Wednesday, January 16, 2013

John Jaso Gets Traded in Three Team Deal - Mariners Get Michael Morse, Again!

Yes, it's true. The Mariners opted to part ways with John Jaso today in order to give Michael Morse a reunion in the Emerald City. Jaso was one of the most productive pieces in the Mariners lineup last season and an exciting part of the organization. Morse, a former member of the Mariners has spent the last four seasons with the Nationals after being traded for Ryan Langerhans.

In essence, we gave Michael Morse away for almost nothing and to get him back we had to give up John Jaso. The downside of this is that Morse is scheduled to be a free agent after this season. That, and the Mariners now have a handful of outfielders more suited for playing first base.


Michael Morse originally came to the Mariners in a trade that brought Miguel Olivo and Jeremy Reed to the club and sent Freddy Garcia and Ben Davis to the WhiteSox. If the Mariners can sign Freddy Garcia this off-season the recycle process will be complete.

Morse is a offensive threat and that is what the Mariners are looking for. Is he the answer? Only time will tell.

Year Age Tm G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ TB
2009 27 WSN 32 55 52 4 13 3 0 3 10 0 0 3 16 .250 .291 .481 .772 101 25
2010 28 WSN 98 293 266 36 77 12 2 15 41 0 1 22 64 .289 .352 .519 .870 133 138
2011 29 WSN 146 575 522 73 158 36 0 31 95 2 3 36 126 .303 .360 .550 .910 147 287
2012 30 WSN 102 430 406 53 118 17 1 18 62 0 1 16 97 .291 .321 .470 .791 112 191
8 Yrs 485 1690 1546 199 456 86 4 70 245 6 6 100 368 .295 .347 .492 .839 126 760
162 Game Avg. 162 564 516 66 152 29 1 23 82 2 2 33 123 .295 .347 .492 .839 126 254
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/16/2013.

Morse may not be an everyday right fielder or an everyday first baseman. Why? Well, because right now we have Raul Ibanez, Jason Bay, Mike Carp, Kendrys Morales, Justin Smoak and now Mike Morse all fighting for playing time at first. That doesn't even include the issue of Jesus Montero possibly playing there too.



I have no idea what Jack Zduriencik is getting himself into, but it seems as though we are really grasping at straws. Ibanez, Morales, Bay and Morse are all here for just one year and if any of these guys do anything major to help this team, it's a possibility that they don't return. This isn't the way that Jack Z usually works as he likes to sign players that can be under team control for at least 3 years.

I've said it before and now with this deal it has me saying it again. There has to be something else in the works. There is really no explanation for the stockpiling that is going on, so I would have to believe that there is somebody on their way out.

Again, only time will tell. For now, we just have to say goodbye to another player that fans have fallen in love with. John Jaso, best of luck and we'll see you down the road.

SodoJoe