Turns out it wasn't really a roll of the dice when the Los Angeles Angels traded Casey Kotchman for Mark Teixeira last July, even though they knew Teixeira was likely to be a rent-a-player.
They were protected. They knew what they had in Kendry Morales.
"Whether Mark Teixeira was here or not, Kendry was going to play somewhere," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.
What they had was a bundle of talent. What they also had was a guy who wouldn't be scared or intimidated or discouraged.
After all, when you've had to escape Cuba by boat under the cover of night just to fulfill your dream, how tough can a 0-for-4 really be?
"I don't care what anybody in here says: Nobody can go through what he's been through," Angels outfielder Torii Hunter said. "Fighting to come over here, trying to get his family over here, things like that.
"That gives you maturity. He's experienced something we haven't experienced in this clubhouse. That's why 'Sciosh' and the front office and everybody said this guy's capable of doing the job at first base, because of his maturity."
Put together that maturity, the inner toughness that goes with it, the raw talent and a strong work ethic, and you have the blossoming of a star.
Morales, 26, grabbed people's attention Sunday with a pair of three-run homers against the Twins, one night after a prodigious home run into the right field upper deck at the Metrodome that was estimated at 411 feet.
Those shots, capping a torrid seven-day stretch that earned him American League Player of the Week honors, pounded home a point already apparent to those who watch the Angels on a daily basis: Morales is the real deal.
He's in the American League top 10 in homers, RBI, slugging percentage and OPS, and a solid defensive presence at first base. He has earned the right to play every day after initially sitting against left-handers, even though he's a switch hitter. Tellingly, both of Sunday's homers came against lefties.
And this story is only going to get better.
"I don't think he's scratched the surface of how good he can be," General Manager Tony Reagins said, pointing out that when Morales reached the Angels organization in 2005 after his defection from Cuba, he was very much unrefined.
"He had the ability, but he didn't really understand how to play," Reagins said. "We saw just the constant progression of him getting better, and now he's starting to put those things into practice."
Morales' fielding prowess, for example, was the result of hours of effort: in the minors, in winter ball, in spring training, and even now before games. He has come a long way from the time when he was so raw, Scioscia nicknamed him "Brick Hands."
He has literally come a long way. The first part of the journey -- the successes in the Cuban League and with the national team, being banned from playing after previous attempts to defect, then actually leaving the island while his wife, mother and other family members remained behind -- is far in the past, but the memory remains strong.
"That is a part of my life that I will never shut down," Morales said through translator Jose Mota. "There's so many great things that happened there, that helped me become who I've become so far, and I will revisit it mentally. I feel for my family and I care for them, so it wouldn't be right for me to just say, let's move forward."
His wife and mother eventually got out of Cuba, but Morales said he still has family members there and is able to stay in touch with them. They've suffered no ramifications from his defection, he said.
He said he'd "never thought" about the idea that the ordeal made him stronger.
"But all the trials I've gone through were little steps to get me to where I want to be," he said.
He's taking giant steps now. And it doesn't look like he's about to stop.
WHAT A BARGAIN
When Mark Teixeira left Anaheim to go make $22.5 million with the Yankees this year, Kendry Morales took over for him at first. A look at what the Angels are getting for $1.1 million this season:
HRs RBI AVG OBP SLG
TEIXEIRA 26 77 .289 .378 .542
MORALES 23 69 .299 .350 .581
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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Must credit The Press-Enterprise of Riverside, Calif.
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