White Sox need Morel at 3B

[witesoxfan]

White Sox Need Morel at 3B

 

Like many young hitters, the key is breaking stuff low and away. If you look at his swings at TexasLeaguers.com, you’ll see four pitches he offered at above the zone, two inside, and 11 pitches low (most low and away). He has no discipline in that part of the zone. On pitches high in the zone, another weakness we often see in young hitters, it’s just the opposite. I could give you numerous examples in the last two weeks of catchers calling for the high fastball with two strikes, with Morel watching the pitch go by. Or, even more often, if the pitch isn’t too far out of the zone, he’ll hit it foul. He does that often, as 21 of the 139 pitches he’s been thrown (15.1%) have been hit out of play.

 

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After watching all 34 plate appearances, my grade on Morel would actually be higher than it was entering this article concept. He has one glaring weakness, but it’s one that should improve out of habit and in time. He generally shows signs of good contact skills, an approach conducive to average power for the position, and I didn’t think it necessary today to re-tread the established fact that he’s good defensively. I certainly think he could be worth at least 2-2.5 WAR next year, which is a lot more than you can say of Mark Teahen and Omar Vizquel in 2010.

 

 

It's an overall good article discussing Morel, and I do think he is going to be the starter at 3B next season, as he doesn't have a ton of trade value considering he isn't an elite prospect, but I would say he is more than capable of being a very good, yet underappreciated player in the majors with a max value of probably a WAR of 4 or so (the article suggests he could be a 2.0-2.5 player next year (about a .250/.300/.450 with good defense) and I would say that would be pretty accurate).

 

This further brings into question...what are the White Sox going to do with Mark Teahen? The first thing that pops into my head is RF with Quentin moving out in a trade, as I think Teahen can actually be relatively decent out there while Quentin is an absolute butcher. The other thing that the Sox could consider would simply be to hang onto Quentin and move him to DH, where his atrocious fielding won't hurt the Sox as much, and an outfield of Pierre-Rios-Teahen, while not sexy, is probably capable of a collective 8-10 WAR, which is more than adequate, and if Quentin's bat alone is worth probably 2-3 WAR or so. I understand Quentin is a psycho and he'd destroy half of Chicago in between his at bats, but you simply can't have him in the outfield. First base could be an option too if the Sox don't retain Konerko, but Quentin has never played 1B at the professional level, so there would be a huge adjustment period.

[SoxAce]

It's an overall good article discussing Morel, and I do think he is going to be the starter at 3B next season, as he doesn't have a ton of trade value considering he isn't an elite prospect

 

Welcome to the dark side. Yo fathom, add wite to the club bro.

[greg775]

Anybody but Teahen.

I love Morel's glove. Hope he can hit a bit. Does he project to hit better than Omar would next year? Both have great gloves.

 

 

Isn't it funny we dump Uribe and he would have remained a contributor?

 

[MattZakrowski]

I'm team Morel. We need some minimum guys, and he should be at least a league average starter if you factor defense.

[chw42]

He's the next Joe Crede, only without as much power.

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

He's the next Joe Crede, only without as much power.

I'm in the Morel camp and actually think he can have as much power as Crede and even more.

[MattZakrowski]

He's the next Joe Crede, only without as much power.

 

He'll likely have a better average, but yeah, a below average bat and an above average glove. And I'm cool with that.

[elrockinMT]

Morel might be a year away still

[scenario]

Count me in on Morel for 3B in 2011.

[Balta1701]

Anybody but Teahen.

I love Morel's glove. Hope he can hit a bit. Does he project to hit better than Omar would next year? Both have great gloves.

 

 

Isn't it funny we dump Uribe and he would have remained a contributor?

It's probably pretty likely that Morel would hit better than Omar because Morel would make up for being a worse hitter by actually hitting with some power.

 

If Guillen stays...my guess is that Omar Vizquel starts the season at 3b and they try to keep Morel in AAA until at least the Super 2 arbitration deadline in early June...both to save the arbitration year and to give Morel some extra AB's in AAA.

[Jordan4life_2007]

It's probably pretty likely that Morel would hit better than Omar because Morel would make up for being a worse hitter by actually hitting with some power.

 

If Guillen stays...my guess is that Omar Vizquel starts the season at 3b and they try to keep Morel in AAA until at least the Super 2 arbitration deadline in early June...both to save the arbitration year and to give Morel some extra AB's in AAA.

 

You only do that for elite prospects. Not the Brent Morel's of the world. And how pathetic is that Teahen extension looking right now. KW is in a massive slump.

Edited September 25, 2010 by Jordan4life

[Balta1701]

You only do that for elite prospects.

You don't keep him in AAA entirely because of the Super 2 deadline. Starting him in AAA next year, as young as he is, is the right move unless he's absolutely needed. The Super 2 deadline is a second-order benefit.

[southsider2k5]

It's probably pretty likely that Morel would hit better than Omar because Morel would make up for being a worse hitter by actually hitting with some power.

 

If Guillen stays...my guess is that Omar Vizquel starts the season at 3b and they try to keep Morel in AAA until at least the Super 2 arbitration deadline in early June...both to save the arbitration year and to give Morel some extra AB's in AAA.

