For Chicago Cubs fans who watched Christopher Morel explode onto the scene a few years ago, Monday’s news carries a familiar mix of nostalgia and quiet satisfaction.
The New York Mets selected the contract of Morel from Triple-A Syracuse, bringing the former top Cubs prospect back to the majors after a brief, difficult stop in Miami and a scorching run in the minors.
Morel signed with the Cubs as an international free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 2015. He climbed the system as a versatile, toolsy player with loud raw power, eventually forcing his way to Wrigley Field in 2022.
That first big-league stretch showed the upside that had scouts excited: contact issues and all, he still produced real thump. In 2022-23 he collected 42 home runs across 854 plate appearances while posting a .241/.311/.471 line.
The 2023 season in particular remains a highlight reel for North Side supporters—26 homers and 70 RBIs in 107 games, including a stretch where he became the first Cub to hit nine home runs in his first 12 games of a season.
The power never fully translated into consistent on-base skills or contact rates, and the strikeouts remained stubborn. By 2024 the Cubs moved him at the deadline to Tampa Bay. Subsequent stops, including a short and ineffective stint with the Marlins this year (.162/.219/.206 in 22 games before his release), left him looking for a soft landing. The Mets offered a minor-league deal in late June with multiple opt-outs.
Morel reported to Syracuse and promptly reminded everyone of the bat speed and exit velocity that once made him a Cubs prospect of note: .321/.382/.716 with 12 home runs in just 31 games and 123 plate appearances.
From a Cubs perspective, this call-up feels like watching an old acquaintance get another opportunity. Chicago developed the tools, gave him the early runway, and saw the power peak.
The swing-and-miss issues that limited him in the majors never fully resolved, and the organization ultimately decided the roster spot was better used elsewhere.
Yet the underlying physical ability—the same tools that ranked him among the system’s more intriguing hitters years ago—clearly remains. A .716 slugging percentage in Triple-A is not easily ignored, even for a team like the Mets that is playing out the string.
Morel will provide New York with multi-positional depth and a potential platoon bat against lefties. For those who followed his rise on the North Side, the story is less about what the Mets might get and more about the reminder of what once looked possible in Chicago. The power is still there.
Whether the rest of the game catches up is the same question Cubs fans asked during his best stretches at Wrigley. Now it is the Mets’ turn to find out.
