Twins first baseman Justin Morneau has cleared waivers, according to Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press (Twitter link). The veteran can now be traded to any club after clearing the 47-hour revocable waiver period.
The 2006 American League MVP was placed on waivers on Monday, and his waiver period expired today at noon CT. The 32-year-old has dealt with a litany of injuries in recent years which have hurt his production tremendously. Morneau boasted a slash line of .298/.372/.528 from 2006-10 but has hit just .257/.317/.410 over the past three seasons.
Morneau is earning $14MM in the final season of a six-year, $80MM contract, meaning that roughly $3.5MM is still owed to him for the remainder of the deal. The Pirates, Orioles, and Rays all had interest in Morneau before the July 31st deadline, but a rough July hurt his trade value. He's heated up recently though, hitting .268/.293/.643 with six homers and three doubles in August entering today's game against Cleveland.
A scout recently told Danny Knobler of CBS Sports that Morneau looks like a different player this month: "He's swinging the bat much better than he was," the scout said. "His body looks more lively, too." Morneau becomes the sixth player to have reportedly cleared waivers this month.
Steve Adams contributed to this post.
