Wednesday, December 01, 2004
MAKING PLANS FOR MORALES
According to Baseball America (and probably other sources, too--I'm too lazy to check), the Angels have signed Cuban defector Kendry Morales. The switch-hitting first baseman apparently set plenty of Cuban league records before rafting his way to Florida along with 18 others earlier this year.
Immediately upon reading this, a bunch of questions popped to mind:
-given that even Satchell Paige had already retired by the time he reached the same age as Jose Contreras likely is now (32 yeas old my ass), how credible is the claim that Morales is only 21?
-what about the Angel's logjam on the corners? The only position change for a Cuban 1B is likely DH. So, rather than resigning Glaus and sliding Dallas McPherson across the diamond, is McPherson now the unofficial official opening day 3B? How much more likely is it now that young Casey Kotchman starts the 2005 season wearing teale in the Arizone desert? Does this mean Erstad gets to move back to CF where he's no less injury prone (and much more effective when healthy) than at 1B?
Adrian Beltre across town in Anaheim red... Holy crap, how much would that piss off the Dodgers?
5 years, $60 M. That's what the Angels will offer. And there's no way DePodesta will outcrazy Moreno.
Yup, he's as good as signed.
-just how good exactly would "the best position player to escape from Cuban since the 1959 Communist revolution" be in MLB terms? The Angels reportedly paid $10 M to find out. (Until Livan's renaissance a year ago, the bar for Cuban pitchers isn't exactly set that high.)
Thinking about that last part for a little bit, although a deal for Randy Johnson now seems considerably more likely, I'm not convinced both McPherson or Erstad will be everyday players with the Angels next year. Art Moreno has proven he's got the huevos (and the cash) to be the next Steinbrenner. How much do you want to bet he signs another latin superstar (Carlos Beltran) or two (Adrian Beltre) before he's done?
