Morales was picked in the 3rd round of the 2007 draft, and while he has not advanced too far up the organizational ladder, it should be pointed out that aside from Ben Revere, no player drafted by the Twins in 2007 or any year after, have made it to the major leagues.
Morales is a 22-year old right-handed outfielder athletic enough to play either of the three positions. In the past, his power and speed combination invoked compliments a la Alfonso Soriano. Unfortunately he also carries with him the same high strikeout rate, and in this organization, strikeouts have killed the hopes of better prospects than Morales.
To date, his peak is still his 2008 Rookie League year at E-ton. His .301/.413/.623 line gave hopes for a high ceiling. As expected, he took a step back in his move to Beloit in 2009. His power remained viable but his OBP dropped 250 points to .784. Still his numbers would continue to rival fellow outfielder and top prospect Aaron Hicks who he would be outfield partners with for most of the next four seasons. His numbers continued to underwhelm through 2011 when he suffered an elbow injury that kept him out sporadically, managing to appear in only 37 games at Ft. Myers. He has since been seperated from Hicks, and while it has been a small sample size, both have been producing in this early season. While Morles' strikeout rate is still around 1 per game, his .861 OBP is his highest since his 2008 E'ton season. Look for Morales to fight it out with Oswaldo Arcia to see who is first promoted to New Britain if Mark Dolenc and Darin Matroianni continue to struggle at the AA level.
