Kendrys Morales, Yankees legend.
Okay, that is a stretch for a player who appeared in only 19 games for the franchise, a number only slightly larger than the group that accompanied him when he escaped Cuba. However, the second part of that sentence is what makes his story legendary. Like many of his fellow countrymen of the time, and those now after the 2018 agreement between Major League Baseball and the Cuban Baseball Federation was revoked after just one year in existence, Morales had to defect
from Cuba to another country before coming to America to chase the dream of playing baseball at the highest level.
Kendrys Morales Rodríguez
Born: June 20, 1983 (Fomento, Cuba)
Yankees Tenure: 2019
Born Kendrys Morales Rodríguez in Fomento, a city less than 300 air miles south of Miami, Morales quickly rose to fame as a promising switch-hitter. Growing up on the island, Morales played mostly third base or outfield. The Cuban national team saw so much promise in Morales that he made the team as a teenager.
Making the team as a teenager came with plenty of pressure, but playing in the politically charged country of Cuba added further layers that are hard for an outsider to understand. With the pressure of a looming global baseball tournament in America, the Cuban government ramped up efforts trying to catch players attempting to defect from the country.
At the age of 20, Morales found himself in the middle of that unrest. After several people he trusted approached him about defecting for a chance to play in the United States, he finally agreed to discuss the possibility further. One of those trusted contacts reported Morales to the government, resulting in a ban from the national team.
Feeling betrayed, hurt, and who knows what else, Morales made it his new goal to get out of Cuba and chase the professional dream in the states. After a baker’s dozen of failed attempts, Morales and at least 15 others finally made it to the Dominican Republic. After establishing residency Morales was able to turn his attention to the next part of the plan, securing a professional contract.
The then-Anaheim Angels were game, signing Morales to a six-year deal.
The Angels viewed Morales as a first baseman and had him play there when not leaving the glove on the bench altogether and letting him be the designated hitter. Morales made his debut on May 23, 2006. Against Vicente Padilla and the Rangers, he recorded three hits, including the first of what would be 213 long balls of his career. Morales bounced between the majors and Triple-A from 2006 through 2008, looking like a classic Quad-A player. He dominated the minors while struggling to establish himself in the majors, though flashes of power remained evident.
Mostly position-less, and needing a chance to get his opportunity, the Yankees would be the ones who helped Morales get his break when they signed Angels first baseman Mark Teixeira, opening a spot for the soon to be 26-year-old. In that first full year of playing time Morales slashed .306/.355/.569, good for a .924 OPS with a career-high 34 home runs and 139 OPS+ as the Halos won the AL West. He finished fifth for AL MVP, trailing only Teixeira and a trio of future Hall of Famers: Derek Jeter, Miguel Cabrera, and winner Joe Mauer. The Angels fell to the Yankees in the ALCS, New York pitching keeping him in check with a .522 OPS in the six-game triumph.
Morales was enjoying some similar success to start the 2010 season until he brutally broke his left ankle while jumping onto home plate to celebrate a walk-off grand slam in May. The break required multiple procedures and complications caused Morales to miss the entire 2011 season. It is also worth noting that Kendrys was known as Kendry Morales up until the 2010 season due to a spelling error on his paperwork, a mistake he did not correct until the season he missed recovering from injury.
Morales picked up right where he left off when he returned in 2012, hitting .273 with 22 bombs. Following the year the Angels traded him to the Seattle Mariners. Morales kept right on hitting. In his last year before free agency, he hit .277 with 23 home runs. Morales reached free agency but got a qualifying offer from Seattle and teams did not want to give up a draft pick to sign the veteran designated hitter. Due to this, Morales waited until the June deadline passed to sign with Minnesota. Then just over a month later the Twins traded him back to Seattle.
After a weird and disappointing season Morales needed a fresh start and signed a two-year deal with the Royals prior to the 2015 season. The Royals proved right to add the veteran hitter, as he was one of just three Kansas City hitters to top the 20-homer threshold, joining mainstays Salvador Perez and Mike Moustakas. He would win the first and only Silver Slugger of his career thanks to a 127 OPS+. Morales hit two homers in the playoff opener against the upstart Astros and would bat .268/.311/.561 through the first couple round as the Royals successfully defended their AL pennant. He was more quiet in the Fall Classic against the Mets and was limited to pinch-hit duty once the series shifted to Queens, but he nonetheless won the only World Series of his career.
Following the 2016 campaign, Morales again hit free agency and got a deal in Toronto to replace their own slugging DH Edwin Encarnación. In two years up north, Morales posted a .249 average and hit 49 home runs as the Jays’ competitive window came to a close..
Right before the start of the 2019 season the Blue Jays traded Morales to the Oakland Athletics, who needed a stopgap after their rising star first baseman Matt Olson got injured. Morales struggled in Oakland and after 34 games and only one big fly, the A’s traded Morales to the injury-plagued Yankees, who were at the forefront of their “Next Man Up” year and in need of a 1B/DH type with Giancarlo Stanton and Greg Bird on the shelf.
It started off decently enough, as Morales registered hits in his first three games, including a homer off Ryne Stanek on May 17th in a 4-3 walk-off win.
It didn’t stick. Morales had an appalling 5-for-47 showing with no extra-base hits across his next 15 games, and though he broke out with a three-hit game in the doubleheader opener against the Mets on June 11th, that would turn out to be his swan song. He suffered a calf injury, went on the IL, and never returned. In a somewhat-amusing twist of fate, Morales was once again replaced by Encarnación, as New York swung a trade with the Mariners to bring the veteran aboard on June 15th. Once Morales was healthy again, the Yankees designated him for assignment, releasing him on July 2nd.
Morales retired following the 2019 season after failing to find another opportunity. A true professional hitter, he finished his career with a .265/.327/.453 slash line and 213 home runs across 13 big-league seasons. Not bad for a kid from Cuba who had to risk everything just for a swing at the game he loved at the highest level.
Happy birthday, Kendrys!
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