Kendrys Morales

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

I'm a big Morales guy, and also have noticed that his bat has started to come alive the past week or so. Having said that, we need to think about how he fits in to our plans. While he has been adequate at 1b, that should be Mauer's position for several years (I still look for him to have a Mormeau-like post-concussion rebound), and there's nowhere else he can play other than DH. Vargas says he wants to learn to play the OF so he's not blocked by Mauer, and the Twins are going to give him a chance if he loses 20 pounds, but he still projects to be a DH...and not too far in the future. And we still don't know that Pinto has a position other than DH. So as much as I like Morales, we need to really think through the fit.

OTOH, his recent revival at the plate might attract a lot of attention for contenders looking for another bat. I wouldn't sell low on him because I like him on my team too, but if Ryan could land at least one really good prospect for him, it would have to go down in history as one of the greatest GM moves in history...outbidding other teams for a month of a player at a very low cost, and then turning that low cost into a great prospect. That has to be an option that Ryan is looking at.

But if there are no attractive offers and the Twins are convinced by the end of the year that Vargas can play the OF and Pinto can catch, it would be nice to keep Morales' bat around.