Zduriencik says door isn’t entirely closed on Morales
Mar 19, 2014, 3:43 PM | Updated: 3:45 pm
By Brady Henderson
Kendrys Morales remains unsigned while the Mariners’ lineup remains in need of another right-handed bat, but is it out of the question now that opening day is less than two weeks away?
Morales |
“I don’t know. I can’t honestly say that,” Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik told 710 ESPN Seattle’s “Bob and Groz” on Wednesday. “I think where we’ve been, yes, he’s out of the question. But that doesn’t mean that something [can’t] happen tomorrow or something [can’t] happen two or three days form now, a week from now, I don’t know.”
Morales led the Mariners with a .277 average and 80 RBIs last season, his first in Seattle after he was acquired in an offseason trade. The two sides have reportedly been in communication but have not been close in negotiations, and Zduriencik’s comments on Wednesday indicated as much.
Shannon Drayer explored this topic last week, noting that Morales does not appear to have much of a market outside of Seattle and that according to his agent, Scott Boras, he’s prepared to wait until after the June draft to sign with a team.
Zduriencik indicated he’s prepared to wait as well.
“I’ve been through these on many occasions,” he said. “At the beginning, some of these players that signed this year, they were asking for $100 million contracts. They got a complete awakening as things went forward … . There were players who got their money, there were other players who had to settle for different types of deals, and we’ll see what happens with this player.”