Morris Puts the Angels on Hold, Prefers Twins

The Angels will have to await their turn, if they even get a turn.

Free-agent pitcher Jack Morris, having severed negotiations with the Detroit Tigers, said Friday that he will give his hometown Minnesota Twins the first opportunity to employ him.

Morris and attorney Dick Moss will meet with Twins owner Carl Pohlad and General Manager Andy MacPhail at the Metrodome Monday.

“If I was a betting man, I would bet I’d sign Monday,” Morris said, adding that he would present at least three contract proposals of varying length.

Morris, in announcing through Moss Wednesday that he was rejecting Detroit’s two-year, $2.5-million offer and ending talks with his team of 10 years, said he was interested in playing for the Angels, Twins, Philadelphia Phillies or New York Yankees. He refused to say which team was second.

“Even though I would be flattered to play for any of the four, Minnesota offers factors that the others don’t,” he said.

Asked to identify those factors, Morris said: “Quality of life.”

Said attorney Moss: “I suppose there’s a lot of cynical people out there who believe that New York and Los Angeles are the only places to live. Jack disagrees with Thomas Wolfe.”

Wolfe wrote the novel, “You Can’t Go Home Again.”