JUPITER, Fla. -- If everything pans out, the Marlins may have discovered a diamond in the rough with one of their low-round Draft picks.

 

Logan Morrison is rising quickly through the system and gaining acclaim as one of the strongest hitters in the Minor Leagues.

 

The 21-year-old from Slidell, La., landed in Florida's farm system as a 22nd-round pick in the 2005 First-Year Player Draft. That was the season the Marlins used all five of their first-round picks on pitchers, selecting Chris Volstad, Aaron Thompson, Ryan Tucker, Sean West and Jacob Marceaux.

 

 

 

Because Morrison didn't sign initially, he wasn't in camp with that group in 2005. Instead, the 6-foot-2, 215-pound first baseman/left fielder opted to attend Maplewoods Community College in Kansas City. It's the same school that produced Albert Pujols.

 

On Draft day in 2005, the Marlins were planning to select Morrison in the eighth round. He wasn't ready to sign in that spot, so Florida picked him as a draft-and-follow, meaning it had a full year to sign him before the 2006 Draft.

 

In recent years, First-Year Player Draft rules have changed, and teams don't have that extended period to sign players they've selected.

 

Morrison ultimately came to terms with the Marlins before the 2006 Draft. He now appears to be a bargain.

 

"For me, [junior college] was a good investment, because I decided what they were offering me was enough and I went from there," said Morrison, who is in his first big league camp.

 

Morrison is trying to prove that you don't have to be a high pick to make it to the big leagues.

 

"After we drafted him, we followed him the next year," said Marlins director of scouting Stan Meek. "He started to get more lift in his swing. His makeup was good. He's just taken off. He's always been able to hit. He's worked on the other parts of his game, too, to become a complete player."

 

The player Morrison reminds Meek of is Ryan Klesko.

 

"I think he is a better hitter than Klesko, with more power," Meek said. "He just improved himself as an all-around hitter."

 

There are a number of examples of low-drafted players who panned out for Florida.

 

Former Marlins Mike Lowell and Mike Jacobs also were taken down the line in the Draft. Lowell was selected by the Yankees in the 20th round in 1995, and Jacobs was a 38th-round choice by the Mets in '99.

 

"It doesn't matter what round," Morrison said. "At the same time, it's all about you getting your opportunity. When you get your opportunity, take it and run with it. I'm not there yet. So I haven't really done anything."

 

The general thinking is Morrison is on the fast track to get to the big leagues within the next year.

 

From across the league, Meek has heard high praises for the left-handed hitter and thrower.

 

"I think everybody thinks [Morrison] has a real good chance to become a real good big league hitter," Meek said. "I keep hearing he's one of the better Minor League hitters [scouts] have seen."

 

Morrison is coming off a breakout 2008 campaign, during which he posted impressive numbers for Class A Jupiter on his way to being named the Florida State League's MVP.

 

In 130 games, he batted .332 with 13 homers and 74 RBIs. He added 38 doubles, a triple and scored 71 runs.

 

Showing patience at the plate, he drew 57 walks and struck out 80 times while compiling a .402 on-base and .494 slugging percentage.

 

Riding the momentum from a strong season, Morrison had an even more impressive stint in the Arizona Fall League.

 

In 25 games and 99 at-bats with Mesa, he hit .404 with a .444 on-base and a .667 slugging percentage.

 

Morrison's performance in the AFL put him more noticeably on the map of many evaluators.

 

"All that on-the-map stuff is pretty much for the media and fans," said Morrison. "I know what I can do. It was a confidence booster to know that I can do well against those guys the media always talk about."

 

Morrison realizes being in big league camp is a showcase opportunity. Not many make the leap from Class A to the Major Leagues. That's not really what the Marlins are expecting of the 21-year-old.

 

"Realistically, do I have a shot of making this team? I probably don't," Morrison said. "I just want to come in here and turn some heads."

 

When the season opens, Morrison projects to be at Double-A Jacksonville. In the eyes of the Marlins, once a player shows success at Double-A, they won't hesitate to bring them fast to the big leagues.

 

At the big league level, a challenge that awaits players like Morrison is to stay mentally tough.

 

Jeff Conine, now a Marlins special assistant, said young hitters have to stay mentally focused to make it in the big leagues.

 

"A pitched ball is a pitched ball, whether it is in A-ball or Triple-A or the big leagues," Conine said. "Obviously, the quality gets better as you go up. But you still have to put the bat on the ball. The biggest thing in the big leagues is, if you have a weakness, they'll expose it a lot more quickly than they will at the Minor League levels."

