BALTIMORE – Try telling Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Aledmys Diaz or any of the young Latin kids in the Blue Jays clubhouse that the Jays would be better off getting rid of veteran DH Kendrys Morales next year.

Morales is 35 and slow and not quite the hitter he used to be, but Gurriel, for one, doesn’t even want to think about his mentor not being around next season. Morales has another year left on his contract at $12 million but there have been suggestions that the re-building Jays should find a way to get rid of him to clear up a spot for a young player. But certainly the players don’t think that way, and that apparently includes minor league sensation Vlad Guerrero Jr., who is expected to join the Jays early next year.

“Kendrys is like a second dad to Vladdy,” said Gurriel. “When Vladdy came up (to the main camp) at spring training, they were always together. They have a great relationship.”

Morales and Hall of Famer Vlad Guerrero Sr. were teammates for years with the Los Angeles Angels and are close. Gurriel said having Morales around next year with Vlad Jr. starting his Major League career would be huge for the young third baseman.

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“Vladdy Sr. talks to (Morales) a lot about his son,” said the 24-year-old Gurriel, through team interpreter Josue Peley. “It’s like me with my brother (Houston Astros infielder Yuli Gurriel). We talk all the time, it’s the same for him and Vladdy.”

Photo by Tom Szczerbowski / Getty Images

Prior to Tuesday’s game at Camden Yards against the Baltimore Orioles, Morales sat at a big table in the middle of the visiting team clubhouse playing blackjack with Teoscar Hernandez, Jose Fernandez, David Paulino and Richard Urena, with Gurriel chilling out on the couch beside Morales and Diaz watching the game from his locker. It’s like wherever Morales goes, the Latin kids follow. Whatever Morales thinks the kids should do before a game to relax, they do it. This may sound corny, but Gurriel just seems incredibly content and relaxed when he’s hanging with his mentor.

Even though he likely won’t be around next year, Jays manager John Gibbons thinks that having Morales around to mentor the promising Latin players – particularly Guerrero and Gurriel – would be huge, even if Morales is not quite the player he used to be and would take some plate appearances away from a young player.

“I think he’d be tremendous at it,” said Gibbons. “Mo’s one of the best guys I’ve ever been around. Teammates love him. He’s probably the most steady guy I’ve ever been around too. He doesn’t go through those big emotional dips either way. Not just the Latin guys, especially those guys, but all his teammates, everybody loves him. He’s always got a smile on his face, he works as hard as anybody you’ve ever seen and after a slow start, a real slow start, he’s finished really nice.”

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Morales’ numbers have come around. The Cuban is hitting .253 in 400 at-bats with 21 home runs, 57 RBI, with a OBP of .336. Of course, it’s not Gurriel’s place to tell the Jays’ front office what they should do with their roster, but the young infielder suggested that if the Jays want to give Guerrero every advantage possible to start his Major League career next year, they should hang on to Morales.

“Kendrys is somebody that, you can have the most talent in the world, you can have the best swing, you can have everything, but when you get here you have to put everything together in order to succeed and having a guy like him tell you how to act on the plane, on the bus, why get here earlier than anybody, the way to dress … it’s just amazing. He doesn’t just help us with our hitting, he teaches how to respect the game, how to be disciplined and how to do everything the right way.”

“He could hit 40-50 homers and have 120 RBIs, but nothing out there on the field is going to compare to what he brings here in this clubhouse and to every guy in this room,” said Gurriel.