Baltimore Orioles: Delmon Young, Kendrys Morales Comparison
Sep 27, 2013; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Tampa Bay Rays designated hitter Delmon Young (15) hits a solo home run in the second inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
Now that the Baltimore Orioles have gone out to the free agent market and purchased a couple of pricey items off the shelf, it seems that the fans would like to see them continue to fill up the shopping cart a bit more. Spending is contagious, though it is sort of like Margaret Thatcher’s famous critique of socialism, “Eventually you run out of other people’s money to spend.”
I have to say that I am a bit surprised at the level of interest from Orioles fans to particularly pursue Kendrys Morales. This, of course, would involve some considerable expense over several years and the loss of another draft pick. Morales (a Scott Boras client) turned down a qualifying offer of $14.1 million – looking now like a bad decision.
I have written on previous occasions about the entire LF/DH situation, about which there are roughly 10 players in the running for these positions. My conclusion was that a platoon in LF of David Lough and Nolan Reimold, with a DH platoon of Delmon Young and Henry Urrutia would be a decent solution. I know that not everyone agrees with this and that some people would like the strength of an accomplished regular designated hitter … like … oh … say … Kendrys Morales?
It has been my intent at some point to lay down, side by side, the statistics of both Young and Morales. Young is with the Orioles on a minor league contract with invite to spring training. Morales would probably cost about 15 times as much to secure.
Young is younger. This will be the former first-rounder’s age 28 season. People are surprised he is not older, in that he has been around for a long time. Morales will be in his age 31 season. Young bats from the right side, while Morales is a switch-hitter.
Their career averages are similar with Young at .282 and Morales at .280. Kendrys does hit with a bit more power, and his OBP is better in that he works more walks. The situational splits are interesting relative to average against LHP/RHP – Young is .303/.267 and Morales is .262/.286.
Young has a current streak of playing in five consecutive postseasons – Twins in 2009, Tigers in 2010-12, Rays 2013.
In speaking with the Orioles’ media this week he said, “Offensively, defensively, pitching, this team stacks up with the teams that I’ve been to that I’ve gone to the playoffs, that have gone deep in the playoffs and teams that narrowly miss … a lot of power arms, power bats and a lot of good athletes here.”
In that Morales would be massively more expensive, possess no defensive potential at all, and be a terrapin-like baserunner … along with all the current choices available, I don’t see the slightly better offensive numbers over Young to be worth it. To put a negative spin on a Buck Showalter common quote these days, “I don’t think he is worth waiting for.”
I understand there is another opinion and another take on this subject. But I say, “Save the money to spend on keeping Chris Davis.”
Here are the stats for the two players… Young first, then Morales (from Baseball-Reference.com) …
Year |
Age
Tm
Lg
G
PA
AB
R
H
2B
3B
HR
RBI
SB
CS
BB
SO
BA
OBP
SLG
OPS
2006
20
TBDAL
30
131
126
16
40
9
1
3
10
2
2
1
24
.317
.336
.476
.812
2007
21
TBDAL
162
681
645
65
186
38
0
13
93
10
3
26
127
.288
.316
.408
.723
2008
22
MINAL
152
623
575
80
167
28
4
10
69
14
5
35
105
.290
.336
.405
.741
2009
23
MINAL
108
416
395
50
112
16
2
12
60
2
5
12
92
.284
.308
.425
.733
2010
24
MINAL
153
613
570
77
170
46
1
21
112
5
4
28
81
.298
.333
.493
.826
2011
25
TOTAL
124
503
473
54
127
21
1
12
64
1
0
23
85
.268
.302
.393
.695
2011
25
MINAL
84
325
305
26
81
16
0
4
32
1
0
18
55
.266
.305
.357
.662
2011
25
DETAL
40
178
168
28
46
5
1
8
32
0
0
5
30
.274
.298
.458
.756
2012
26
DETAL
151
608
574
54
153
27
1
18
74
0
2
20
112
.267
.296
.411
.707
2013
27
TOTMLB
103
361
334
30
87
16
0
11
38
0
0
20
78
.260
.307
.407
.715
2013
27
PHINL
80
291
272
22
71
13
0
8
31
0
0
14
69
.261
.302
.397
.699
2013
27
TBRAL
23
70
62
8
16
3
0
3
7
0
0
6
9
.258
.329
.452
.780
Career
983
3936
3692
426
1042
201
10
100
520
34
21
165
704
.282
.316
.423
.739
Year |
Age
Tm
Lg
G
PA
AB
R
H
2B
3B
HR
RBI
SB
CS
BB
SO
BA
OBP
SLG
OPS
2006
23
LAAAL
57
215
197
21
46
10
1
5
22
1
1
17
28
.234
.293
.371
.664
2007
24
LAAAL
43
126
119
12
35
10
0
4
15
0
1
6
21
.294
.333
.479
.812
2008
25
LAAAL
27
66
61
7
13
2
0
3
8
0
1
4
7
.213
.273
.393
.666
2009
26
LAAAL
152
622
566
86
173
43
2
34
108
3
7
46
117
.306
.355
.569
.924
2010
27
LAAAL
51
211
193
29
56
5
0
11
39
0
1
12
31
.290
.346
.487
.833
2012
29
LAAAL
134
522
484
61
132
26
1
22
73
0
1
31
116
.273
.320
.467
.787
2013
30
SEAAL
156
657
602
64
167
34
0
23
80
0
0
49
114
.277
.336
.449
.785
Career
620
2419
2222
280
622
130
4
102
345
4
12
165
434
.280
.333
.480
.813