 

The results Morrison produced last year earned him some high accolades. Baseball American ranked him as the third-best prospect in the Florida State League. He also was an FSL All-Star.

 

In Florida, Morrison is finding opportunity to advance, but he is aware there are talented players also in line with him. That's one reason why he is playing two positions -- first base and left field.

 

"There is a lot of talent here," Morrison said. "They say it is easy to move up, but not with some of the guys we have now. We've got guys in front of guys, and guys behind guys, who can hit and who can play. "In any organization, you have to force your way in. I'm just trying to do that."

 

Joe Frisaro is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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Will be interesting to see what happens if he tears it up in double A, could he get called up before the september call ups? Im guessing for him to get called up hermi,dallas, or sanchez would have to be struggling bad.

It would be awesome to see Morrison outplay Sanchez in spring training and somehow win the starting position from him.

I sent him and Ceda letters asking them to sign my card during my yearly Spring Training autograph mailouts today. Last year I got Rick Vanden Hurk, Burke Badenhop, and Matt Dominguez.

I am loving the Ryan Klesko comps.

For some reason I've always thought more along the lines of Lance Berkman as a comparison.

Ryan Klesko? He reminds me nothing of Klesko except that he played 1st and Outfield. I see Morrison I think Todd Helton

Ryan Klesko? He reminds me nothing of Klesko except that he played 1st and Outfield. I see Morrison I think Todd Helton

 

 

that's a little strong, I mean the guy hasn't even played a game in the majors.

Ryan Klesko? He reminds me nothing of Klesko except that he played 1st and Outfield. I see Morrison I think Todd Helton

 

 

that's a little strong, I mean the guy hasn't even played a game in the majors.

Neither did Helton until he played in the majors.

It would be awesome to see Morrison outplay Sanchez in spring training and somehow win the starting position from him.

That would be horrible and the Marlins aren't that stupid. Morrison is one of our top commodities right now. You develop him. You don't rush him because that's what you're doing if you evaluate him on 20 games in the spring versus seasons of minor league play. If he comes up, all he's going to see is breaking pitches and left handers and he's going to get obliterated. He needs AA. Also, I'm pretty sure none of you understand how the 40 man roster works with these posts. This creates additional problems there too. Morrison has to be on the 40 man by next year. I expect him to have a Gaby career path. He will get a taste in September this year, and then have to fight his way onto the roster in 2010. If not, he ends up in AAA until injury or opportunity happens.

 

---

 

I also disagree with the comparisons. Think Adam LaRoche with maybe a little more average potential if Morrison is able to hit lefties at higher levels. Morrison is going to start whiffing more, count on it. It won't be to his detriment, but he's not anywhere near the Gaby/Coghlan group of contact here. He is not going to be an outrageous average/walk whore like Helton as a result, and Klesko has/had more raw power. I do agree to an upper 800 OPS potential like Klesko, but it'll be more average oriented.

It would be awesome to see Morrison outplay Sanchez in spring training and somehow win the starting position from him.

That would be horrible and the Marlins aren't that stupid. Morrison is one of our top commodities right now. You develop him. You don't rush him because that's what you're doing if you evaluate him on 20 games in the spring versus seasons of minor league play. If he comes up, all he's going to see is breaking pitches and left handers and he's going to get obliterated. He needs AA. Also, I'm pretty sure none of you understand how the 40 man roster works with these posts. This creates additional problems there too. Morrison has to be on the 40 man by next year. I expect him to have a Gaby career path. He will get a taste in September this year, and then have to fight his way onto the roster in 2010. If not, he ends up in AAA until injury or opportunity happens.

 

---

 

I also disagree with the comparisons. Think Adam LaRoche with maybe a little more average potential if Morrison is able to hit lefties at higher levels. Morrison is going to start whiffing more, count on it. It won't be to his detriment, but he's not anywhere near the Gaby/Coghlan group of contact here. He is not going to be an outrageous average/walk whore like Helton as a result, and Klesko has/had more raw power. I do agree to an upper 800 OPS potential like Klesko, but it'll be more average oriented.

