The Miami Marlins are giving Christopher Morel a shot.
The once-standout slugger for the Chicago Cubs hit quite the rut in 2025, and his free agency wasn't high profile, but the Marlins have given him a one-year contract, according to The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal.
There's a catch: Morel is expected to play first base.
He's a defensively versatile guy in his MLB career, but he has not played a single inning of first base in the major leagues.
It brought social media commenters out with a meme from the Moneyball movie, when Billy Beane's character has this interaction with Ron Washington's character, all in a conversation with Scott Hatteberg about converting from catcher to first base:
- Beane: "It's not that hard, Scott. Tell him, Wash."
- Washington: "It's incredibly hard."
— The WARmonger (@TheWARmonger_) December 12, 2025
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The Marlins, as with most teams, won't mind as long as Morel hits.
This is a guy who slugged 26 homers in 2023 and 21 in 2024, but fell off to a.684 OPS in 2025.
Morel has a lot of swing and miss and is never going to hit for a high average, but he's a worthwhile risk for the Marlins to take at what is surely a low cost.
If Morel takes to first base and turns his bat around even a bit, he'll be a steal.
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