FORT MYERS, Fla. – Having addressed the pitching staff through trades and free-agent signings, the Twins belatedly turned to their offense Sunday.
The wait didn't seem to hurt their catch.
Logan Morrison, a 30-year-old first baseman who crushed 38 home runs during a career year with the Tampa Bay Rays last season, agreed to a one-year contract that guarantees him only $6.5 million, a person with knowledge of the terms said Sunday. The deal can become a two-year contract if the Twins trigger an option for 2019, but it tops out at $16.5 million regardless.
For a player whose home run total would have led the Twins last season, and ditto his .868 on-base-plus-slugging, Morrison appears to be a last-minute bargain. And his new teammates like the sound of adding another lefthanded power hitter into the middle of what was already projected to be one of the AL's best offenses.
"I've heard a lot of good things about him. Obviously everybody knows he can hit. We're excited to have anybody with that kind of power in the locker room," Twins righthander Kyle Gibson said. "We've got a lot of guys in the locker room who are really good players, and it's only making us a deeper team and a better team."
In fact, where he fits will be an interesting question. Morrison has played the outfield, but only 14 times since 2012. He's a first baseman who can occasionally spell Joe Mauer at the position, and he served as designated hitter 34 times in two seasons in Tampa Bay. He bats lefthanded like Mauer, Eddie Rosario and Max Kepler, and has significantly less power against lefthanded pitching. He could take playing time from Robbie Grossman, who bats righthanded, and might put Kennys Vargas' roster spot in jeopardy.
Morrison, a 22nd-round draft pick by the Marlins out of high school in Slidell, La., in 2005, is expected to report to camp Monday to undergo a physical and sign his contract. The eight-year veteran, who has played for the Marlins, Mariners and Rays, is the sixth free agent to sign a major league contract with the Twins this offseason, and first position player. Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey has also signed pitchers Michael Pineda, Fernando Rodney, Zach Duke, Addison Reed and Anibal Sanchez, none of them for longer than two years or for more than Reed's $16.75 million guarantee.
Still, Morrison's contract will push the Twins past their record Opening Day payroll of $113 million, set in 2011. The Twins have almost exactly that amount committed now to 18 players who have signed contracts, with a half-dozen or so minimum-salary deals awaiting that should bring the salary outlay to more than $116 million. That should rank them close to the median of major league payrolls, and is a roughly $8 million increase over 2017.
