While no agreement is close, Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik tells Jon Heyman of CBS Sports that his team has maintained a dialogue with Kendrys Morales and agent Scott Boras.
While some believe that Mariners ownership isn't happy with Morales and Boras for turning down their $14.1MM qualifying offer earlier in the offseason, Zduriencik says there are no grudges held. "It strictly has to do with where they're at (in negotiations) and where we're at," Zduriencik told Heyman.
Morales has been connected to his former team all offseason, but the most recent report on him prior to tonight's piece from Heyman stated that the Mariners have "little or no" money left to spend on another free agent. Robinson Cano, he of a ten-year, $240MM contract, has gone on record as stating that the he'd like to see his new club sign Morales and Ervin Santana. However, Santana has since agreed to a deal with the Braves. Morales, for the time being, is working out at the Scott Boras Training Institute in Miami as he waits to find a home for the 2014 campaign.
Between LoMo, Hart, and Smoak, where will they play him? It just doesn’t make sense to have four 1B/DH types on the roster.
Don’t forget Jesus Montero, as well!
You’d think a team with 4 1B/DH players would be gushing with offense but Seattle has a really meager lineup aside from Robinson Cano.
Jesus Montero is in the doghouse with the M’s. He will play in AAA this season, barring a ML injury. There he will learn to play 1B. His future is as a Morales-like DH with some 1B capability. The kid can still hit, but needs to learn a new position. Sure seems like the Yankees knew Montero was tight buddies with Biogenesissy’s favorite client Alex Roidriguez when they trade Jesus to Seattle.
And sure seems Mariners knew Pinedas shoulder was shredded. Mariners of course sign Arods buddy for 240 million.
Right, and the Yankees didn’t bother to have him examined or pass a physical to make that trade happen. They just blindly trusted the M’s and sacrificed their sure-bet, great-hitting catching talent who’s gone on to perform brilliantly for the M’s.
Those injuries are hard to diagnose without a benchmark on shoulder strength. MRI’s are not conclusive. Seattle would have noticed changes during 2011 as the season progressed.
They shut him down for a time before the season end as he was losing velocity and getting hit pretty well. His first half was so good it obscured his 2nd half slump. Mariners were concerned about his innings.
I believe Pineda had arm troubles in 2009 although they said at the time it was his elbow, If so we could be looking at TJ surgery in the future as changes in his mechanics to protect the shoulder may affect the elbow, much like the changes he made to protect his elbow likely caused his shoulder problems.
Sure, you want to believe that, but everything you noted is normal with young pitchers pushing their way up. They have pitch and innings limits at every level, and it’s very common to shut down rookie pitchers a little early. The reasoning is to prevent injuries. Showing signs of fatigue at the end of a season isn’t abnormal.
During the 2011 season, they didn’t know they would trade him. Their focus and concern was keeping him healthy and getting the most from him. If they suspected an injury, it would do them no good to ignore it and force him to throw.
There’s zero evidence, or any real reason to think there was anything devious going on (from either team). But I can tell you the M’s and most of their fans hate that trade. If NY wanted to swap back, I don’t think anyone in Seattle would object.
Pretty sure Pineda would have gone into 2012 as the Mariners #2 starter. All 4 players (Montero, Pineda, Noesi, Campos) passed their physicals at the time of the trade.
And Campos just got back from injury and pitched in his first spring training game Wednesday.
Pineda did not have a good 2nd half in 2011. I speculated at the time he was injured. Said he changed his approach to pitch to contact to save wear and tear, but you never do that at his age unless something is bothering you.
He has two good pitches–that’s it. He was real good with those two, which easily explains the hot start. But it’s far more likely hitters were making adjustments accordingly, while he failed to do the same. This is common for young pitchers and hitters.
I never got the impression Cano and A-Rod were good buddies.
Yeah, him Cano and Ortiz are tight. They keep a low profile for obvious reasons. Arod used to have dinner with Ortiz at his home when the Yankees go to Boston. Cano of course is even closer to Ortiz as you can see from the HR Derby. Anyways, more reason for Arod to be close with Cano than Montero who barely spent anytime with the Yankees
I think all the Yankees knew at the time of the trade was that Montero was never going to be an everyday catcher at the major league level. But why would they want to share that opinion with the Mariners?
What makes you think the Yankees shared that opinion with the Mariners? Not saying you’re incorrect. I just never heard that. What I did hear shortly after the trade, was that the trade would not have got done if the Mariners feel Montero couldn’t be a catcher.
