M's acquire Logan Morrison

[Banned 10x]

Mariners Acquire Logan Morrison

By Steve Adams [December 11 at 1:57pm CST]
The Mariners have acquired Logan Morrison from the Marlins in exchange for right-hander Carter Capps, according to Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald ([ame="[MEDIA=twitter]410860456505389056[/MEDIA]"]on Twitter[/ame]).
Morrison, 26, was a known trade candidate that was a near-lock to be traded at the Winter Meetings following the Marlins' signing of Garrett Jones to a two-year deal. The former top prospect has batted just .236/.321/.387 with 17 home runs in 178 games over the past two seasons after hitting .259/.351/.460 with 25 long balls in his first 185 big league games. Morrison's tenure with the Marlins has been rocky to this point. He's come under fire for his prolific and sometimes controversial Twitter presence and filed a grievance against the Marlins in 2011 after he was sent to the minor leagues in controversial fashion.

 

[seahawksfan234]

I actually think this was a solid trade.

The Mariners landed Logan Morrison for close to absolutely nothing. In 84 career innings Carter Capps has a 5.04 ERA. The Mariners won't miss him too much.

Morrison is under team control until 2017 and has potential. The Mariners did not have to give up much for him and got a young player with good potential. If it does not work out the Mariners did not give up much to get him in the first place so it is no harm done.

 

[blstoker]

With the signings of Hart and Morrison, this could mean that the Mariners may be serious in trading Smoak and Ackley, maybe including them in a package for Price or Kemp. Not sure if that's gonna happen, but these are guys who could be heading out of town as they continue to shake up the roster.

 

[seahawksfan234]

With the signings of Hart and Morrison, this could mean that the Mariners may be serious in trading Smoak and Ackley, maybe including them in a package for Price or Kemp. Not sure if that's gonna happen, but these are guys who could be heading out of town as they continue to shake up the roster.

I think it is a good time to trade Dustin Ackley. He had a good 2nd half but what if he does not replicate it? Right now his value is as high as it is going to be and the Mariners may regret it if he regresses back to a .260 average next year.

For whatever reason Smoak has started to grow on me. I'd prefer to move Ackley but I think Smoak has improved and with some better hitters in the lineup I think he could have a good year. He was my favorite guy to beat up on these past few years but I think he is starting to turn the corner.

I would prefer to retain Morales, trade for Kemp and sign a starting pitcher be it Colon, Garza, Jimenez, Santana or Tanaka. The Mariners have a lot of options for adding a starting pitcher.

 

[blstoker]

For whatever reason Smoak has started to grow on me. I'd prefer to move Ackley but I think Smoak has improved and with some better hitters in the lineup I think he could have a good year. He was my favorite guy to beat up on these past few years but I think he is starting to turn the corner.

I've been a huge fan of Smoak since we got him, as many can probably attest to. I agree that the added bats will be a huge boon for him, but the M's seem to be adding players who fit best right where he's playing. Morrison and Hart both spent the majority of their last season playing 1st base (Morrison 2013, Hart 2012). I think that Smoak is looking at a break out year this year, but do the M's see it the same way. I would much prefer to see Ackley and/or Saunders traded than Smoak, but that's me.

 

[seahawksfan234]

I've been a huge fan of Smoak since we got him, as many can probably attest to. I agree that the added bats will be a huge boon for him, but the M's seem to be adding players who fit best right where he's playing. Morrison and Hart both spent the majority of their last season playing 1st base (Morrison 2013, Hart 2012). I think that Smoak is looking at a break out year this year, but do the M's see it the same way. I would much prefer to see Ackley and/or Saunders traded than Smoak, but that's me.

I say with his improvement Smoak earned another year. If he does not continue to improve I say it is time to move on. He had a respectable .334 OBP and hit 20 HRs in 131 games which is around 25 over an entire season. If you put some better hitters around him he should see some more improvement.

The natural ability is there, he just needs to put it all together.

 

[blstoker]

I say with his improvement Smoak earned another year. If he does not continue to improve I say it is time to move on. He had a respectable .334 OBP and hit 20 HRs in 131 games which is around 25 over an entire season. If you put some better hitters around him he should see some more improvement.

The natural ability is there, he just needs to put it all together.

Agreed.

 

[dude82]

With the signings of Hart and Morrison, this could mean that the Mariners may be serious in trading Smoak and Ackley, maybe including them in a package for Price or Kemp. Not sure if that's gonna happen, but these are guys who could be heading out of town as they continue to shake up the roster.

I just read on espn.com that Kemp appears to be off the market for now. At least that's what his agent (Dave Stewart) was told. I imagine that would change if someone gave the Dodgers an offer they couldn't refuse, which may or may not happen depending on how teams feel about his age (29), the length and price of his contract (Six more years at $20 million a year, give-or-take a few million depending on the structure of the deal) and his durability (he was on the DL three times last year). They may still end up trading him at some point, but it doesn't look like it'll be any time soon.


Matt Kemp will remain with Los Angeles Dodgers, agent says - ESPN Los Angeles

 

[Thisnamewasntaken]

I was rooting for Smoak to be great before he was even on our roster or traded to us. I lost faith but now that we've made other moves we don't really have to count on him. I still would like to keep him and see what happens, unless the Brewers want to give us something nice for him. I was ready to give up on Smoak but I've had a change of "Hart" lmao. Just one more chance!! We have the right players to influence him now. Can't go wrong with Hart/Cano and maybe with LoMo it will motivate him even more.

 

[johnfree63]

I think Smoak came back to earth in the 2nd half of last year (.203/.294/.392). I'm ready to move on. A Hart and LoMo platoon >>>>>> Smoak.

