Kendrys Morales had a good first week for the Twins after sitting out the first two months of the season and then signing a one-year, $7.5 million deal in June, but he’s been horrendous since then while hitting .209 with one homer and a .524 OPS in 33 games.
Today the Twins cut bait on the Morales move and surprisingly they not only found a taker for him they traded the 31-year-old designated hitter to the Mariners for a potentially useful 24-year-old reliever in Stephen Pryor.
Morales has shown some signs of life recently and hit well for Seattle last season, so the Mariners are betting on him adding a little thump to their lineup again down the stretch. He refused to re-sign with them this offseason, but that was when agent Scott Boras still had visions of a big multi-year deal and ... well, now Morales didn’t have a choice in the matter.
Meanwhile, the Twins can turn back to Josmil Pinto at designated hitter and pick up a hard-throwing right-hander in Pryor, who has a 2.81 ERA with 35 strikeouts in 32 innings as a big leaguer but has struggled since returning from an injury last year.