If the Tampa Bay Rays indeed wish to acquire Florida Marlins outfielder Logan Morrison, they need to be prepared to part with pitcher James Shields, reports Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated. An executive he consulted on the matter believes the Marlins would trade Morrison "for james shields but no 1 else."
In 123 games for Florida in 2011, Morrison hit .247 with 23 homers and 72 runs batted in. He didn't turn 24 until August, so he has yet to reach his peak. As MLB.com scribe Joe Frisaro notes, one scout has compared him to Ryan Braun, the Milwaukee Brewers outfielder and four-time All-Star.
Parting with Shields would be a tough decision for Tampa Bay to make. The 29-year-old turned in a fine 2011 campaign, with a 2.82 earned run average in 249.1 innings, in addition to a major-league-leading 11 complete games and four shutouts. He earned his first-ever All-Star appearance for his performance.
Michael Jong, the manager of SB Nation Marlins blog FishStripes, believes a Morrison-for-Shields trade benefits both teams and could see such a deal happening by December.