The Seattle Mariners must be rich in trade worthy players. This is the third Mariner I've profiled. Only the Cubs, four players, have more articles. But they have been targeted for good reason. They're sellers and they have a lot of what the Pirates need. Bats. The latest Mariner bat to be targeted is Kendrys Morales. He's been linked to the Pirates already by Jayson Stark, but so was Justin Upton last year. So could Morales really be a trade target?
I'm being a little unfair to Jayson there. Morales is no Justin Upton and he is a realistic option since his contract is up at the end of the year and he's only been a Mariner for half a season. But in that half a season, Kendrys has been doing what he does. Hitting. He has a slash of .280/.337/.463 OPS .800, with 14 HRs and 54 RBIs. That's in pitcher friendly Safeco Park. He's right on track to end the year with his career averages of .281/.332/.486 OPS .819, with 27 HRs and 93 RBIs, which are all in Anaheim. That would be a huge boost in the middle of the Pirates order that is missing one piece after McCutchen and Alvarez. His RISP stats are mind blowing too. Just like Raul Ibañez, Morales has a knack for driving in runs. He's hitting .358/.409/.605 for an OPS of 1.014. He'll definitely regress but he's a great hitter in these spots anyway. On his career, he hits .296/.350/.536 with an OPS of .896. So, he's gonna drive in runs too. He's too good of a fit. Even better, he really ramps it up after the All-Star break via a large OPS jump thanks to a huge SLG increase. His SLG goes from .470 to .517 after the ASB, raising his OPS to .851 from .802. He's no gold glover but he can handle himself as well.
Kendrys is the first guy that I can honestly say there are zero drawbacks. He's hitting well, he's playing to his numbers, and he's not injury prone or anything like that. He's not making a lot either. I guess if you wanna find something to gripe on, it's that he's a first baseman and right field needs the upgrade, a point I would argue since I think 1B is a bigger issue. But like I said, I can't find any concerns.
Basically, Morales is the best player the Pirates could target. He would play everyday at first base and produce against all pitchers since he's a switch hitter (not Neil Walker like switch hitter). That would push Gaby to the bench to hit against lefties as a pinch hitter and Garrett Jones into a new platoon in RF with Jose Tabata. I've never been a huge fan of Jones, but he has to turn it around in the second half. If not, try Snider again or just go all in with Jose. Or trade for two bats and move Jones to the bench. That would be ideal. But anyways, it seems to be the perfect solution and I really can't see why it couldn't happen. He wouldn't be that high of a price prospect wise either. If other teams want him, the price could go up but I'm thinking three C level prospects or one B prospect and a PTBNL/Cash. That's a great price for a guy like Kendrys who would look great in black and gold and be a huge upgrade to this team. I hope it happens. Like I've said before, NH will be making some calls to Seattle but who knows what player he will be calling about.
Tomorrow's trade target is 1B Justin Morneau
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