Let's talk about Christopher Morel

[CubinNY]

Ok, as a Cubs fan you have to love the smile and joy with which he plays the game. However, Morel has been slumping badly for most of the 2nd half of the season. But now he has 2 big HRs in two days and has 16 HRs in about 3/4 of a season. He is capable but not outstanding in both the infield and outfield.

 

He seems like he may have more value to the Cubs than as a trade candidate. I see him as a middle-class Ben Zobrist type who they can plug in multiple places almost every day rather than locking him into one position. I think he is very useful and valuable moving forward.

[Bertz]

I love him and if anything ever happens to him I will hurl myself into an active volcano

[champaignchris]

I have a hard time seeing any scenario (other than injury) where he isn’t the 2023 Opening Day starter at 2B, 3B or CF.

 

The Cubs’ off-season job is to acquire enough talent to turn Morel into the 7th or 8th best every day player on the team instead of the 4th or 5th.

[Rex Buckingham]

He is a lot of fun and I want him to play for the Cubs for a long time. Hopefully as a bench player who plays around 100 games all over the field.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

It's a little misleading because the arbitrary month cutoffs are concealing when his struggles really begin and ended(and his September is obviously unsustainable), but it's a nice surprise that he's been an above average hitter in every month but August.

 

 

To me, the current version of Morel is ideal to be the 9th or 10th best position player on a championship caliber team. The positional flexibility and physical gifts would add benefit beyond the raw production by filling gaps or allowing for optimized matchups. Next year's Cubs aren't going to enter the season looking like a championship caliber team, so I would do the next best thing and try to build the position player group that he has the fatter half of a platoon's playing time. To me the most obvious fit is something like partnering with a Kiermeier profile in CF and also offering some depth to 3B if Wisdom and whoever else is in the 1B/DH mix falters or simply needs rest. That assumes one of the SS is coming and that the team is reasonably okay with Madrigal and/or McKinstry on the roster next year so middle infield reps would be harder to come by(though not verboten). If he makes a leap, great. If not, then there's a lot of OF help coming on the farm that might usurp his more regular playing time, and he's more comfortable defensively on the infield anyway.

[sneakypower]

That assumes [..] that the team is reasonably okay with Madrigal and/or McKinstry on the roster next year

[Transmogrified Tiger]

That assumes [..] that the team is reasonably okay with Madrigal and/or McKinstry on the roster next year

 

If that's a red line and you like Morel at 2B, then call the SS acquisition Correa or Bogaerts and let him play some 3B and shift Morel's infield time from 3B to 2B. I think the main idea is SS and Hoerner are going to play a ton and Wisdom has earned at least a similar amount of playing time as Morel, so while Morel playing on the infield isn't impossible and he should continue to get reps, he has a clearer path to significant time that optimizes the team's success in CF.

[Bertz]

It's a little misleading because the arbitrary month cutoffs are concealing when his struggles really begin and ended(and his September is obviously unsustainable), but it's a nice surprise that he's been an above average hitter in every month but August.

 

 

To me, the current version of Morel is ideal to be the 9th or 10th best position player on a championship caliber team. The positional flexibility and physical gifts would add benefit beyond the raw production by filling gaps or allowing for optimized matchups. Next year's Cubs aren't going to enter the season looking like a championship caliber team, so I would do the next best thing and try to build the position player group that he has the fatter half of a platoon's playing time. To me the most obvious fit is something like partnering with a Kiermeier profile in CF and also offering some depth to 3B if Wisdom and whoever else is in the 1B/DH mix falters or simply needs rest. That assumes one of the SS is coming and that the team is reasonably okay with Madrigal and/or McKinstry on the roster next year so middle infield reps would be harder to come by(though not verboten). If he makes a leap, great. If not, then there's a lot of OF help coming on the farm that might usurp his more regular playing time, and he's more comfortable defensively on the infield anyway.

 

Yeah I think this is the right way to think about it. Even if Jed crushes it this offseason, we're likely looking at a good number of question marks in the lineup between the rookies, the fragile guys (Hoerner and if he's indeed the guy Correa), Wisdom's defense at 3B, and like you said that Madrigal/Mckinstry roster spot. It would be really nice to have Morel as the 10th man, knowing he'll get full playing time but the where can be dependent on what things are going wrong.

[CubinNY]

Madrigal/Mckinstry

 

I'm hoping either/or not both. I'd lean toward Madrigal, but his inability to stay healthy is a problem, to say the least.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Madrigal/Mckinstry

 

I'm hoping either/or not both. I'd lean toward Madrigal, but his inability to stay healthy is a problem, to say the least.

 

I'm guessing it'll be situationally dependent. Madrigal is the more productive player in the abstract, and in a team with the positional flexibility of guys like Morel and Hoerner he could easily have a consistent bench role. McKinstry is the only left handed infielder though and on top of being able to fill in beyond 2B he's out of options. I wouldn't be surprised if both are on the opening day roster for various reasons, but my guess is if that happens it's a function of like ST injuries or some similar circumstance. There's 4 spots for non-catcher bench + DH, and it's very easy to see most of those taken up by Morel/CF, another OF(Velazquez/Ortega), and a bat first DH option(Reyes, Mervis if another 1B is added).

[Tryptamine]

I'll take Madrigal, but I think what he was on the WSox is pretty much his ceiling at this point. I had hoped he'd grow into 10/15 hr pop but that's likely not a thing anymore. He's probably a 2.5-3.5 fWAR guy if he managed to stay on the field all year.

[Derwood]

Morel looks like a strong back of the bullpen guy