Earlier today, a report indicated that the Orioles' pursuit of switch-hitting, first baseman/designated hitter Kendrys Morales had picked up steam in recent days. Here are the latest rumblings on both Morales and fellow bat-first free agent Nelson Cruz, a right-handed-hitting outfielder. Though each of the reports appears to be consistent with the idea that the two players' fates are intertwined, they differ somewhat as to where things stand:
- The Orioles are talking with both Morales and Cruz, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. A deal with one of the two "could happen soon," Rosenthal adds.
- Baltimore is divided internally as to which is the better target between Morales and Cruz, MASNsports.com's Roch Kubatko tweets. Regardless, says Kubatko, nothing is imminent.
- Both the Orioles and Mariners have Morales above Cruz on their target lists, sources tell Jim Bowden of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The two clubs are both chatting with the two sluggers, according to Bowden.
- Morales and Cruz both declined qualifying offers, meaning that signing clubs will sacrifice a pick to sign them. But both the O's and M's already decided to part with their top, non-protected pick for other signings. So, if Morales and Cruz were to sign with Baltimore and Seattle — regardless of which player signs with which team — the former would give up its second-round choice while the latter would remain neutral. If the Mariners were to sign Morales, they would neither gain nor lose a choice since he turned down their qualifying offer. If they sign Cruz but lose Morales, they would lose each of their two top unprotected picks, which would include the compensation choice otherwise obtained for allowing the latter to walk.
Orioles might also consider signing Drew to play 2B this year and replace JJ Hardy who will be a free agent next year. JJ Hardy could get them a pick if he turns down a QO, or land them something in a trade if the season does not go well.
Isn’t Machado their shortstop of the future?
My guess is that Machado is doing a well enough at 3B that if they sign Drew, Drew will play SS and Manny will stick at 3B
I was just repeating what I saw on MLB network 2 days ago that said the Orioles were going to move him back. In the end they probably don’t know and the Orioles will probably keep him at third since it makes sense.
Probably not after the knee injury, and he is pretty awesome at 3B already.
I’m not against keeping Manny at 3B, but Kendry or Cruz acquisition has nothing to do with Hardy or Machado. It’s to do with protecting Davis and Jones.
I love Manny at 3rd but I was thinking that it is a lot easier to find a solid 3rd baseman compared to a finding a SS so it would probably make sense to move him over to short down the road,
Drew isn’t a bad idea at all.
Even Boras said he would be willing to play a different position.
Plus, I have no reason to believe he can’t make the transition.
It’s just going to be how reasonable the contract will be.
I still would take Cruz over Morales, but if the O’s don’t go that route, then sign Drew and give Lough and Delmon Young a chance to help the O’s cause.
Wow Boras saying something to create more demand for his client, this is a first. Bet he’ll be stating how Chris Davis can be a closer.
This makes no sense. The whole point of picking up a bat is RH power to protect Jones-Davis, not to create depth behind SS or 2B, which the Os already have a ton of (Machado is SS if Hardy leaves. That’s certain).
Has there been a MLBTR poll on Morales vs Cruz? I’m not sure who I’d rather sign.
Yeah, it was roughly 50-50 between the two.
Indeed:
8,690 voted Morales
8,661 voted Cruz
(question posed was “which hitter would you rather sign?”)
Morales. And i’m a Texas fan.
I seem to remember looking at the splits and seeing that it was more worthwhile to go for Cruz, even though Morales is a switch hitter. I could be wrong though.
I hope the Mariners sign at least one of them for that bat to give Cano some insurance
Get both O’s!
they will get at least one. Caring is sharing
Learn to share O’s
they have been open to sharing all offseason now is the time to get greedy
your right. My Mariners have been sitting on there hands doing nothing
The Mariners already have forfeited their top unprotected draft pick by signing Robinson Cano.
In the unlikely event Seattle signs Kendrys Morales, plus Nelson Cruz or Ervin Santana, the M’s will forfeit their second-round pick for Cano and their Competitve Balance Round B pick for Cruz or Santana because the potential Morales compensation pick would never vest (and their first-round pick is protected).
That’s what I said, no? “both the O’s and M’s already decided to part with their top, non-protected pick”
The scenario I gave for Cruz/Morales signing with SEA/BAL was that, assuming one signs with each, it makes no difference to the Mariners: they would neither gain nor lose a pick.
But you are right that, if the Mariners sign Morales and Cruz/Santana, they would give up what is currently the 72nd overall pick in addition to the second-rounder they already gave up. (First round choice is protected.)
I offered my clarification after you wrote: “if they were to sign Cruz but lose Morales, they would sacrifice the compensation choice otherwise obtained for allowing the latter to walk.”
A Seattle signing of Nelson Cruz would never be tied to the M’s compensatory draft pick, which will be tied to Robinson Cano in the event the pick vests with a Kendrys Morales signing elsewhere.
I understand what you’re getting at: if they lose Morales but don’t sign Cruz, they would stand to lose the comp pick instead of the 2nd rounder. I was specifically positing that both of Cruz and Morales sign with one of SEA/BAL, and looking at the overall result. But I made a slight edit to avoid any unintended implications.
what do you think is the best route for the M’s and why do you think that the M’s havent signed anyone yet?
I haven’t really broken that down carefully, but I’d probably agree with others who have said the team already has sufficient defensively-limited power hitters, and would be better off pocketing the pick for losing Morales while looking to improve their outfield defense or rotation.
