Would Pirates Buy Low on Logan Morrison?

Logan Morrison plays first base.  The Pittsburgh Pirates are looking for help at the position this offseason.  Opinions vary on whether or not Morrison would actually provide that help for the Bucs, but at the very least he is a buy low option should the Pirates be interested.

We find it odd that Rosenthal mentioned Morrison and power in the same tweet, because Morrison didn’t provide much power last season.  Looking at his numbers he ranked near the bottom of isolated slugging.

The 26-year old hit .242/.333/.375 with just six homers.  He played 85 games and drove in 36 runs after coming back from knee surgery.  Baseball America twice ranked Morrison as one of the game’s 20 best prospects.  He was 18 in 2009 and 20 in 2010 which put him just behind Giancarlo Stanton in both years.

So let’s take a look at his best season back in 2011 when he ripped 23 bombs in 525 at-bats.  That Logan Morrison would help the Pirates.  The player that has been injured while hitting 17 in his next 667 at-bats in 2012 and 2013 combined would not.

The spray chart from 2011 shows some bombs that would easily clear the Clemente Wall.  But the thing is since 2011, LoMo has been mostly pull happy and the fly ball outs have skyrocketed while his offensive numbers have dove.

After the Rosenthal tweet yesterday, it was hilarious to see Morrison’s response.  The Marlins first baseman might explode twitter should he ever come to the Burgh had some funny tweets regarding the rumor.

Morrison tells Rosenthal to use his twitter handle and also tosses in a compliment.

In his response, Rosenthal still uses LOL?

The bottom line is the Pirates always want to buy low.  If their scouts have a good feeling about Morrison, he certainly has the ability to bust out in 2014.  Be sure to read this before you develop an opinion on Morrison.  Outside the Lines