But can Hart play 100 games in the OF? Can LoMo play 75 games in the OF? If so, then Morales is your DH and spells Smoak at 1B. LoMo hasn’t proven anything in his career except for a promising 2011. Hart may not be able to play as much as the M’s would like. Hart, also, is only signed for one year. LoMo may not be an everyday player with his legs. A multi-year deal with Morales provides middle-of-the-lineup insurance beyond 2014:
LH Miller (or SH Franklin) SS
LH Seager 3B
LH Cano 2B
SH Morales DH
RH Hart RF
SH Smoak 1B
LH Saunders CF
RH Zunino C
LH Ackley/ LH LoMo LF
This lineup has more depth and assured pop with Kendrys than without him. Boras seems to be the problem here in overvaluing both Drew and Morales.
LH
GonzoBlogger is EXACTLY right! I couldn’t of said it better. At this point, I view Morales as a must!
But if you are worried about too many innings in the outfield couldn’t you have them also start at DH? Morales clogs that up. I wouldn’t be too excited about Morales as the #4 hitter for years to come.
You do realize that this is one of the ugliest defenses imaginable, right? Also, you’re assuming that Hart can manage to play in RF more often than not, which given his surgeries on his knees that wiped out his season last year is awfully optimistic.
With Morales as your full time DH, you take away the opportunity to keep Hart’s bat in the lineup, which may be better than Morales’ if he can return to career norms. LoMo has his own injury issues and plays awful LF. seriously, this defensive configuration makes me want to vomit
So Kendrys, why not sign and ignore Boras !
It makes sense to Jack, because he sees Hart and LoMo as outfield options. It’s not like there was a lesson to be learned from last year’s predictable issues.
Who cares? LoMo has options, Smoak can play first and Hart can go to RF. If Hart can play, he can play RF sometimes. Almonte hasn’t steped up to win the CF job.
Ackley LF
Seager 3B
Cano 2B
Morales DH
Hart RF
Smoak 1B
Miller SS
Zunino C
Saunders CF
Bench
C Buck
RH Romero
RH Bloomquist
LH Morrison can sit here if he doesn’t want to go to Tacoma.
We can go with that.
Is Jack Z so infallible in the eyes of Mariners fans that he can’t do any wrong? Seriously, the team did this last year, and the team was terrible. I could quote myself a few times here from just this thread as to why this is a horrible idea, but that’s just annoying. I mean, sure, you can have that as a lineup, no rules against it. But, is the marginal boost of having Morales permanently DHing worth the sickening defense and wasting money that the team doesn’t have?
Yeah i dont think the ms will sign him back because of LoMo, Hart, and smoak and morales will go to the rangers because the mets wont sign him neither will the buccos so that really is the only team out there that would want morales
They need to trade Smoak and Franklin for a decent center fielder. Desmond Jennings?
What would the Rays do with either considering Loney and Escobar are both better (Zobrist too of you put Franklin at 2B)?
Zobrist can play an outfield corner. But it’s more likely Franklin would stay in AAA for a while. The Rays have 2015 options on Escobar and Zobrist, but this is a team that values depth much like the A’s. They have Kiermaier on his way up who will likely take center from Jennings, so moving Jennings is feasible. At least I hope it is.
I’ve been harping for Jennings for months. But there’s zero reason to think the Rays would want Smoak. Franklin with Almonte might get their attention.
It shouldn’t. I saw Almonte play when he was with the Yankees organization. He’s not that good. He’s a spare part, nothing more.
He was in AA with the Yankees, he’s come a long way since. Check out his line on minorleague central. He figured out how to hit. Still has to tame his throws, but he’s showing some promise. The M’s don’t need another lefty, though.
The Seattle First Basemen / DH’s.
Looks like Ken Rosenthal was right all along when he wrote that column back in December saying the Ms were out of money.
Was that before or after the signed Rodney? I’m not sure money is the #1 factor they haven’t re-signed Morales. It’s the amount he’s asking for as well as current roster construction.
Yeah, that was before Rodney (and Buck, Wolf, and Baker), and also before the Mariners president said they still had financial flexibility. Nothing would piss off fans more than to say you have money to spend and then not spend it. Clearly Rosenthal was grasping. You could even tell from his own article. He built in “out” clauses to his assumption, hinting that this may be a negotiating tactic or they may be playing it close to the chest.
Unless the M’s can trade Smoak (possibly as part of package with Franklin) to fill another need I don’t see anyway Morales can help the team. Any offensive benefit the M’s receive from Morales will be offset by having one the worst OF defenses in the MLB.