Choo (lefthander, won’t come cheap and for a short contract)
– Morales (can’t play OF adequately and won’t come as cheap)
And that’s it basically as long as you don’t see (which is my opinion) guys like Franklin Gutierrez, Ibanez, Jeff Baker or Delmon Young as viable options.
You act like there would be a ton of options out there. But in fact there aren’t even many.
Lefties are at a disadvantage for HR’s. That’s not saying he wouldn’t hit any HR’s at home, but it would handicap him for sure.
Choo fits perfectly because he has enough power to get the ball to the wall and he has enough speed to turn those hits into triples and doubles.
Morse either muscles it out or strikes out trying. Which is just about the opposite of what SF is looking for.
They were looking for someone with power who can hit some homeruns and not a doubles machine. They hit so few homeruns it nearly was a shame. And doubles aren’t homeruns. At least I was thinking so.
You’re absolutely right. The only thing the Giants lacked last year was a whopping 18 HR’s. Good thing they paid 5 Mil for 18 HR’s and fixed the problem.
Just curious, considering the current market, payroll, circumstances, etc., I ‘d like to know who the top 3 options you would have preferred over what Sabean did and why.
AT&T LF isn’t spacious. It’s generally considered one of the easiest OF positions to play.
It’s worth noting that LF at AT&T park is among the easiest OF positions to play.
I don’t know very much about the giants, but why don’t they have faith in Brandon belt?. for the few games I seen he is a good 1st basemen.
we do have faith in Brandon Belt
he’s good in the field, but goes through some torturous slumps
plenty of faith in him now that he’s improved his mechanics. he’s a solid 1B as well.
At the very least we will lead the league in odd pre-at-bat rituals….:-) Good move really. With Pence shading the RF gap Pagan can shade over toward LF a step or 2 to help Morse. If healthy, and that’s a big if, Morse should be a considerable upgrade to the offense. Plus, it puts Blanco back in the role he’s very good at….4th OF/late inning defensive replacement/PH off the bench with speed.
I like this signing. I was wincing at some of the other rumored low cost signings that were floating around there. Morse is a solid player to take a flyer on for 1 year.
I thought for sure he was going to the Astro’s. Good for him though.
“There are lies, damned lies and statistics.”
“Facts are stubborn things, but statistics are pliable.”
“Statistics never helped any ballclub” -RAJr
World Champions 2014!!!
Riggggghhhhttttt! Don’t think so.
Riggggghhhhttttt! Don’t think so.
I guess there’s no such thing as a bad 1 year deal, but I don’t feel like this really solves the LF problem. With a guy like him, you would need some depth for defensive replacements/days off and the Giants still don’t have that at all unless you are a fan of the Perez/Kieschnick platoon. Just don’t think this is enough to beat the Dodgers, sadly.
Out of 19 games against LAD (if I didn’t miscount something) the Giants won 11 and the Dodgers 8. I don’t expect the Dodgers to put up another a run like that one that started with June 22. And I don’t expect the Giants to play constantly such poor baseball like they did in major stretches last season. Chill.
I definitely don’t see the Dodgers running away with the division. Giants are unquestionably competitive in it. The Diamondbacks may be as well.
Good luck with that.
Good luck with that.
The Giants have a history of picking players up off the scrap heap and coaching them into serviceable players, especially in the outfield. I trust Bochy and the coaching staff to have him ready to handle LF in AT&T by the time the season begins. IF he stays healthy, this will be a steal. If not, a bust….but time will tell.
At this point, i dont get why we are worried about Morses defense. We all as Giants fans have been asking for a “power” bat, now we got one. MOST hitters don’t tend to be the greatest of defenders, unless we are talking superstars. Morse will fit so freakin well in our line up and im excited for the things he can do. I’m not expecting another 2011 type season from him, but if he is anywhere near those numbers, hes a steal for $6 mill
SF has the reputation of being a very pitcher friendly park (which it is) but this is because of the climate and the high outfield walls. LF in SF is actually quite small, much smaller than it is in Washington. Morse should be able to handle LF.
Pagan
Scutaro
Belt
Posey
Sandoval
Pence
Morse
Crawford
Is very solid
That is a Solid 8. But we need Depth. Pagan Scutaro Sandoval have been hurt all last season. And Morse hasn’t played a full season either. Need some Depth in Minors to help us in 2014.
Okay I see everyone putting Morse in the 7 hole in the lineup which does not make sense to me. Follow me here for a minute… I would like Morse in the middle with that power rather than 7 as he would have Crawford hitting behind him which is not much of a threat and then the pitcher to follow. Why not put Sandavol in the 7 hole as he can hit almost any pitch in or out of the strike zone. How about this:
1. Pagan
2. Scutaro (here because his bat control is sick and Bochy loves the hit and run with Pagan)
3. Belt (he deserves it after the last month of the season and started thriving there)
4. Morse (should also help Belt see better pitches)
5. Posey (will definitely help Morse see better pitches)
6. Pence
7. Sandoval (let him hit balls and strikes as pitchers will try and get around him to pitch to Crawford)
8. Crawford
9. Lincecum ( I put him here instead of just writing pitchers spot because it always cracks me up to see him in the batters box!!!!)
Thoughts?
Bochy isn’t going to stack three right handed hitters in a row unless we’re facing a left handed pitcher.
Ah no. Morse will bat 6 or 7. The Belt/Posey 3/4 isn’t going to change.
He looks like he just saved the world in that picture
It’s more likely he just struck out or dropped a fly ball.
Fangraphs has a great article picking apart the signing in detail.
He’s a poor defender. That’s pretty much saving anyone time who hasn’t read it.
Overpay much?
No
That’s what Baltimore thought too..
Who will the roster casualty be? I’m putting money on Brett Pill or George Kontos.
They were interested in Jeff Baker once..I would take Morse over Baker any day, to be honest.
Sick of these cheap moves. Want hits there is Choo, homeruns there is Cruz.
just accidently ran into this after one year, and HATE that morse will be off somewhere else next year. loved watching him play. he could be so joyful !