 

[Thisnamewasntaken]

I think Smoak came back to earth in the 2nd half of last year (.203/.294/.392). I'm ready to move on. A Hart and LoMo platoon >>>>>> Smoak.

I think Hart is our DH. If they bring back Morales THEN maybe Smoak is shipped out.

 

[NWinAZ]

GMZ said Hart was our LF and Morrison and Smoak our DH/1B combo.

Regarding Smoak and giving him one more year, I fall back to the old sport adage of, 'It is better to trade a player a year too early than a year too late'.

 

[SeattleCoug]

I kinda think the book is likely closed on Morales unless Morrison is moved. I think Jack values the draft pick they will get for him too. Regarding Smoak, its just hard to get a grasp on him. Incredibly streaky, I do think he's turned a corner though. He looked way more comfortable at the plate.

 

[seahawksfan234]

I just read on espn.com that Kemp appears to be off the market for now. At least that's what his agent (Dave Stewart) was told. I imagine that would change if someone gave the Dodgers an offer they couldn't refuse, which may or may not happen depending on how teams feel about his age (29), the length and price of his contract (Six more years at $20 million a year, give-or-take a few million depending on the structure of the deal) and his durability (he was on the DL three times last year). They may still end up trading him at some point, but it doesn't look like it'll be any time soon.


Matt Kemp will remain with Los Angeles Dodgers, agent says - ESPN Los Angeles

Agents say all kinds of stupid shit. In all honesty if you ask me his agent has no idea if Kemp is remaining in Los Angeles or not. I could easily picture one of those moments where Kemp's agent contacts the team asking what's up and the Dodgers just give him the routine "We are happy to have Matt Kemp as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers and have no plans of trading him" type responses.

 

[seahawksfan234]

As I said early in the thread I think Carter Capps for Logan Morrison is a good value trade but I still feel like Kendrys Morales to Logan Morrison is a serious regression at DH.

If you look at their batting stats:
Logan Morrison last 2 years combined: 178 games 17 HR 72 RBI .236 BA .321 OBP .387 SLG oWAR: 0.0
Kendrys Morales 2013 season: 156 games 23 HRs 80 RBI .277 BA .336 OBP .449 SLG oWAR: 2.7

In the comparison I used the 2012 and 2013 seasons combined for Morrison since he did not play more than 93 games in either year. Therefore the statistical comparison would be skewed in Morales' favor due to increased appearances.

But even when you combine 2012 and 2013 for Morrison despite playing 22 more games than Morales, Morrison is still is a significantly worse player than Morales statistically. As demonstrated by his 0.0 offensive Wins Above Replacement rating.

I think that even though they added Hart and Morrison they should still look to retain Morales. The market for Morales is so soft right now the Mariners may eventually be able to re-sign him for less than the qualifying offer they originally extended to him. That could be wishful thinking on my part but I think it is a possibility, especially if the Mariners don't make any more moves on offense.

 

[dude82]

As I said early in the thread I think Carter Capps for Logan Morrison is a good value trade but I still feel like Kendrys Morales to Logan Morrison is a serious regression at DH.

If you look at their batting stats:
Logan Morrison last 2 years combined: 178 games 17 HR 72 RBI .236 BA .321 OBP .387 SLG oWAR: 0.0
Kendrys Morales 2013 season: 156 games 23 HRs 80 RBI .277 BA .336 OBP .449 SLG oWAR: 2.7

In the comparison I used the 2012 and 2013 seasons combined for Morrison since he did not play more than 93 games in either year. Therefore the statistical comparison would be skewed in Morales' favor due to increased appearances.

But even when you combine 2012 and 2013 for Morrison despite playing 22 more games than Morales, Morrison is still is a significantly worse player than Morales statistically. As demonstrated by his 0.0 offensive Wins Above Replacement rating.

I think that even though they added Hart and Morrison they should still look to retain Morales. The market for Morales is so soft right now the Mariners may eventually be able to re-sign him for less than the qualifying offer they originally extended to him. That could be wishful thinking on my part but I think it is a possibility, especially if the Mariners don't make any more moves on offense.

I doubt they'd be able to sign him for less than the qualifying offer unless absolutely no other team wanted him for that price and he was stuck having to take less because he (or, more likely, his agent) declined the best offer he got (the qualifying offer) thinking he could get more elsewhere. I don't think it'll come to that, but he might not be high on the list of priorities for other teams right now, so he might have to wait until things shake out more and teams see what they still need to get before offering him something. I'd be very surprised if he didn't find a suitor before Spring Training and I'd be surprised if that suitor paid him less than the qualifying offer we gave him would have.

 

[Thisnamewasntaken]

I heard Morales may wait until after the draft. So then we lose the draft comp. oh that would piss me off!

 

[Johnnydollaz89]

With the signings of Hart and Morrison, this could mean that the Mariners may be serious in trading Smoak and Ackley, maybe including them in a package for Price or Kemp. Not sure if that's gonna happen, but these are guys who could be heading out of town as they continue to shake up the roster.

Are the Mariners really willing to make a big offer to get Price knowing he wont re-sign there? It's risky.

 

[blstoker]

Are the Mariners really willing to make a big offer to get Price knowing he wont re-sign there? It's risky.

This was posted before I saw the unwillingness for Price to sign an extension. In other threads I posted taht with that fact, it wasn't worth trading for him at all.

 

[johnfree63]

I kinda think the book is likely closed on Morales unless Morrison is moved. I think Jack values the draft pick they will get for him too. Regarding Smoak, its just hard to get a grasp on him. Incredibly streaky, I do think he's turned a corner though. He looked way more comfortable at the plate.

Especially in the 2nd half of the year when he hit .203/.294/.392