Logan Morrison: 38 HR, .246/.353/.516, 2 SB, 130 wRC+, 3.3 fWAR
One year, $6.5 million
The Minnesota Twins are looking like sneaky contenders for next season, at least for the AL Wild Card, and they added Logan Morrison to a lineup that is a little deeper than you might expect. Behind big boppers Miguel Sano and Brian Dozier, Morrison will join Joe Mauer, the emerging Byron Buxton, and Eddie Rosario, among others. Morrison is limited defensively and will likely split time at first base and DH with Mauer, but his big, and the Twins hope he can repeat his career year from last year. In 149 games, Morrison slashed .246/.353/.516 with 38 home runs, good for a 130 wRC+ on the strength of a 13.5% walk rate, so his low, .246 batting average was hardly an issue. If he can keep up that high walk rate and even just approach his power from last season, his bat will be worth that $6.5 million. However, there is reason for pause because as recently as 2016, Morrison slashed .238/.319/.414 with 14 home runs and a 100 wRC+ over 107 games, and his numbers from 2015 were even worse. I do think Morrison's power breakout was for real, though, because his ground ball rate dropped dramatically from 44.7% in 2015 and 44.2% in 2016 to just 33.3% in 2017, as he focused more on lifting the ball and driving it over the fence. Look for Morrison to chase 30 home runs again in 2018. For his career, the Kansas City native has 122 home runs, a .245/.330/.433 slash line, and 5.6 fWAR over 864 games.
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