The Minnesota Twins have benefited from the slow-moving free agent market. The Twins went the trade route to help fill a hole in the rotation earlier during the month. However, now they’ve added the power hitting left-hander the lineup has been missing via free agency.
MLB Trade Rumors has reported that free agent 1B/DH Logan Morrison has signed with the Minnesota Twins. This is a big move for a team with big playoff aspirations, and has the potential to pay huge dividends for the Twins in 2018. However, playoff appearances aren’t made in February and Morrison will still have to produce to make this deal worth it.
He should slot into the clean-up spot and instantly add pop to the middle of the batting order. With Brian Dozier at the top of the order leading the way, this line-up will be a force during the ’18 season. The Twins have a lot of players who are adept at getting on base. However, the addition of Morrison adds more balance to the line-up and will produce more runs.
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What the Morrison signing means for the Twins in 2018
The risk for the Minnesota Twins is extremely low in signing Morrison. He received far below any contract projections due to the market moving at a snail’s pace this offseason. The Twins have reaped the reward by signing Morrison to a club friendly one-year $5.5 million contract with an option for 2019.
Morrison had a career year for the Tampa Bay Rays in 2017, hitting .246 with 38 home runs and 85 runs batted in. However, his ’17 season is a bit of an outlier for the rest of his career. He has been a league average player for the majority of his career. He barely hit more than 38 home runs(42) during the previous three seasons combined, prior to his ’17 outburst, and his strikeout numbers rose through the roof.
The Minnesota Twins are banking on Morrison continuing to produce at a similar level to last year. However, if he regresses back to his norm, the Twins will lose very little in this deal. Morrison will have to prove himself yet again this season to earn his big payday in the future.
Morrison has reunited with former Rays teammate Jake Odorizzi, and here’s to hoping they can bring in another former Ray like Alex Cobb. Why stop there? Go out and sign Cobb, then trade for Chris Archer, now that would make for an exciting baseball season.
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