The New York Yankees have signed veteran first baseman Logan Morrison to a minor-league deal, according to MassLive.com's Chris Cotillo. He will go to extended spring training before he ends up with the Yankees' Triple-A affiliate Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. Morrison has an opt-out date of July 1 and will make $1 million if he's added to the major league roster, reports ESPN's Jeff Passan.
Morrison will have to prove himself before getting the call-up to the big-league lineup, but it's going to be very interesting if he does end up in the New York clubhouse. When Morrison didn't get an invite to the 2017 Home Run Derby, he took out his frustration on Gary Sanchez.
"Gary shouldn't be here," Morrison said. "Gary's a great player, but he shouldn't be in the Home Run Derby. I remember when I had 14 home runs. That was a month and a half ago."
At the time, Morrison had 24 home runs to Sanchez's 13.
Sanchez didn't spend any energy entertaining Morrison's bitterness, and said the following in response: "They [MLB] gave me an invitation. That's something I have no control over. It's not my fault he didn't get selected"
Sanchez was a household name by the time he was 24-years-old, plus he plays for one of the biggest markets in all of baseball, so it makes sense why MLB invited him. He brings excitement as a young player, and that's the goal of a marquee event like the Home Run Derby. It's also worth noting that Sanchez didn't have any trouble picking up the pace as he finished the '17 season with 33 to Morrison's 38.
But if you thought that the Sanchez-Morrison tension would be the only source of awkwardness, you'd be wrong. Morrison also took a jab at Yankees fans last season. "They didn't like the Gary Sanchez thing with the Home Run Derby," Morrison said, before the Twins took on the Yankees back in April of 2018. "But you can't fix stupid, you know?"
Looking past Morrison's disgruntled history with New York, the signing could potentially help the injury-riddled Yankees. First baseman Greg Bird is out for at least a month after suffering a plantar fascia tear in his left foot. And with outfielders Aaron Hicks and Giancarlo Stanton also still on the injured list, Morrison could help fill in because he has experience in left field. Depending on how Morrison looks in Triple-A, he could help the Yankees sooner rather than later, but ultimately it's a low-risk, high-reward signing.
Morrison, 31, played 95 games for the Minnesota Twins last year, slashing .186/.276/.368 with 15 homers and 39 RBI before undergoing season-ending surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left hip last August. In 2017, Morrison hit 38 home runs and drove in a career-high 85 runs over 149 games with the Tampa Bay Rays.
