Here's why the Rays were so excited to add Morel

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HOUSTON -- After acquiring Christopher Morel from the Cubs in the stunning Sunday trade that sent All-Star infielder Isaac Paredes to the Cubs, president of baseball operations Erik Neander revealed that the Rays had tried to land Morel “many times over” over the years.

“Christopher Morel is a player that we are really high on,” Neander said while discussing the deal that also yielded reliever Hunter Bigge and pitching prospect Ty Johnson. “Felt it was worth making a really difficult decision to go on this.”

It didn’t take long for the Rays to see a lot of the things their front office admired about Morel.

Morel arrived in the home clubhouse at Tropicana Field on Tuesday afternoon with a big smile on his face, greeting everyone he saw. Manager Kevin Cash asked the newest Ray where he felt most comfortable in the field, given his versatility and experience at multiple positions. Morel said his answer was, “Wherever I’ve got to be to help the team.”

“It’s a new opportunity. It’s a new family,” Morel said. “Trying to enjoy it here with new guys.”

Even on his first day with a new team, with only a few familiar faces in the clubhouse, Morel bounced around the dugout and cheered on his teammates. He was “fun to be around,” Cash said on Tuesday night. The 25-year-old carried himself with an energy that brought back memories of one of the most famously energetic players in franchise history.

“It’s the same guy, the energy that he brings, the big smile on his face, the way he talks to the guys,” said Rays Major League field coordinator Tomas Francisco, a fellow native of Santiago, Dominican Republic, who has watched Morel play for more than a decade. “That's [Willy] Adames 2.0.”

The Cubs recognized those qualities in Morel, too, having watched him develop from the time he was 16 years old. Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer told reporters, including MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian, that Morel was “as wonderful a human as I’ve been around.”

“Just a great kid. Everyone loves him. He treats everyone so well,” Hoyer said. “It’s really special. It’s hard to make that kind of deal.”

The Cubs preferred the stability of Paredes, especially considering Morel’s struggles at third base. Morel was off to a rough start at the plate as well, slashing just .199/.302/.373 at the time of the trade, but his underlying metrics and expected numbers indicated he had been the victim of some bad luck.

Morel is something of a Statcast darling, you see. His bat speed is in the 97th percentile among Major League hitters. That helps him generate tremendous power, leading to high-end average exit velocities (91st percentile last season), barrel rates (95th percentile) and hard-hit rates (92nd). He also has a strong arm (99th percentile arm strength last season) and runs well (average sprint speed of 28.6 feet/second).

“He’s one of the most talented baseball players I’ve ever seen,” Bigge said. “He can hit the ball really far. He’s really fast. He’s got a really strong arm. When he’s clicking, he’s unstoppable.”

The Rays aren’t quite sure where Morel will fit defensively. His best position is probably second base, and so far, he’s started one game at second and the other at DH. Ideally, Cash said, they’ll let him settle in at one spot. But Morel can play the outfield as well as multiple positions in the infield, and that versatility will buy the Rays time to figure out a long-term plan for him.

Morel also came with one more year of club control than Paredes, which appealed to Tampa Bay. He’ll strike out more often, putting more importance on his athleticism and ability to hit the ball over the fence, but the Rays believe his talent will shine through.

“You see a lot of life under the hood,” Neander said. “It’s the bat speed, It’s the power in every direction, the ability to hit the ball really hard that’s his offensive calling card.”

It didn’t take long for the Rays to see that, either.

In his Rays debut, Morel launched a 104.9 mph, 420-foot homer to left-center field. On Wednesday, he pulled a 107.3 mph, 379-foot blast down the left-field line. He became the third player in franchise history to homer in each of his first two games with Tampa Bay, joining Elijah Dukes (2007) and Lucas Duda (2017).

“It felt good,” Morel said through interpreter Manny Navarro. “The support and the emotions that everyone’s been giving me … it feels like I’ve been here all season.”