MLB Free Agency: Kendrys Morales hurt by fact that teams view him only as DH

It makes little sense that a switch-hitter who had 23 home runs and 80 RBI in 2013 is still looking for work. What’s more, there is hardly even a market for Kendrys Morales.

Nick Cafardo provides the following update about the free agent in this morning’s Boston Globe:

"The silence on Morales is deafening, which is strange for a hitter of his magnitude. We understand the compensation issue in signing him, but teams such as the Brewers, Orioles, Mariners, and Astros could still use his bat. Agent Scott Boras was told recently that a team didn’t want to spend that much on a DH."

Cafardo also writes that Boras bristled at the notion, pointing to David Ortiz and insisting that designated hitters are valuable enough to justify a big signing.

Morales played first base in only 31 games in 2013 and was designated hitter for 122 games. That ratio was approximately the same in 2012, when he played 28 games at first and 92 as DH for the Los Angeles Angels.

Boras also claimed that teams should not view him exclusively as a designated hitter:

"And Kendrys is a very good first baseman.”"

To be fair, Morales only committed one error in 274 innings at first last season. Still, there has to be a good reason that teams choose to deploy him primarily as a DH. It is understandable that teams don’t want to pay big and give up a draft pick for a guy who won’t play defense.

Boras still might be able to get Morales a big deal once panic sets in for certain teams, but for now, all is quiet. This off-season Morales has been linked to the Baltimore Orioles and Kansas City Royals among other teams.