DUNEDIN, Fla. – Justin Morneau was there in 2003 when Canada qualified for the Athens Olympics, returned to the national team in 2006 for the inaugural World Baseball Classic, suited up for the 2009 and 2013 tournaments, and will be in the lineup again Thursday in the fourth edition of the event.
At 35, turning 36 on May 15, there aren’t likely to be many more turns donning the Maple Leaf for the slugging first baseman from New Westminster, B.C., at least as a player. An uncertain future looms once the Classic ends, as the 2006 American League MVP remains unsigned, with no obvious landing spots.
“I don’t know. It depends,” he says of the possibility that this is his final time playing for Canada. “It might be the last time I play at all. I’m hoping it’s not but we’ll see. If it is, I can’t think of a better way to do it than to be representing Canada.”
Morneau has always done that with distinction, and along with fellow World Baseball Classic fourth-timer Pete Orr, is in many ways a pivotal part of the Canadian team’s fabric, delivering on the field while establishing a culture to be passed down to the next generation of players.
After parts of 14 big-league seasons and 1,545 games, the four-time all-star is no longer the feared slugger he was before he faced concussion, wrist, back and elbow issues. But Morneau isn’t ready to walk away just yet, lingering in a free-agent market as he “waits for something that makes sense.”
What is it that will make sense?
“A job,” he replies. “The teams we’ve talked to, they’re trying to see what they have and they want to bring me in without being able to guarantee me a spot. It seems the teams that are going young aren’t having any veteran guys on their teams anymore. It used to be the case – before it turned into this analytical-stat game – that people saw the value in having players that had been there around to help bring the young guys along.
“Now it seems teams see it as a way to save money and to see what they have in their guys. If I’m a fan I’m probably not that happy because they’re saying they don’t care what the payroll is, it doesn’t matter how many games you win, just let a bunch of young guys play and let them figure it out as they lose 90, 100 games, they have a plan and they’re trying to move forward.
“It’s interesting the way it’s changed the past couple of years.”
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Morneau played in 135 games for the Colorado Rockies in 2014, when he won the National League batting title with a .319 average, but appeared in just 49 games in 2015 when he struggled with elbow issues that lingered into last year. He joined the Chicago White Sox mid-season and posted a .731 OPS in 58 games as the team collapsed from AL Central contender into a rebuild, and then got caught in a surplus market of power-hitting first base types.
Still on the market with him in that category are Pedro Alvarez, Billy Butler and Ryan Howard.
“I’ll keep working out until it looks like there’s not much point anymore,” says Morneau. “I’ve been working out the whole time, I feel good, my swing feels good, it’s going to be timing at this point. Wherever I go it will be two weeks of at-bats and games before I play, so it’s going to be difficult (to join a team mid-season) unless someone has somebody long-term on the DL. But if there’s a need, an opportunity … that was my goal coming into the off-season, to continue playing, I enjoy playing. We’ll see what happens.
“I can’t say no because last year I didn’t think it was going to happen and Chicago called me and it made a lot of sense. It was a good fit there, the team was playing well when I signed, they were in first when we started talking. Didn’t end up being a great season but it was good to be out there.”
While Morneau is confident that he can help a contender, he also feels he can help a rebuilding club in a veteran leadership role, too.
Drafted and developed by the Minnesota Twins, he helped the small-market club to post-season appearances in 2004 and ’06 before he was eventually sold off to the Pittsburgh Pirates, with whom he made a trip to the playoffs in 2013.
Two seasons with the stuck-in-the-middle Rockies followed before he joined the White Sox, giving him a wide variety of experiences to pass along.
“Last year, I probably came back a little sooner that I should have,” says Morneau. “I believe I can still hit, I still believe there’s value in that. I can still play defence. I know I didn’t get out there last year, but when I was finally ready to get out there it didn’t make sense, we were so far back. But I believe I can contribute on both sides, defensively and offensively, and then as somebody who can help young guys, if that’s the situation I’m in, having been in most situations. Even baserunning. As a Twin, that’s one of those things we were taught by Paul Molitor, how to run the bases correctly, something that I think is really overlooked in the game now. Everything about the game that I enjoy, I still feel like I can contribute there.”
For now he’ll be counted on to play a major role for Canada at the World Baseball Classic, both as a leader in the clubhouse and as a dude in the lineup. He collected two hits, including a two-run single, in a 7-1 warmup win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday, and more of that will be needed once the tournament opens Thursday in Miami, and his journey with the national team continues.
“I just think back to the first time I put the Canada jersey on, it was with the junior team in Florida, so it’s fitting to come back here and be in Florida again for Canada,” says Morneau. “It will be really something if we can make it out of the first round and surprise some people and play a little longer because it’s such a fun group to be around.”