 

I agree with you. I'm not extremely high on Gaby Sanchez as a starter but there is no reason to have Morrison leapfrog him right out the gate when there is no doubt that he hasn't had a ton of upper level experience. I'd rather see us give McPherson a shot at winning the job. Heck, I'd rather sign Jason Stokes off the minor league scrap heap and have him start for three games before getting injured than rush Morrison to the majors.

we've seen players come up from a young age and dominate automatically in this league.

we've seen players come up from a young age and dominate automatically in this league.

Morrison prepares for move

Sanchez blocking top prospect's path to first

By Juan C. Rodriguez | South Florida Sun-Sentinel

February 20, 2009

JUPITER - Depth charts change all the time, but the Marlins Get your Marlins Tickets now! may not need to make adjustments at first base for a while. Assuming rookie Gaby Sanchez performs as expected, he could have that spot locked down indefinitely.

 

So where does that leave prospect Logan Morrison? Possibly in left, but the Marlins aren't shooing him off the infield just yet.

 

Thursday, manager Fredi Gonzalez said Morrison will spend most of his first big-league camp working at first base.

 

"He works out with them in the outfield a little bit, but we have plenty of outfield guys we need to look at," Gonzalez said. "In a pinch, if we go out to St. Lucie or something and we get a collision, I{minute}d feel comfortable running him out there to left field."

 

 

 

It's premature to declare Morrison blocked at his natural first base spot, but the Marlins have begun preparing for that possibility. Morrison spent the early part of his offseason in Jupiter learning the fundamentals of left field.

 

A couple of outfielders were hurt on Morrison's Arizona Fall League team, affording him the opportunity ? with the Marlins' blessing ? to give left field a try. Morrison said he played about seven or eight games out there.

 

"I was getting more comfortable when I was out there toward the end of it," he said. "I had two assists, so that was cool, but a lot of that was a misplay by me. I'm not going to be [Cameron] Maybin covering all the ground in the world, but I think I can handle my own out there."

 

Finding a spot for Morrison isn't a pressing concern right now, but he could soon force the issue with his bat. Last season, Morrison took home Florida State League MVP honors after leading the circuit with a .332 average, 38 doubles and a .402 on-base percentage.

 

Those numbers prompted Baseball America to rank the left-handed hitting Morrison, 21, as the organization's third-best prospect behind Maybin and outfielder Mike Stanton.

I would love it if Logan Morrison turned out to be like Ryan Klesko, 2006 Adam Laroche or Tod Helton.

It would be awesome to see Morrison outplay Sanchez in spring training and somehow win the starting position from him.

That would be horrible and the Marlins aren't that stupid. Morrison is one of our top commodities right now. You develop him. You don't rush him because that's what you're doing if you evaluate him on 20 games in the spring versus seasons of minor league play. If he comes up, all he's going to see is breaking pitches and left handers and he's going to get obliterated. He needs AA. Also, I'm pretty sure none of you understand how the 40 man roster works with these posts. This creates additional problems there too. Morrison has to be on the 40 man by next year. I expect him to have a Gaby career path. He will get a taste in September this year, and then have to fight his way onto the roster in 2010. If not, he ends up in AAA until injury or opportunity happens.

 

---

 

I also disagree with the comparisons. Think Adam LaRoche with maybe a little more average potential if Morrison is able to hit lefties at higher levels. Morrison is going to start whiffing more, count on it. It won't be to his detriment, but he's not anywhere near the Gaby/Coghlan group of contact here. He is not going to be an outrageous average/walk whore like Helton as a result, and Klesko has/had more raw power. I do agree to an upper 800 OPS potential like Klesko, but it'll be more average oriented.

 

Lou I don't entrely disagree with anything you have said, however in the AFL Morrison has seen the best pitching offered by double A and some triple A and destroyed them. That swing is sooo sweet, he really shows little flaw if any that he requires more seasoning. I just don't see him making it past the all star break in the minors. I know the 40 man roster is a huge factor, but strikeouts is not a concern at all. Jacksonville is probably too small of a Pond for Morrison right now

Just checked Todd Helton's stats. If Logan Morrison becomes anything near him, I will literally cry from happiness.

By his own words he sees himself similar to James Loney and has modled himself after Geoge Brett ( For all you younger Kids like Erick, Brett was amazing)

http://projectprospect.com/article/2008/07...rison-interview

Just checked Todd Helton's stats. If Adam Morrison becomes anything near him, I will literally cry from happiness.

