Minnesota Sports Forum

This acquisition is significant on so many fronts. First, he is a terrific slugger who will add even more punch to this lineup. Second, it gave them cover to make the Kubel move they should have made weeks ago...love Kubel, but it's been painful to watch him recently. But most importantly, it's significant because it signals the team believes it is a contender. Yes, they are three games under .500 and likely to fall further with this pending brutal road trip, but they are right in the thick of the wild card race and appear to have enough pitching to keep things interesting for awhile.

After a couple near-100 loss seasons, it's fun to be a buyer again in June.

David Price or Matt Kemp? This move proves that they think they can make a push for a wild card spot and now miggy is hurt for the tigers maybe the division. We have to be blunt a shit ton of pitching prospects and have assests to make a deal for one of these guys.

I feel bad for Kubel though :( baseball is such a weird sport when you just lose it you lose it quickly. Just was a shadow of his former self.

No thanks on Price or Kemp. Actually, we have the pitching prospects to go after Samardzija, but I don't think it's in our best interest to toss away some future pieces for a "right now" move. We got Morales without throwing away a second rounder. Not to mention we have about a month and a half to show that we can make a run at this or else it's time to deal Morales AND Willingham to further stock our farm.

D. Santana, CF
B. Dozier, 2B
J. Mauer, 1B
J. Willingham, LF
O. Arcia, RF
K. Morales, DH
T. Plouffe, 3B
K. Suzuki, C
E. Escobar, SS

That's our lineup tonight.

Just amazing what happened to Kubes. Swinging well in April, and then nothing.

I don't see the Dodgers giving up Kemp. He's playing everyday now with Crawford out, and they are in win now mode. Even though he goes back to the bench next week, I think their desire to win it all this year makes them value him more than prospects.

I can't tell you how excited I'm to have Morales on this team, he's already making impact and I just think about what a great guy to have mentor Arcia. This team is an Arm away and a centerfielder away from being a contender for a wild card spot or the Division. I know Correa pitched okay but we need to bring up Meyer and throw him into the fire and Santana has pretty dang good at handling centerfield for the time being. How do you guys feel? I know I brought Kemp and Price but what are some guys you guys would be eyeing?

Jester1534 wrote:I can't tell you how excited I'm to have Morales on this team, he's already making impact and I just think about what a great guy to have mentor Arcia. This team is an Arm away and a centerfielder away from being a contender for a wild card spot or the Division. I know Correa pitched okay but we need to bring up Meyer and throw him into the fire and Santana has pretty dang good at handling centerfield for the time being. How do you guys feel? I know I brought Kemp and Price but what are some guys you guys would be eyeing?

Alex Meyer and Danny Santana.

But if I'm trading for a starter, Jason Hammel could be had for one of our 2nd tier pitching prospects. He's been terrific this year.

Jester1534 wrote:I can't tell you how excited I'm to have Morales on this team, he's already making impact and I just think about what a great guy to have mentor Arcia. This team is an Arm away and a centerfielder away from being a contender for a wild card spot or the Division. I know Correa pitched okay but we need to bring up Meyer and throw him into the fire and Santana has pretty dang good at handling centerfield for the time being. How do you guys feel? I know I brought Kemp and Price but what are some guys you guys would be eyeing?

I love how the ballclub took 2 out of 3 against a very good Jays team...in their park. I think Ryan being a buyer and bringing in Morales showed the guys that he thinks they have a playoff shot this year, and really gave them a spark. Having said that, I'm not interested in bringing in anyone else at this time. Bringing in another pitcher just buries our AAA guys a little deeper. We have talent down there ready to come up if any of the current starters can't cut it. Pino and Johnson have been terrific, and Meyer and May are likely to be in the rotation for a long time. Pino has been a journeyman, but he has been incredible this year, and maybe deserves the first shot.

Camden0916 wrote:

Jester1534 wrote:I can't tell you how excited I'm to have Morales on this team, he's already making impact and I just think about what a great guy to have mentor Arcia. This team is an Arm away and a centerfielder away from being a contender for a wild card spot or the Division. I know Correa pitched okay but we need to bring up Meyer and throw him into the fire and Santana has pretty dang good at handling centerfield for the time being. How do you guys feel? I know I brought Kemp and Price but what are some guys you guys would be eyeing?

Alex Meyer and Danny Santana.

But if I'm trading for a starter, Jason Hammel could be had for one of our 2nd tier pitching prospects. He's been terrific this year.

Do you think Santana can stick at centerfield for a year and half till Buxton is ready? I know your a big Danny guy I believe. I know we don't want to trade the farm away but I feel right now we have a surplus of high pitching prospects and could make make a move, it's nice to have a lot assests.

Anyway the Morales was a great pick up we needed a bat and a full time DH. Now with The Hammer Arcia Plouffe and Morales we got 4 guys up the middle of healthy that can drop 20 bombs. Not forgetting Dozier as well who I think could be the best 2b in the league beside Cano.

I think the final piece is Meyer we need this guy to come up for Correa and give us a shot of adrenaline in July when he gets called up.

A few things...
1. Wow. Four games under. Five games out of first. Four point five games from the wild card. LET'S TALK CHAMPIONSHIP!!! It's great to be back.

2. What you are suggesting defeats the brilliance of the signing in the first place. The gave up ZERO to another team for him, and if they are out of it on 7/31, they may be able to trade him for a prospect. Making a bunch of deals to prop up a team with two good starters is foolishness. They are no more of a contender than they were in February.

3. How is it that all Jared Allen has to do is wait out an arbitrary date well before the draft to sign and he can give the Vikes a nice middle finger (that he got at Target on sale ala Ricky Bobby) on the way out of town, but Morales has to sit until June 1st? Both of those rules need tweeking. I suggest the NFL gives compensatory picks until Wed at Midnight before the draft, and MLB allows those unsigned guys to sign on April 1st.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2014/07/morales-interested-in-long-term-deal-with-twins.html

If he has a nice second half, I'd be interested in keeping him assuming his price tag is realistic. Just turned 31-years old, but I suspect we'll be bringing up young blue chippers over the next four years. Would be nice to have Morales adding a productive veteran presence while they're transitioning to the big leagues.

Edit: Now that I think about it, Morales would be great for up-and-comer Kennys Vargas to learn from.