Brent Morel to be Moved to 2B

Jul 21, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Former Chicago White Sox third baseman B. Morel (22) fields a ground ball off the bat of Atlanta Braves right fielder

Justin Upton

(not pictured) in the seventh inning at US Cellular Field. Chicago won 3-1. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

According to Bruce Levin of 670TheScore, this is happening

The former Chicago White Sox player was picked off the waiver wire back in December for depth purposes.  He was once considered to be the future White Sox 3B.

It’s a move that makes sense for the Blue Jays and Morel given the current state of the position for Toronto.  Moving Morel gives Toronto a viable MLB replacement should young 2B Ryan Goins show he’s not ready to be the full time starter.  It also gives the left handed hitting Goins a decent platoon partner, as Morel has a slashline of .247/.293/.359 with 6 HR in 248 PAs against left handed pitching.

As far as Morel’s defense?  Well, we’ll see.  As a 3B last season, Morel had 0 for Defensive Runs Saved according to Fangraphs.com and also a -0.5 UZR in 68.1 innings.  If Morel gave the Blue Jays that at 2B last season, it would still have been better than the fielding disasters that were Maicer Izturis and Emilio Bonifacio.

With some work, the position change will should increase Morel’s MLB value just by making him more versatile.  A -0.4 for his career at 3B makes him currently replaceable.  Hopefully this change will lead to more success for the new Blue Jay.