On May 29, 2010, Kendrys Morales launched a walk-off grand slam to deep center off Seattle reliever Brandon League. Back at home plate, his Angel teammates subjected him to the well intended ritual abuses that have become commonplace -- pounding his helmet, pulling punches to his ribs, tearing his jersey, all of that. Morales, like a lot of such conquering baseball heroes, collapsed under the weight of the celebration. But Morales didn't get up, and after several minutes, he was carried off.
Deep within the scrum, Morales had shattered his lower leg. If there was a bit of absurd humor to the circumstances surrounding his injury, it soon disappeared. Morales underwent surgery and then suffered setback upon setback. His rehab was torturous, and eventually we all wondered whether he would ever play again.
Yet this weekened, almost two years since that afternoon in Anaheim, Morales returned to the diamond. On Saturday, in his second game back, he ran the bases and scored, chugging hard all the way. And now the Angels, after all this time, are free to ponder the idea of having Kendrys Morales back and in the lineup.
Manager Mike Scioscia plans to have Morales ready for opening day, reports Marcia C. Smith of the Orange County Register. Of course, it remains to be seen whether Morales can stay healthy and return to his previous levels of performance. But assume he does. What will he mean for the Angels, who, after the most active of winters, have legitimate designs on the World Series?
Potentially, Morales could shore up one of the Angels' few weak spots. In the absence of Morales, the plan is for Anaheim to trot out 38-year-old Bobby Abreu as the primary DH. While Abreu has had an excellent career, he hasn't hit for adequate power since he was a Yankee. These days his lone modest skill is reaching base at an acceptable rate against right-handers. He's just not viable solution for an offense-only spot like DH.
The switch-hitting Morales, meanwhile, has a career batting line of .295/.354/.537 against right-handed pitching. (In contrast, Abreu slugged just .400 against RHPs last season.) Since Morales is still in what should be the back end of his prime seasons, it's reasonable to assume he can produce similarly against righties in 2012. He's simply a substantial upgrade over Abreu.
Morales has been much less impressive against lefties in his career (albeit across a limited sample), but the Angels can pair him with, say, Mark Trumbo (or even Vernon Wells, once Mike Trout arrives to stay) and in turn form a darn potent platoon at DH. If the Angels for some reason come to prefer Trumbo at third base, then Alberto Callaspo can man the position when a lefty is starting for the opposition (and thereby give the team a major defensive upgrade at the hot corner), thus freeing up Trumbo to spelll Morales at DH.
The larger point is that Morales should give the already loaded Angels two things they need: better production from the DH spot and pop from the left side. There should be no doubt that Morales as the dominant half of a DH platoon will make the Angels a better team.
As for Abreu, it's difficult to envision a meaningful role for him. A player with such limited skills probably won't command much interest on the trade market. Since he's owed $9 million in this, the final year of his contract, dealing him away and assuming a hefty portion of his salary is a possibility, as is treating him as a sunk cost and releasing him. The Angels have simply committed too much money and too much "organizational capital" to this season to do anything short of putting the absolute best team on the field at all times. If that means paying Abreu to play for someone else or even play golf, then so be it. Morales, even after all this time on the sidelines, means much more to them.