Athletics slugger Brandon Moss has been playing through a hip injury that will require surgery (possibly a microfracture procedure) in the offseason, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. An MRI revealed so much torn cartilage in Moss’ right hip that he’s struggling with bone-on-bone issues in the joint. Moss tells Slusser that he received a cortisone shot which should help him for the rest of the season and through the playoffs, but surgery is the only way to truly fix the issue. Though the injury has plagued him for much of the season, Moss said he didn’t blame his struggles on his hip.
More on those struggles and more from the AL West below…
- Fangraphs’ Eno Sarris had an excellent conversation with Moss about that slump in the A’s clubhouse recently (note that the conversation does feature some expletives). Moss says he places virtually no stock in batting average, as it is luck-driven and doesn’t adjust for defensive shifts. He spoke candidly about holes in his swing — pitches he knows he cannot reach and has to fight to lay off — as well as his batted ball profile, the reasoning behind his stance and the importance of prepping for his at-bats with video work. “…as a power hitter that doesn’t have a high average, I know I have to make my swings count,” said Moss, who also discussed how playing first base, the outfield and DH each affect his approach differently. Moss also touched on his time in previous organizations, noting that the Phillies didn’t feel he could consistently hit a Major League fastball — a notion at which he now laughs, as fastballs are far and away his best pitch.
- Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux is hopeful that he will receive an interview for the team’s managerial vacancy, and GM Jon Daniels expects to sit down with him at season’s end, writes MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan. Even if Maddux isn’t hired (or even interviewed), he’s expected to return to the club as a pitching cocah in 2015, a club official tells Sullivan, and he’s “certain” to return if interim manager Tim Bogar gets the job. Maddux’s contract is up after the current season.
- Kendrys Morales has interest in bypassing free agency to sign a new deal with the Mariners, writes Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune. However, the caveat is that he’d like a multi-year deal, which would obviously give the team pause. Morales, who sat out through the June draft this season to avoid being stuck with another qualifying offer, has batted just .217/.266/.330 between Seattle and Minnesota. Some of those struggles, of course, are likely due to the long layoff between Major League appearances. Morales did enter 2014 as a lifetime .280/.333/.480 hitter, making the extreme drop-off in his production rather surprising. One rival exec whose team is in need of a run-producing bat expressed concern over a multi-year deal for Morales when asked by Dutton, though he did concede that there’s upside to the idea: “He’s a big risk. I doubt he gets more than two (years) after the year he’s had. But if he bounces back, a year from now we could all be talking about what a steal he was.”
Moss said he didn’t blame his struggles on his hip…. Yeah, but that has to hurt… a lot.
As for this: Morales has interest in bypassing free agency to sign a new deal with the Mariners… Oh sure .217… he isn’t asking for much.
And a hip injury is going to sap your power, which for a fly-ball hitter is going to be terrible.
Give Morales a 1 year deal 6mm with 2 option years that are heavily incentive maybe that will get it done, but they would only be on the hook for 6 if it does not work out..
Morales should be lucky to get a ST invite on a minor league deal the way he’s playing.
Morales’ dropoff isn’t surprising at all, he didn’t play with or even train with a team until The end of June. Taking some BP at a juco or fielding ground balls in a park isn’t going to ready you for MLB action…
Some dropoff is expected, of course, but for him to drop to the point where he’s the eighth-worst hitter in baseball (min. 350 PA) by wRC+ is pretty shocking, given his track record. I don’t think even the harshest critics of his original contract would’ve expected a performance this poor. That’s a 45-point drop from his career mark and 52 from his 2012-13 performance.
Don’t we have to take his career mark with a grain of salt? That mark is heavily influenced by his spectacular age-26 season in 2009. He basically lost what should have been the best two seasons of his career to the freak ankle injury, came back rusty at age 29, and then spent most of his age-30 and 31 seasons (when we usually begin to see a decline in production) in one of the worst hitter’s parks in baseball. I didn’t expect him to be this bad, and certainly there was an element of bad luck to the drastic drop in production in 2014, but if he continues to decline, and continues to play in Seattle, can we really expect him to get much better?
I don’t buy it. He was out of baseball for a year when he broke his leg and came back and had a very solid season. I don’t want to see Morales anywhere near the Seattle baseball organization next year. Spend the money on VMart.
Agreed. M’s have a horrible history of showing “loyalty” to players when they shouldn’t. Let Morales, Hart, and Smoak go; keep Morrison and sign V-Mart. Then sign a real leadoff hitter (Austin Jackson does not fit that bill), and a real #3 starter behind Felix and Kuma who won’t wear down at the end of the year… then maybe we can consider them contenders.
Jackson is signed for one more year. Let him and Jones battle it out for CF next year. If Jones wins, give him a shot at leading off. Don’t leave him there a month if he’s not hitting. The M’s have the worst production in all of MLB in CF and they mostly have hit leadoff.
I’m not sure I’m ready for the M’s to spend on a #3 when Elias, Paxton and Walker are likely to be the back of the rotation and Hultzen will likely contribute at least 100 innings next year. Saunders faced Hultzen in Peoria on his rehab and said he looks really good.
There is also talk of moving Wilhelmsen to the rotation next year. He’s got 4 pitches and the M’s have a full bullpen.
It’s going to be interesting to see how the winter works out.
Amen.
How much stock, adding in Stephen Drew’s beyond-awful year at the plate, do you put in the “no spring training” argument and do you think that’s going to impact agent’s strategy for next year’s offseason (and in-season)?
Same story for Stephen Drew.
Holy smokes. That Eno Sarris interview with Moss is a great read. Lots of good insight. And I love the part where Adam Dunn jumps in.
Rangers are going to get Tim bogar as their new manager for next year
Bogar should be a shoe-in as Ranger Mgr. He’s schooled smart, loyal to J.D. & a good numbers guy. Tim works well with the talented Kids and a respect towards vets as Beltre & Lewis. Bring in Gardy as bench coach! Michael Young can mix well in the clubhouse, being J.D.’s eyes & ears, without rasping the players, as J.D. can easily do. Gardy can get back to his roots of small ball & teaching “the game” from an Old School NL perspective. Texas is not a small market. The Rangers have a great nucleolus of youth to build upon. Playing smart, due to great coaching & mentoring from the MLB Level is paramount to Texas’ continuous winning tradition. They’ve built & hammered Texas Ranger Baseball, into the Org. over the past & present decade. Wash is gone, but the foundation has been put down in strength… A “Roots Oriented Focus”- smart, prepared & schooled properly in the game of Baseball.
Mariners, please don’t sign Morales. He doesn’t seem to be able to hit, and he can’t do anything else. Please, we need a DH who can hit. Please don’t take the easy, cheap way this time.
Buy low sell high. I guess the question is how low of a contract would be worth it for Morales. The Ms production at first base AND designated hitter was awful. It wouldn’t be the worst move in the world to sign Morales for cheap.
I like moralas on a very cheap team friendly, High incentive deal. He’s a good hitter who will turn it around no doubt, he’s proven he can hit in safeco. I don’t see us locking up v-mart at all, with the contract he’ll demand the ms will walk away. I see Kendrys moralas in Seattle in 2015.
Him all season at dh the ms win at least two more games and beat Oakland out for the wildcard.(Just sayin)