Adam Morrison plays small forward in the NBA and not doing too hot LOL

Lou I don't entrely disagree with anything you have said, however in the AFL Morrison has seen the best pitching offered by double A and some triple A and destroyed them. That swing is sooo sweet, he really shows little flaw if any that he requires more seasoning. I just don't see him making it past the all star break in the minors. I know the 40 man roster is a huge factor, but strikeouts is not a concern at all. Jacksonville is probably too small of a Pond for Morrison right now

This sounds a lot like Hermida in 2005 to me. You should check to see LaRoche's K numbers through the minors/majors also. These guys start whiffing with the breaking pitches and LOOGYs.

 

Leave Morrison alone. If he kills AA, move him to AAA in July. McPherson, Gaby, and hopefully Gibbons, will be fine for 2009.

Lou I don't entrely disagree with anything you have said, however in the AFL Morrison has seen the best pitching offered by double A and some triple A and destroyed them. That swing is sooo sweet, he really shows little flaw if any that he requires more seasoning. I just don't see him making it past the all star break in the minors. I know the 40 man roster is a huge factor, but strikeouts is not a concern at all. Jacksonville is probably too small of a Pond for Morrison right now

This sounds a lot like Hermida in 2005 to me. You should check to see LaRoche's K numbers through the minors/majors also. These guys start whiffing with the breaking pitches and LOOGYs.

 

Leave Morrison alone. If he kills AA, move him to AAA in July. McPherson, Gaby, and hopefully Gibbons, will be fine for 2009.

 

Once again Lou you make a very good point. I think Hermida has been a disappointment so far in the majors because his outstanding tools and overall offensive potential lead to people overlooking his high K rates. He hasn't improved from minors to majors nor has he improved over his time in the majors. We all know that he can hit the ball as hard as anybody, which he does consistently when he gets on a hot streak. He just doesn't keep his streaks going for long enough and eventually sinks into that rut where he strikes out more than he hits the ball hard.

Just checked Todd Helton's stats. If Adam Morrison becomes anything near him, I will literally cry from happiness.

Adam Morrison plays small forward in the NBA and not doing too hot LOL

 

 

My Mistake, lol.

I drool over the thought of a Stanton-Maybin-Morrison outfield in a couple of years.

Has anyone heard how Raynor looks? I haven't seen or read anything about him yet this spring training.

It would be awesome to see Morrison outplay Sanchez in spring training and somehow win the starting position from him.

That would be horrible and the Marlins aren't that stupid. Morrison is one of our top commodities right now. You develop him. You don't rush him because that's what you're doing if you evaluate him on 20 games in the spring versus seasons of minor league play. If he comes up, all he's going to see is breaking pitches and left handers and he's going to get obliterated. He needs AA. Also, I'm pretty sure none of you understand how the 40 man roster works with these posts. This creates additional problems there too. Morrison has to be on the 40 man by next year. I expect him to have a Gaby career path. He will get a taste in September this year, and then have to fight his way onto the roster in 2010. If not, he ends up in AAA until injury or opportunity happens.

 

---

 

I also disagree with the comparisons. Think Adam LaRoche with maybe a little more average potential if Morrison is able to hit lefties at higher levels. Morrison is going to start whiffing more, count on it. It won't be to his detriment, but he's not anywhere near the Gaby/Coghlan group of contact here. He is not going to be an outrageous average/walk whore like Helton as a result, and Klesko has/had more raw power. I do agree to an upper 800 OPS potential like Klesko, but it'll be more average oriented.

 

 

Im not exactly sure how it works but this is my understanding of it. If a guy is on the 40 man roster we can just call him up and send some one down but if a guy isnt on the 40 man to get called up we have realse someone or outright him.Am i kinda on the right track here? Ive never really read up on it.

Basically. The thing is Morrison is not on the 40 man, so we will have to DFA people on it and lose them to make room for a player who isn't MLB ready. It's just horrific roster management if Morrison is put on the 40 a year early.

 

We're going to have some DFA's coming (Andino, Cruz, Meyer, Kroenke, J. Delgado) real quick so spots should open, but you'd imagine they fill those with hopefully Pudge, and players who are very likely to come up like Gibbons, Raynor, and Ceda.

 

It's just not time to think of Morrison as a MLB option. Next year.

Lou, we rarely disagree, but I have to here. I think they're going to have Morrison on the same track they had Volstad, especially if someone is struggling or if there is a hole we need to fill at the All-Star break and they decide to deal Hermida to fill it.

 

If he spends the first couple months stroking Double-A, you bet Beinfest will make room for him while adding some strength in another area.