Tanner Talk: What to do with Morales in 2012?

Hello, this is my second segment of Tanner Talk. I will be writing this segment every Friday, giving my opinions not only from around the baseball world, but from a specific point of view; I’ll be focusing on the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. I will refrain from using the whole name for obvious reasons and I will stick with calling them the Halos or just the Angels. This week I'm writing about what the Angels should do with Kendrys Morales in 2012.

It’s Spring time in 2012, the sun is shining, and you can smell the grass on the diamond. It’s spring training! Now, for the Angels there is a lot to look at during spring training, there is Mike Trout, Garret Richards, and Brandon Wood Kendrys Morales. After two seasons of out of baseball, Morales looks to make the team out of spring training, yet there are obstacles.

· Obstacle One: Mark Trumbo has emerged as a top hitter on the Angels and has taken over 1B.

· Obstacle Two: the outfield is full, with Mike Trout in left, Bourjos in center, and Hunter in RF with Vernon Wells at DH (assuming Abreu is traded)

· Obstacle Three: Big time prospect C.J Cron is starting to appear in Vernon Wells rear-view mirror

· Obstacle Four: After leg and ankle injuries Morales would be lucky to be able to play 1B (OF is out of the question. And so is 3B . . . you know who you are)

So where does that leave us? Morales can play part-time at DH/1B, BUT having not played for two full seasons, the chance that Morales comes out of the Spring Training gates with a spot on the 25-man roster is highly unlikely (and repeating his 2009 season is also unlikely). Leaving him to play in AAA/AA; the reason why I mention AA is because the pitching in AAA isn’t really over powering. Most top pitching prospects skip AAA to go to the majors; so most of the talent is in AA. Also, being in AAA the league is called PCL and it is widely known as a hitters’ league with extreme hitters’ parks, so fans would be screaming out to the front office if Morales has 10 homers in the first three weeks.

So we have two options: let him split time with Vernon and Trumbo at 1B/DH or trade him.

Both options are reasonable but personally I’d rather trade Morales. Why? Because we could get the most out of him that way. Here are some teams that might go after Morales:

· A’s-Need a power hitting 1B/DH

· Indians-Need a power hitting 1B/DH. They can move LaPorta to LF/RF

· Twins-with Morneau injured most of the time, he could play 1B when he is injured, and DH when he’s healthy

· Blue Jays-Need a 1B. they could go after Prince, but Morales would be a lot cheaper

· Orioles-Same with Blue Jays

· Dodgers-Need a cheap 1B

· Rockies-Need a 1B-Helton and Giambi are getting too old

· Brewers/Cardinals-cheap alternative to Pujols/Fielder. Also Morales>Gamel

· Pirates/Cubs- Depends what they see in their organization. Colvin could play 1B for Cubs. Though I don’t see them giving up prospects in a rebuilding stage.

· Nationals-Cheap alternative to Fielder/Pujols. Morales>Noris>LaRoche

There are 12 teams there, and depending on his recovery it could go down to 5 teams. His trade value would increase heavily if he proves he can play 1B and show power in the minors. What kind of return could we get from him? He’s a free agent in 2014, he is arbitration-eligible for the second time in 2012, and Scott Boras is his agent. So any team that trades for him in the offseason would have him for 2 seasons. Now, our best bet would be to trade him during the season because then he would give us a bigger return after playing in the minors for 2-4 weeks.

So, what kind of return would he get? He could get 3 B-type prospects or he could command major league pieces. I’m not really sure how he will do and I’m not too fond of those teams listed above farm systems. But I believe Morales could command 2 RP’s and an INF prospect or 1 major league ready SP, a RP, and a B prospect.

Now, is it likely that he regains his 2009 form and goes on to hit 30 HR’s for another team? Yes, it’s possible, but highly unlikely. The worst thing the Angels could do, is non-tender him a contract, which I doubt they will do. Another thing they could possibly do is eat 8-10MM of Hunter’s contract and trade him, put Trumbo in RF, and Morales at 1B. Again, all of these outcomes aren’t possible until we find out the outcome of Morales’ recovery. Or they could sign Fielder, move Trumbo to RF (above scenario with Hunter) and rotate Vernon, and Trumbo with RF/DH; rotate Fielder, Morales, and Trumbo at 1B; rotate Fielder and Morales at DH. The last scenario, with the Angels signing Fielder, would almost guarantee Morales being traded.

What would you do? Keep Morales and play him part-time? Or trade him?