The San Francisco Giants finally found their new left fielder. Mike Morse signed a one-year deal worth $6 million, bringing the 31 year old to the Bay Area for the 2014 season.
Filling the void in left field was arguably the Giants biggest need this off-season, and rather than throw money at some of the big name outfielders like Jacoby Ellsbury, Shin-Soo Choo, or Curtis Granderson, Brian Sabean and the front office decided to be patient and potentially buy-low on Morse.
Here are some things to note on Morse and the Giants now that he is in the fold:
The 9 year veteran joins the 4th MLB team of his career, splitting time primarily between Seattle and Washington (with a brief 12 game stint in Baltimore after last season's trade deadline). He owns a career .281 BA, 83 HR, and 272 RBI.
The Giants were able to snag Morse at a cost-friendly price for a reason; he is certainly an injury risk. Morse had surgery on his ailing wrist back in October, an injury that seemed to plague him most of the 2013 season as he played in just 88 games. He has also played in 100+ games just twice, with a career high of 146 in 2011.
When Morse is playing however, he possesses some power. His career high 31 home runs in 2011 (not coincidentally his healthiest season to date) looks like an outlier, but he has consistently put up between 13-18 home runs over the last 4 seasons.
Here's a video of his 2012 season, which gives you an idea of his power, especially to the opposite field:
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH7h1hONqts[/embed]
Being healthy is certainly part of a player's skill set, and if Morse can sustain health he has a chance to make a big impact in the middle of the Giants lineup. Morse's average stats for his total career games played would translate to 23 HR, 77 RBI, and 29 doubles over a healthy 162 game season. Those are usable numbers for any lineup.
The Giants realize the risk with Morse, but for $6 million they were willing to take a shot on him. They don't need an All-Star season out of him, just something better than the non-existent cumulative offensive stats they received from their left fielders last year.
Brace yourself because this is ugly: Not only did the Giants use 9 different players in left field, but they combined for a grand total of 5 HR, 52 RBI and a .257 BA. That's laughable. Not to take anything away from the stellar defense of guys like Gregor Blanco, who led the way with 69 games played in left field, but that production is not acceptable for a team trying to contend for a World Series title.
The fact that Blanco is still on the roster is significant though. Much like the 2010 defensive rotation of Pat Burrell and Nate Schierholtz, Morse and Blanco should make a nice offensive/defensive combo. Morse is pretty limited defensively, but the Giants plan will be to use his offense for the first 7 or 8 innings, then pull him for the superior defense of Blanco.
The lineup is looking righty-heavy in the middle of the order, with Marco Scutaro, Buster Posey, Hunter Pence and Morse conceivably batting in the 2-4-5-6 spots respectively, but Bruce Bochy has some tinkering ability with switch-hitters Pablo Sandoval and Angel Pagan, as well as lefties Brandon Belt and Brandon Crawford. Depending on the matchup, Bochy should be able to stack the righty/lefty combo to his liking.
With the starting lineup and rotation complete, the Giants look like they are just about done with the major moves this off-season. The free agent market has depleted quicker than usual this winter, but the team acquired two key pieces in Morse and Tim Hudson. Any further moves will probably come via trade.
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