Kendry Morales: Who Needs Mark Teixeira?

Kendry Morales has hit 16 homers and driven in 50 runs during July and August and is second in AL in slugging percentage.

The Angels are on their third first baseman in two seasons in Kendry Morales. Casey Kotchman was traded to the Braves last summer for Mark Teixeira.

Teixeira signed with the Yankees for $180 million over the life of his eight-year contract.

The departure of Teixeira opened up first base for Morales, who is in the fifth year of a six-year contract for $4.5 million.

The stats of Morales and Teixeira are very close this season. Teixeira is making $20 million this year, while Morales is earning only $600,000.

Last night, Morales showed again that the Angels are not missing Teixeira by going 5-for-5 and hitting his 28th and 29th homers of the season. He also drove in six runs, giving him 91 for the season.

The following statistical breakdown shows that Morales not only is closely matched with Teixeira but is saving the Angels $19.4 million in salary:

Hits

Teixeira 140

Morales 137

Doubles

Teixeira 35

Morales 34

Homers

Teixeira 31

Morales 29

Runs Batted In

Teixeira 97

Morales 91

Total Bases

Teixeira 268

Morales 262

On Base Percentage

Teixeira .382

Morales .353

Slugging Percentage

Morales .587 (second in AL behind Joe Mauer)

Teixeira .547

Batting Average

Morales .307

Teixeira .286

On Base Plus Slugging

Morales .941

Teixeira .929

Extra Base Hits

Teixeira 66

Morales 65

Morales has hit 16 homers and driven in 50 runs in July and August. He also is slugging .701 in August.

Before the All Star break, Morales hit 15 homers and drove in 49 runs in 299 at bats. In the 147 bats since the break, which is half of his at-bats before the break, he has hit 14 homers and driven in 42 runs.

He is also hitting .354 since the break, after hitting .284 before the break. His slugging percentage before the break was .528 but has been .707 since then.

Teixeira may lead in more offensive categories, but Morales is very close in most of the categories.

However, it cost the Yankees $322,580 per homer for Teixeira, while it cost the Angels $20,689 per homer for Morales.

Morales proved in the minors that he can hit, with a .352 average for the season and a .332 lifetime mark.

He couldn’t translate the minor league success into success at the big league level last season, hitting .213 and slugging .393 with the Angels in 2008.

Morales may not qualify for Comeback Player of the Year, since he batted only 61 times last season for the Angels. If he does qualify, he should be the clear-cut winner of the award.

Teixeira may be gone, but Morales has shown that while he may not be quite on the level of Teixeira, he is awfully close to being the player Teixeira is offensively.