Pirates and Kendrys Morales have “mutual interest”

Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe passes this report along in his always-info-packed weekly Sunday notes column:

Kendrys Morales, 1B/DH, free agent — Morales fits what the Pirates need, a first baseman/middle of the order hitter. There’s mutual interest, but while the Pirates would love him on the right contract, they may also pursue a first baseman via trade. There are a few possible candidates, including the Mets’ Ike Davis, Toronto’s Adam Lind, Texas’s Mitch Moreland, and even Seattle’s Justin Smoak and Boston’s Daniel Nava and Mike Carp.

It’s been a sluggish winter for Morales, who declined a one-year, $14.1 million qualifying offer from the Mariners in November thus tying himself to draft pick compensation. The 30-year-old batted .277/.336/.449 with 23 homers and 80 RBI last summer for Seattle, starting 121 games at DH and 31 at first base.

Pittsburgh lost Justin Morneau to free agency and could use a high-impact bat for first base, but the club would have to surrender its 2014 first-round draft pick to sign Morales and that makes a marriage unlikely given the success of the Bucs’ recent youth movement. Andrew McCutchen (2005), Pedro Alvarez (2008), Gerrit Cole (2011), and Neil Walker (2004) were all first-round selections.

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