Could the Chicago Cubs be finding a permanent home for Christopher Morel’s dynamic bat at first base?
The Chicago Cubs have known for a while that finding Christopher Morel a permanent position to keep his bat in would be huge for their future. They also need someone to man first base. It looks as if they might try to solve both issues this winter:
Jed Hoyer on finding a position for Christopher Morel:
"It’s an ongoing conversation, but we’ve talked a lot about finding him a home and I do think we wanna give him some work at first and see how he reacts to that."
— Andy Martínez (@amartinez_11) November 8, 2023
It was pretty well known that going into 2024 the Chicago Cubs would need first base to be much better than it was at the start of the 2023 season. Guys like Eric Hosmer and Trey Mancini getting a majority of the at-bats at the position in the first half can’t happen for a team looking to make a real run. There have been some different ideas about addressing the position.
Pete Alonso has come up in rumors, Cody Bellinger would be happily welcomed back, Rhys Hoskins was officially made a free agent and would be a good fit, and even Matt Mervis wouldn’t be out of the question after a solid run in Triple-A after being sent down. However, it looks like Christopher Morel will get a real look at being the answer.
It’s easy to see why the team wants to give this a shot. The position Morel has looked the best at during his major league time, second base, is currently occupied by a Gold Glover who should be there for the long haul. Also, most teams don’t want to have just one set locked in DH. One of the few exceptions to that rule is the certain two-way player the Chicago Cubs will be targeting this offseason.
At just 24 years old, Morel certainly isn’t a finished product, and learning first base, and being at least serviceable with the glove, is not at all out of the question. This will certainly be something interesting to keep and eye on this winter as these games are played and the team makes some trades and free agent acquisitions.
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