Tampa Bay Rays to Sign Logan Morrison and Rickie Weeks
By Tim Haberin
The Tampa Bay Rays made two more low-key additions in an active offseason, reportedly agreeing to re-sign Logan Morrison to a one-year contract and taking a flyer on Rickie Weeks with a minors deal.
The Tampa Bay Rays continue plugging away this offseason, working within their means to put together what they hope will be a competitive roster in 2017. On Friday they agreed to re-sign Logan Morrison and also inked Rickie Weeks to a minor league deal.
Morrison’s is a one-year pact worth $2.5 million, along with nearly $1 million in incentives, according to Yahoo’s Jeff Passan and Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Weeks’ minors agreement was also reported by Topkin.
The return of Morrison likely makes the Rays’ infield configuration a bit clearer. He played 83 games at first base for Tampa last year, splitting his time between there and the DH spot. Morrison will likely play a similar role this season. Brad Miller, who most assumed would be getting the lion’s share of reps at first base, will presumably move over to second to take over for the recently departed Logan Forsythe.
Morrison largely struggled with the Rays last season, slashing .238/.319/.414 over 398 plate appearances. He did show some pop, however, belting 14 homers in his limited playing time while knocking in 43 runs. Morrison endured a particularly awful start to the campaign, stumbling to a .119/.221/.143 batting line without a single home run or RBI through his first 28 games. From May 16 onward, however, he managed a much more agreeable .275/.350/.498 triple-slash.
Tampa is likely hoping that Morrison will look more like that player rather than the one who showed up for the first month and a half of 2016. He was also hampered by forearm and wrist injuries last year, which likely affected him as well. “LoMo” turns 30 in August and has never really lived up to expectations, but the Rays are evidently comfortable bringing him on for another year at a low rate. Perhaps a healthy season will allow him to bounce back further.
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Morrison has his defensive shortcomings, though, which the Rays will keep in mind as they fill out the lineup card each day. He has generally received negative marks wherever he has played on the field, whether at first base or in the outfield. Fortunately, the Rays have some versatile infielders in Miller, Nick Franklin and Matt Duffy to move around as needed.
As for Weeks, he’s coming off a modest season with the Arizona Diamondbacks. He slashed .239/.327/.450 with nine home runs and 27 RBI in 108 games. Against left-handers he managed a .284/.368/.642 line (and only a .639 OPS vs. righties), making him a prime platoon candidate. Overall it was a decent rebound from a very poor 2015 campaign in which he slashed .167/.263/.250 in just 37 contests for the Mariners.
A 13-year MLB veteran, the 34-year-old Weeks probably isn’t due for a return to his more productive earlier days; from 2007 to 2012, he slashed .249/.351/.437 while averaging 18 homers, 50 RBI and 14 stolen bases per season. Since then his output has fallen to a .230/.321/.394 line with an average of seven homers, 22 RBI and four steals each year.
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Weeks is another player who brings some positional versatility to the table, which could help him earn a place on the roster. While he hasn’t played the infield since 2014, he has experience at second base and the corner outfield spots.