Eduardo Morlan

[Kenny Hates Prospects]

The Rays didn't add him to the roster, therefore they are exposing him to the Rule-5 draft. He should be gone very quickly, so we should trade for him if possible before it gets to that point. He is a highly-rated closing prospect acquired from the Twins in the Garza-Young deal and played in the Future's Game last year. Best of all, he was born in Havana, Cuba. Yes, another Cuban for the roster.

 

His stats

 

From Wikipedia:

Morlan’s three-pitch repertoire. The 6’2” 210 pound righty has been clocked approaching 100 MPH on his fastball. His curveball is rated as one of the five best in the Minnesota organization by Scout.com, and he has confidence to throw both the breaker and his above-average change in fastball counts.

 

From Baseball America at the Future's Game:

When righthander Eduardo Morlan was with the Twins, he topped out at 97 mph, and was able to sit at 92-93 mph comfortably. Today, Morlan was throwing his fastball at 88-90, topping out at 91 mph.

Morlan, who came over to the Rays in the deal that also sent Matt Garza to Tampa Bay and brought Delmon Young to Minnesota, got Athletics second baseman Cliff Pennington to pop out to shortstop Elvis Andrus just in foul territory on the third base line before Brewers third baseman Mat Gamel drew his second walk of the game.

 

Another site said he's been working comfortably in the 91-93 range. Given his drastic improvement in BB rate, is it possible he has been learning to become a pitcher more than a thrower? Either way, there's room for this guy on our roster with Lance Broadway and Jerry Owens on there.

 

[Kyyle23]

Yikes, from Wikipedia to Baseball America this guy dropped 10 MPH on his fastball

[Kenny Hates Prospects]

Yikes, from Wikipedia to Baseball America this guy dropped 10 MPH on his fastball

The Wikipedia section was old, from when he was with the Twins. Besides, he wasn't regulary working in the 100mph range, it's just that he could hit it. With the Twins he was up there at 96-98. With the Rays it sounds like he lost a couple ticks but still was in the low-to-mid 90's.

 

Edit: keep in mind that gun accuracies vary and that the guys who write this stuff don't watch these players all the time, so it's possible the 100mph readings could have been wrong or abnormal just as the 89mph ratings could have been wrong or abnormal. Still, he sounds like a guy with a hard fastball and some pretty good breaking stuff.

Edited November 23, 2008 by Kenny Hates Prospects

[Chisoxfn]

Sounds like the type of guy you could potentially take a chance on.

[Cubano]

Morlan moved with his parent to Spain. His parent then moved from Spain to the USA so Morlan could pursue a baseball career. He never played in the Cuban National Series because he was too young.

Edited November 24, 2008 by Cubano

[Kenny Hates Prospects]

Here are some others who will be eligible for the Rule-5 draft if they have not been added:

 

From the Cubs:

James Adduci, OF

Alberto Alburquerque, RHP

Mitch Atkins, RHP

Matt Avery, RHP

Justin Berg, RHP

Todd Blackford, RHP

Edward Campusano, LHP

Russ Canzler, 1B

Yusuf Carter, OF

Corey Coles, OF

Jeff Culpepper, OF

Rafael Dolis, RHP

Darin Downs, LHP

Jesse Estrada, RHP

Ryan Harvey, OF

Jim Henderson, RHP

Mark Holliman, RHP

Grant Johnson, RHP

Marcos Mateo, RHP

J. R. Mathes, LHP

Casey McGehee, 3B-C

Mario Mercedes, C

Jonathan Mota, INF

Jake Muyco, RHP

Mike Phelps, RHP

Jose Pina, RHP

Mark Reed, C

Kyle Reynolds, 3B

Tony Richie, C

Chris Robinson, C

Jayson Ruhlman, LHP

Chris Shaver, LHP

Joe Simokaitis, SS

Alvaro Sosa, C

Nate Spears, 2B

Donald Veal, LHP

 

From the Red Sox:

Bubba Bell, Robert Coello, Jeff Corsaletti, Sean Danielson, Andrew Dobies, Felix Doubront, Zak Farkes, Roberto Feliz, Kyle Fernandes, Javier Garcia, Matt Goodson, Joseph Guerra, Tommy Hottovy, Mike James, Jay Johnson, Chris Jones, Hunter Jones, TJ Large, Will Latimer, Blake Maxwell, Craig Molldrem, Jeff Natale, John Otness, Bryan Pritz, Jose Vaquedano, Mark Wagner, Yahmed Yema, and Armando Zerpa

 

From the Rays:

Eduardo Morlan, Ryan Royster, Chris Nowak, Matt Spring, Wood Fines, Wade Townsend, Chris Mason, Mike Wlodarczyk

 

From the Indians:

PITCHERS:

Arias, Carlos

Dixon, Kevin

Edell, Ryan

Finocchi, Michael

Harris, Jeff

Herrmann, Frank

Jimenez, Jose

Lofgren, Chuck

Martinez, Anillins

Mendez, Sandy

Montero, Joanniel

Ness, Joe

Newsom, Randy

Nottingham, Shawn

Roehl, Scott

Smith, Carlton

Wagner, Neil

 

CATCHERS:

Camacaro, Armando

Castillo, Alex

Espino, Damaso

Martinez, Richard

 

INFIELDERS:

Arnal, Cristo

Brown, Jordan

Cannizaro, Andy

Head, Jerad

Head, Stephen

Pinckney, Brandon

Velasquez, Isaias

 

OUTFIELDERS:

Constanza, Jose

Cumberbatch, Cirilo

Denham, Jason

Goleski, Ryan

Montero, Lucas

Valdes, Juan

 

Here are a couple more links that provide a little bit of info: Baseball America: Explaining the Rule-5 Draft and a little info on some guys who may be available, from a Pirates blog.

 

I think clubs still own the rights to the players they don't protect prior to the Rule-5 so they can be traded, although I'm not sure of that. Besides, there are always deals to made within the draft itself since players often slip through easily because in order to keep a player you have to leave him on the 25-man roster all season. So, only the guys that are ready get picked up by contenders and the garbage teams generally take the guys who still need to develop quite a bit.

 

BTW, this was all off a quick google search so the lists are obviously not complete and there were only a few teams that popped up. I searched for the Angels but didn't find anything on them. They would be a team to watch, same with the Rangers, Dodgers, D'Backs, etc., although the Rangers were able to add a few players since they've got a bunch of garbage on their Major League roster.

Edited November 23, 2008 by Kenny Hates Prospects

[Chisoxfn]

Some interesting names. Townsend (top pick who hasn't been able to stay healthy) & Veal. Plus some former highly touted players like Tony Richie, Ryan Harvey.

[ThunderBolt]

Some interesting names. Townsend (top pick who hasn't been able to stay healthy) & Veal. Plus some former highly touted players like Tony Richie, Ryan Harvey.

How have they not protected Veal yet? Now, that Ceda's gone he's one of their only viable pitching prospects.

[chunk23]

You mean he is their only viable pitching prospect.