Was Signing Morales a Mistake?

[brandonwarne52]

The Blue Jays seemed to wave the white flag on bringing back both Bautista and/or Encarnacion when they signed Morales, and really only got lucky when they were the last team standing for Bautista.

I think they kind of overplayed their hand here, when they probably could have/should have afford to keep both guys.

[renuszm]

I can tell you right now that everyone in Toronto was pretty outraged at the way this was handled. If they had waited a few weeks, they could have had Edwin at less than what they originally offered. Most people wanted him back more than Bautista, too.

I'm thinking that Shapiro and Atkins probably felt they needed to do exactly what they did when it became clear they weren't going to bring back David Price, they went out and got JA Happ. They hit the lottery with Happ, but I don't think Morales can replace Edwin's production.

[brandonwarne52]

At this point, I think they could have just signed Pedro Alvarez to replace that production for a LOT cheaper.

[thejon]

Feb 16, 2017 11:31:11 GMT -6 brandonwarne52 said:

At this point, I think they could have just signed Pedro Alvarez to replace that production for a LOT cheaper.

Agreed.  I like that Morales is a switch hitter I guess but we could have just platooned Pierce and Alvarez and probably gotten a better result, for less money. 

[renuszm]

I read an article by Jonah Keri a while back discussing this move, and he pointed out one of the more underrated parts of Edwin's game is his base running, even though he's by no means a speedster. I always thought good baserunning became part of the Jays identity over the past few years. He pointed out that Morales was one of the worst in the league.

[brandonwarne52]

Can't speak to that from seeing him. He was only in MN briefly and didn't play all that well :S

[brandonwarne52]

Correction: 45.4 runs below average for his career via Fangraphs. Woof.