Like the Mariners need another 1B/DH type.. Still, I think Morales is a better choice for them over Cruz. Sign Morales, trade Smoak and Franklin for a corner outfielder and/or starting pitcher.
How about this deal with the marlins. Franklin and some Lowish (5-15) prospect for Brian flynn (LHP starter that is ready for big leagues) and Marcel Ozuna (RF, CF that may not fit in the marlins plans if marisnick develops his bat soon.)
Franklin for Ozuna straight up might be a match.
seriously? I’d do that trade in a heartbeat!
Nick Franklin and Jake Marisnick match up more closely: born the same month, similar prospect rankings in 2012 and 2013, six years of team control.
They might match better, but the displaced Franklin is the one who has to be playing everyday somewhere, and the onus is on the Mariners to move him, not the Marlins to match the trade. Ozuna isn’t chopped liver either, he’s had success in the bigs already.
Franklin has an option left, so he can go back to AAA.
Hey do you mind explaining the options to me. No one really explained them to me, and Super two status as well if you could.
The depth chart at the Marlins’ MLB.com website lists Jake Marisnick as the fourth outfielder behind Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich and Marcell Ozuna, so apparently Marisnick is “displaced” as well. Perhaps the onus is on the Marlins to make a trade.
His best skill is his defence. He is fast and has a good arm. He just needs to develop his bat a little more. If he could hit at the major level he would be the starting CF instead of Ozuna
I’ll be happy as long as Cruz gets less AAV than he would have received via his QA.
Personally I’d rather give Cruz 1/14 than 3/30. Hes the type of one dimensional player that declines quickly.
what you would give him and what he will take are 2 very different things and I think if you are signing a player and losing a draft pick you need at least 2-3 years out of the player
David Ortiz says hi. No decline in his universe.
Ortiz isn’t a one dimensional player. He may not play defense, but his offensive output is vastly superior to Cruz.
So you have a unique definition of 1 dimensional. Papi hits, that is all he does, and he does it very well, but that is one dimensional in my book
It’s not that unique. There are plenty of different types of offensive players. Papi can hit for average, power, and he can take a walk. Cruz is only appealing as a power hitter.
Both guys are probably regretting not taking their qualifying offers.
I mean even if morales signs say a 3/27 million that is less annually but more guaranteed and you never know what could happen next year
Exactly. Players always trade off AAV for years and total dollars, a concept some fans just can not grasp for reasons I can’t fathom
What if they both signed with the Orioles or Mariners?
The Orioles would lose their second- and third-round draft picks (after forfeiting their first-round pick for Ubaldo Jimenez) while the Mariners, who have a protected first-round pick, would suffer the net loss of their second-round pick and their Competitive Balance Round B draft pick after the second round. The potential sandwich-round compensatory draft pick for Morales would not vest for the Mariners, meaning the signing of Robinson Cano would result in the forfeiture of the second-round pick.
This is really confusing, but thanks for the reply!
I would prefer the M’s sign Morales who has shown he can hit in Safeco and trade Franklin and Smoak for an outfielder or a SP. Put Hart or LoMo at 1B and Morales can be the full time DH. Ackley in left and Saunders in center or right depending on who they would receive from Franklin/Smoak deal.
If they trade for an SP instead of an OF then put LoMo in right while Saunders mans center. Its just a big logjam right now.
Are you purposely forgetting the Mariner’s 40lbs overweight potential first baseman/DH/project? Or have you already relegated him to Tacoma? Don’t get me wrong. I’m trying to forget about him too…
Jack Z has already written him off, saying he has zero expectations for him
Not just Zduriencik. Pretty much the whole staff. But he is still on the roster and showed up to ST camp. And that’s why I mentioned the “/project”
Yeah, I still had some hope for him to rebound in some sort of way but showing up to camp 40lbs over his target weight shows he has lost all motivation.
Wishing the Pirates would sign Drew, Morales, and Cruz (if he’d sign a 1/yr deal) but, sigh that’s never gonna happen. They’d all be perfect fits though, lol.
I read an article that said GMs value high draft picks at about $7M. So, for it to make financial sense for a team to sign one of these guys and lose their first round draft pick, they would have to save at least $7M over the course of the deal. If they value one of these guys at $14M a year, they would have to sign him at $7M on a 1-year deal. But spreading that $7M over the course of 3 seasons makes more sense for the players.
This is why the Mets signing Drew to a 1-year deal, and also why Drew and his agent requesting an opt out after one year doesn’t make any sense. Either they’re going to have to sign with their old team, take a huge pay cut for a one year deal or sign a 2-4 year deal with $7M taken off their market value. That is assuming the team that signs the player still has a non-protected first round draft pick.
High draft picks, meaning 1st round, more like middle 1st round. A 2nd round in the orioles case or 3rd round in the Mets case is worth nowhere near as much.
Players understand they pay for the cost of the pick, and have been doing so for many years now, nothing has changed really except the loss of slot money which I think is overstated. However, teams seem to be using the picks to squeeze more money out of them, and doing so in a collective and concerted fashion, at least for non-elite free agents.
Also, the old team is losing the anticipated compensation pick by signing the player, which is a supplementary pick worth somewhere between a 1st and 2nd rounder, so they won’t be offering much more than a team who stands only to lose a 2nd or later rounder.
Drew actually wants a 3-4 year deal, and at age 31 and only 1 significant injury in his career, an injury that he has shown he has recovered from, the reluctance of teams to give it to him is curious to say the least. He is only proposing the optout because the AAV he is being offered is so much less than his expected market value (far more than 7 million over 3-4 years).