The Baltimore Orioles, Pittsburgh Pirates and "one or two mystery teams" are interested in acquiring Twins first baseman Justin Morneau, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.
Justin Morneau rumors: Orioles, Pirates among those interested in Twins 1B
We officially have our first mystery team sighting of the trade deadline.
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Minnesota is reportedly willing to listen in on offers for the four-time All-Star, who will be a free agent at the end of the season. Heyman adds that the Rangers and Yankees were both in search of a bat, but speculates that Morneau is unlikely to be on their radars because they're both searching for a right-handed hitter.
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Say what now? Didn't they *just* get him?The 32-year-old Morneau is, sadly, now a shell of his former MVP self, but he still has the potential to help a team in need of a left-handed hitting 1B/DH option for the stretch-run. The O's have been on the hunt for help at DH since Wilson Betemit went down in spring training, so Morneau could be their guy.
The Pirates’ need for Morneau is less apparent. The club’s current first baseman, Gaby Sanchez, isn’t exactly lighting the world on fire, but his numbers this year are a better than Morneau’s.
Morneau has battled with post-concussion symptoms for much of the last four years, but appears to be in a good place this season even if his numbers don’t reflect it. Once a perennial 30-home-run threat, Morneau is batting .262/.323/.393 with just eight home runs in 415 plate appearances this year.
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