In Defense of Nyjer Morgan

Pirates' outfielder Nyjer Morgan has appeared to be the front runner for the Opening Day left fielder spot since Spring began. And he's been given every chance as, through Monday's game, he leads the team in at-bats with 56. However, Morgan is hitting only .179, with 5 steals in 8 attempts. Not exactly impressive, but it is just Spring Training and it's important not to get too worked up over these stats, even though I myself often do. It would be great, sure, to see Morgan tearing things up this Spring and maybe he would be if he wasn't practically given the left field job out of the gate. Brandon Moss, the presumptive starting right fielder, is also struggling, hitting .138 during his injury-plagued Spring. I have no doubt that openly giving a starting spot to anyone other than an established incumbent is not a great idea. But that doesn't mean that Morgan, and Moss, should not be the starting corner outfielders come Opening Day.

I have read little hate for Brandon Moss throughout the various Pirate Blogs. Nyjer Morgan, on the other hand, appears to have very few fans. I've read numerous posts and comments on various sites by people clamoring for Craig Monroe or Eric Hinske to start over Morgan. Even today, whygavs' Pat Lackey, among the biggest Morgan haters, reads way too much into a quote by Morgan from the Post-Gazette, somehow interpreting it as a whole mess of arrogance. And Dejan Kovacevic, in last week's Q&A on the PBC Blog, opined that he "could see him (Monroe) starting the year in right field. And Eric Hinske in left." Granted, he is expressing his opinion about what the Pirates might do, but this is exactly the type of sentiment being expressed by so many Pirate fans right now. And I just don't get it.

Perhaps some Pirate fans see in Morgan a little bit of Chris Duffy, the former Pirate outfielder who fizzled quickly after an impressive debut. In 193 games over parts of 3 seasons, Duffy hit .269 with 41 stolen bases. Morgan, in 86 games over the past 2 seasons, has hit .296 with 16 steals. Of the two, though, Duffy was superior defensively. Now I'm not saying that I'm hoping for Morgan what we all hoped for from Duffy three years ago. I do realize that with Nate McLouth already here, and Andrew McCuthen and Jose Tabata on their way, Morgan probably does not stand much chance of being a starter in Pittsburgh for long. But that is exactly why we need to see him play every day now. We need to see if Morgan is capable of playing as a regular in the Majors. If he's not, we need to know. Also, though he is too old to be considered a prospect, Morgan does have at least two seasons remaining before he becomes arbitration eligible, which makes him a fairly attractive commodity to be had in a trade. If the Atlanta Braves, among other teams, were so enamored with Duffy just 2 years ago, I could certainly see Morgan fetching a nice return on the trade market if he has a productive few months this year. Granted, something similar could be said for Monroe, but I doubt the return would be as nice. If you were a GM, who would you rather acquire: a 29 year old outfielder, with plus speed, who has a .296 career average and won't be eligible for arbitration for a couple of years or so, or a 32 year old outfielder with some pop, marginal speed, a .253 career average, .301 career on-base-percentage, who will be a free agent at the end of the year? I think that's clear.

Aside from the trade, who makes the lineup better? That is actually debatable, since the Bucs do lack power. Well, they lack speed too. So, a lineup beginning with Morgan offers the potential for stolen bases, at the very least. Let's say Morgan starts in left this year and hits .290 with a .350 OBP. He steals 30 some bases too. Those numbers hew pretty closely to his career averages. With that kind of performance from Morgan, with Freddy Sanchez and McLouth following, Morgan could easily score 100 runs and be considered a very solid lead off hitter. Now, if Monroe is in left, that might force McLouth back to lead off, followed by Sanchez and everyone else moving up a spot. Monroe might hit 5th or 6th in this lineup. He will provide some protection for Adam LaRoche and a little extra pop in the middle of the lineup. Monroe's career numbers for a full season project to about a .253 average and 23 home runs. That's pretty decent, but hardly noteworthy. It also means that the team will have no speed, with McLouth stealing as many bases as everyone else combined. Little speed, fewer men on base, more power. That's not a fair trade off for me.

Though I just rambled on about the strengths and weaknesses of the 2009 lineup, with either Morgan or Monrow in left, in reality, whoever ends up getting the nod will have little impact on the Pirates' playoff chances this year. Miracles do happen, but this team has not had a winning record since 1992, nor won more than 68 games since 2004. Neither Morgan nor Monroe will change that on their own. The new Pirates' management team states that they want to build a strong sustainable franchise that can compete every year. They are trying to do just that, but they aren't there yet. They're still in the building phase. Craig Monroe has no long-term future with the Pirates. Nyjer Morgan might. That is the small, but crucial, difference here. The Pirates need to see what they have in Morgan. They need to see if he can be an ace lead off hitter, or a valuable 4th or 5th outfielder, or trade bait, or just not Major League material. There is much less upside in Monroe, and the same goes for Eric Hinske too. It's great for a young team to have a couple of solid veterans on the bench, but when those veterans wind up in the starting lineup too often, the youngsters have little opportunity to grow.