 

I don't really want Omar as option #1 next year, but it can't be denied that this teams turnaround directly correlated with Omar going into the starting line up.

[Balta1701]

I don't really want Omar as option #1 next year, but it can't be denied that this teams turnaround directly correlated with Omar going into the starting line up.

Really...let's be honest...Omar hasn't played poorly this year...and if Ozzie's the manager, I think the only thing that keeps Omar from starting the season at 3b next year is Omar deciding to retire. Or Ozzie deciding Omar is the full time DH.

[southsider2k5]

Really...let's be honest...Omar hasn't played poorly this year...and if Ozzie's the manager, I think the only thing that keeps Omar from starting the season at 3b next year is Omar deciding to retire. Or Ozzie deciding Omar is the full time DH.

 

The one thing Ozzie will use is a defender who doesn't hurt his team at the plate. I could see Morel being the starter with Omar as a super-utility guy.

[joeynach]

Anyone watching the sox the last month or so doesn't need Fangraphs to figure out that Morel is basically playing his way into becoming the starting 3B in 2011 and our future anchor over there for many years to come. He definitely plays plus defense at 3B something huge with 2/5 of our rotation being very hittable guys (Buehrle, Garcia). Hes also a pretty good hitter. He can cover the fastball, has a decent eye, and make solid contact. What more do you want for your emerging in house 3B candidate. As long as Tehean isn't there to butcher the position that's great too.

[Jordan4life_2007]

Haven't been watching many games since it was clear we weren't sniffing the playoffs. But I peeped some Morel highlights at MLB.COM. This dude has a SERIOUS glove. I had heard it was good. Insane range and a strong/accurate throwing arm. I'm on the Morel bandwagon. I just can never get too excited about a prospect with KW in charge.

[bighurt574]

I like the idea of starting the season with Vizquel at 3B, give Morel some AB's in AAA, and then promote him later in the year.

 

Is Teahen even movable if the Sox offer to pick up half his contract?

[justBLAZE]

Morel isn't hitting as good as I'd like for me to be on his bandwagon yet...

 

He was awesome in AAA, hopefully it's just a slow start, like Beckham's..

[Balta1701]

Is Teahen even movable if the Sox offer to pick up half his contract?

I bet someone would be willing to simply take that on, but I wouldn't expect anything of value back in return.

 

Really though...if we're paying for his salary...he's very useful as a utility guy. That's a good use of a roster spot.

[Thad Bosley]

I bet someone would be willing to simply take that on, but I wouldn't expect anything of value back in return.

 

Really though...if we're paying for his salary...he's very useful as a utility guy. That's a good use of a roster spot.

What does he do that one could particularly classify as "useful"? Is it the dreadful defense he trots out to whatever position he's sent to? Or perhaps the lack-of-power/high strikeout rate he brings to the team offensively? How about the lack of speed. No, just because he is inexplicably run out to various positions on a far more routine basis than he ought to be does not automatically make him useful. To me, a utility guy has got to do at least one thing particularly well in order to be considered useful. Andruw plays good defense with occasional power - that's useful. Omar still plays great defense - he's useful, too. Castro has been useful due to his defense (and surprising offensive output). But Teahen? I don't see where he provides value in any part of his game. In fact, I'll go so far as to say that I don't see how he is any more useful than Lillibridge, for crying out loud. I really don't. I know that stupid contract extension is likely going to force this square peg into the round hole which is our roster next year. But I respectfully submit that having him around is, by far, not a good use of one of those roster spots in the least bit.

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

Morel isn't hitting as good as I'd like for me to be on his bandwagon yet...

He was awesome in AAA, hopefully it's just a slow start, like Beckham's..

 

I can't find his splits or gamelogs anywhere, but Morel was terrible in his first 2-3 weeks in AAA.

 

EDIT: From reading my old posts on another site, it seems his BA was .166 after his first 10 games or so. After almost a month his BA was .250. And then after about 6 1/2 weeks he has hitting .303. So he started very cold in AAA and then just exploded. Hopefully he is just repeating that process, and will at least finish his last week strong.

[joeynach]

Morel isn't hitting as good as I'd like for me to be on his bandwagon yet...

 

He was awesome in AAA, hopefully it's just a slow start, like Beckham's..

 

Morel is Joe Randa in the making. Good glove and arm at third, can put the ball in play at a decent clip, and can prolly pop 10 HR a year.

[witesoxfan]

Morel is Joe Randa in the making. Good glove and arm at third, can put the ball in play at a decent clip, and can prolly pop 10 HR a year.

 

I think Morel has better power than that, but they could ultimately be similar players at the end of the day, and that would be great for the Sox.

[elgonzo4sox]

Haven't been watching many games since it was clear we weren't sniffing the playoffs. But I peeped some Morel highlights at MLB.COM. This dude has a SERIOUS glove. I had heard it was good. Insane range and a strong/accurate throwing arm. I'm on the Morel bandwagon. I just can never get too excited about a prospect with KW in charge.

 

Morel is our first honest-to-goodness true third baseman since Crede. A good glove at 3B can prevent 1 to 3 hits per game, so I say make him our 2011 third baseman and let his bat develop.