Trade Target: Kendrys Morales

Name: Kendrys Morales
Position: First Base
Team: Los Angeles Angels
2012 Opening Day age: 27
Contract: Entering second arbitration year
Service time: 4+ years

Scouting Report:

Kendrys Morales is a switch hitter who has shown a plus bat and plus power from both sides of the plate. He displayed these tools in his breakout 2009 season, as he put together a .924 OPS with 43 doubles and 34 home runs. He hit both lefties and righties well, with an .801 OPS and .962 OPS respectively. Morales has a decent approach at the plate, but his career 6.9% walk rate is fairly low considering his career 16.5% strikeout rate. He is a solid defensive first baseman, but like most bigger players he is awful on the basepaths. In addition to clogging the bases for runners behind him, he is a career 27% (4/15) base stealer. A home plate celebration after an Angels walk-off victory in May of 2010 ended in a fluke broken leg for Morales, and due to a setback earlier this season he has still not returned to baseball.

2011 Statistics:

N/A -- did not play due to injury

Why Toronto would want him:

When healthy, Morales is an impact bat in the middle of the lineup. While Edwin Encarnacion has shown he might be capable of handling either first base or designated hitter in 2012, Adam Lind has not done enough to prove he is worthy of a starting job. Lind will most likely finish 2011 with a sub-.300 OBP for the second consecutive year while accumulating 0.7 WAR. Those are disgusting numbers, especially given that Lind has served primarily as Toronto's cleanup hitter for the entire year. Morales could stablize the position for atleast 2 years without having to offer him a long term contract, and likely wouldn't require a significant prospect package given his injury history.

Why Los Angeles might trade him:

The Angels have two good reasons to trade Morales. The first is Mark Trumbo. In Morales' absense, Trumbo had stepped in and stablized the position for Los Angeles and is a contender for the American League Rookie of the Year Award. The second reason is the Angels outfield. Vernon Wells and Torii Hunter are under contract for a few years, while Peter Bourjos and top prospect Mike Trout are also in need of at-bats for development. Even with Abreu gone in 2012, that's still four players fighting for three outfield spots. The Angels are unlikely to trade Bourjos or Trout, while Wells and Hunter are basically untradeable. If the fourth outfielder becomes the designated hitter, then Los Angeles are unable to play both Trumbo and Morales -- ergo they must trade one of the two.