The Pirates, Yankees and Orioles are all showing interest in acquiring Twins first baseman Justin Morneau, according to a pair of reports. Morneau cleared the waiver wire last week, so the Twins can trade him to any team.
Pittsburgh, who was involved in Morneau rumors at the trade deadline, are said to have "some" interest in bringing the former MVP into the fold, per Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
New York, also part of the Morneau deadline murmurs, are rumored to be "back in it," which may cause the O's to "begin to panic" in their hunt for a DH, reports Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN in Minneapolis. Buster Olney of ESPN challenges Wolfson's source, saying that the Yankees are not discussing a deal for Morneau.
Morneau, 32, was garnering nothing more than lukewarm interest at the beginning of the month, but has started turning heads with his resurgent performance at the plate over the last two weeks. The lefty-swinging slugger went 4-for-5 with a home run Tuesday night, giving him seven home runs in 20 games this month.
On the year, Morneau is batting .267/.321/.431 with 15 home runs in 118 games. While he's no longer an MVP-type player, he could be a valuable asset to a contender down the stretch. Morneau will be a free agent at the end of the year, so whomever acquires him would have him for just two months, and won't be offer to submit a qualifying offer to receive a compensation pick should he leave, either.
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