Kansas City Royals: Logan Morrison Desperately Wants to be Royal
Every player has their preference for where they will sign in free agency. Logan Morrison could not make his desire to be a part of the Kansas City Royals any more obvious.
Chances are, the Kansas City Royals will look completely different in 2018. They have nine free agents, including players like Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, and Lorenzo Cain. Hosmer is considered to be their key free agent, especially for the Royals plans this offseason. Should they be unable to ink their Gold Glove first baseman, then Kansas City could find themselves in the midst of a rebuild.
Should Hosmer end up elsewhere, as seems likely given the salary he would command, the Royals do have options. In fact, they have one first baseman who has done everything short of offering to play for free to join their franchise. Logan Morrison, who grew up in the Kansas City area, desperately wants to be Royal.
Morrison may be one of the riskier free agents on the market, as one cannot be certain of what they would get from him. In his first seven seasons, the first baseman posted a .245/.325/.416 batting line, hitting 84 homers and 126 doubles. He had run afoul of the Marlins front office due to his Twitter usage, and struggled to find consistency with the bat.
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Signed late in the offseason to a one year, $2.5 Million “make good” contract, Morrison did just that in 2017. He produced a career year at the right time, with a solid .246/.353/.516 batting line, hitting 38 homers and 22 doubles. Morrison was even one of the Final Five players for the All Star Game, although he was unable to garner that first All Star appearance.
It is certainly questionable as to whether or not Morrison can continue at the pace he showed last year. He would certainly help make up for any lost power in the Royals lineup, and his on base skills would be a nice addition to a lineup that, all too often, hacks away at anything near the plate. However, he only had one 20 homer season prior to last year, making his performance seem to be a bit of an aberration.
Morrison may not be a fit in Kansas City for reasons aside from his inconsistent offense. Hosmer is prized for his defensive abilities at first as well, helping make the Royals infield look that much better by his ability to pluck low throws out of the dirt. Morrison, meanwhile, has been a below average first baseman throughout most of his career. As the Royals look to get back to the formula that made them successful, having a strong defensive presence at first would help. That is just not something that Morrison brings to the table.
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Logan Morrison desperately wants to be a part of the Kansas City Royals. He just does not fit what the Royals look for in a player.