First the good:
a) He has been a good teammate
b) His triple slash on its surface isn't awful .250/.337/.443
And now everything else:
His OPS plus is 101 and wRC+ is 99 and he is being paid 22 million a year as a clean up hitter at a non-premium defensive position.
He has been replacement level this year and netted about half a win over his tenure and earned 5.6 million despite being paid 66 over his first three seasons.
Part of his lack of production has been due to being banged up. Except he hasn't been DL'd since August of his first season, so we have been stuck with a seemingly declining clean up hitter, who may or may not ever get to 100% and needs to play every day.
While he is 7th in WAR among DH's, 4 of those players play the field a lot more than he can. He would be 25th among 27 qualified at first base. Were he able to play first base more often early in the season, maybe Pedey and Xander who looks dog tired could have gotten much needed breaks to just DH 3 days a week and get Moreland out of the lineup when he was ice cold.
On top of this, his option will vest for 2019 with enough playing time.
For all the wrath directed at Mitch Moreland, I would argue the one player killing the team the most is Hanley given his spot in the lineup and his inflexible positioning.
Other thoughts?
a) He has been a good teammate
b) His triple slash on its surface isn't awful .250/.337/.443
And now everything else:
His OPS plus is 101 and wRC+ is 99 and he is being paid 22 million a year as a clean up hitter at a non-premium defensive position.
He has been replacement level this year and netted about half a win over his tenure and earned 5.6 million despite being paid 66 over his first three seasons.
Part of his lack of production has been due to being banged up. Except he hasn't been DL'd since August of his first season, so we have been stuck with a seemingly declining clean up hitter, who may or may not ever get to 100% and needs to play every day.
While he is 7th in WAR among DH's, 4 of those players play the field a lot more than he can. He would be 25th among 27 qualified at first base. Were he able to play first base more often early in the season, maybe Pedey and Xander who looks dog tired could have gotten much needed breaks to just DH 3 days a week and get Moreland out of the lineup when he was ice cold.
On top of this, his option will vest for 2019 with enough playing time.
For all the wrath directed at Mitch Moreland, I would argue the one player killing the team the most is Hanley given his spot in the lineup and his inflexible positioning.
Other thoughts?
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