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

-The Bearded Jaso-

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.

Upton - On the Mariner-Go-Round

-The Younger Upton-

Once again the rumor mill goes around like a Merry-Go-Round and we hear Justin Upton's name linked with the Mariners again. At the beginning of the Winter Meetings there was speculation of the Mariners interest in Upton and by the end of the meetings there were talks of a possible four team trade involving the slugger.

Texas was the rumored landing spot in the deal that was supposed to tear Josh Hamilton out of Texas to ensure that he landed in Seattle. Looking back, I'm sure glad that we moved away from that deal.

Mariners Prove Interested in Giancarlo Stanton

-The Giancarlo-

The Mariners turned over another stone today when they made the call to the Marlins front office to find what they could possibly want for their premium slugger Giancarlo Stanton.

I imagine that conversation went something like this:
MARLINS: Felix Hern....
MARINERS: Dial tone.
If it didn't end there, it probably continued along the lines of Kyle Seager, Dustin Ackley, James Paxton, Taijuan Walker and the Mariner Moose.

Mariners "Possibly" Dealing With Ethier

-The LA Dodger, Ethier-

Rumored today by our dear friend Jason Churchill from Prospect Insider that the Mariners are in trade talks for a hitter. His belief is that the hitter is named Andre Ethier. First impressions: I love Andre Ethier....

Then I went to www.baseball-reference.com and looked up his contract. Basically, Ethier is making over 17 million dollars per year that the Mariners would never pay the full amount of, luckily for us, the Dodgers would have no issue eating a large chunk of that salary. At least I would hope.

Justin Smoak and The Writing On The Wall

-Smoak-

It's been said that the job is Justin Smoak's. The Mariners first priority at first base. Within the last month we have heard that Jesus Montero will get a look at first base in hopes to keep his bat in the lineup. Smoak's playing time was all of a sudden diminished.

Last week the Mariners turned Jason Vargas over to the Angles for the switch hitting slugger Kendrys Morales. Morales, since a major leg surgery, is a primary first baseman or designated hitter.