16
2013
Mariners Acquire Mike Morse In Three-Team Deal, Phils Ink Two To Minor League Deals
An article by 
The Seattle Mariners have acquired Michael Morse from the Washington Nationals in a three-team deal that included the Oakland Athletics. The breakdown of the deal is as follows…
- Mariners receive: Michael Morse, 1B/OF
- Athletics receive: John Jaso, C
- Nationals receive: AJ Cole, RHP / Blake Treinen, RHP / PTBNL from Oakland
Something to point out, and rather interestingly, is that the trade represents a bit of a homecoming for two of these players, as MLBTR pointed out to me. Morse spent the first few years of his career in Seattle, and he returns there as Seattle looks to bolster their lineup after failing to acquire Justin Upton. Morse is a year removed from his breakout ’11 campaign, where he hit 31 HRs and drove in 95 runs, and supplemented that with a .303/.360/.550 line. In 2012, he hit 18 HRs and drove in 62 runs over 430 Plate Appearances, to the tune of a .291/.321/.470 slash. Morse is a free agent after 2013.
Cole was drafted in 2010 by the Nationals and was actually traded to Oakland in the deal they acquired Gio Gonzalez in, so he returns to the Nationals organization now. He was the #57 prospect on Baseball America’s list and was ranked as Oakland’s third best prospect. He is coming off a season where he pitched at two levels going 6-3 with a 2.07 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and 102 strikeouts in 95 2/3 innings at the Class-A level, but 0-7 with a 7.82 ERA, 1.84 WHIP and 31 strikeouts in 38 innings at the Class-A Advanced level. (Hat tip to RJ White of CBS Sports for those splits.)
Blake Treinen was Oakland’s 7th round pick in the 2011 draft. He is coming off a year where he pitched in 24 games, and he started 15 of those games. He posted a 4.37 ERA in 103 innings pitched with 92 Ks and a 1.350 WHIP.
For what it is worth, Jaso hit .276/.394/.456 with 10 home runs over 361 plate appearances in 2012. The A’s designated George Kottaras for assignment to make room for the move.
By the way, in other news, the Phillies have signed two players to minor league deals: Juan Cruz and Aaron Cook. Cook posted a 5.35 ERA in 94 innings last year, while Juan Cruz posted a 2.78 ERA over 35.2 innings in 2012. Cruz was released after refusing an assignment to the minors.
About the Author: Satish Ram
I am a Senior Writer and Editor here at MetsMerized - where I specialize in Minor League coverage. I have been on the staff since 2007 and I am currently in my third semester of college in New York City. You can find me at www.facebook.com/SatishRam or @SilverHeatMMO. Feel free to message me - I love talking about the Mets or baseball overall with anybody.
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so can someone explain why the A’s gave up Cole for Jaso? makes no sense
Seattle seems hell bent on getting some offense in their lineup, since it seems as though Justin Smoak may be on his road to bustville
The A’s are a platoon hitter’s paradise these days. I think that’s their new way to find value that no one else is seeing. Basically, having a full time player costs a lot of money. Platooning might not give you stars, but done right, it could come close to matching very good production at a much cheaper costs. Jaso and Norris together could match the production of most MLB catchers.
I like Cole as well, but that line in advanced-A was a little troubling and it probably hurt his stock a little bit right now. That and the A’s have as much pitching as any organization in baseball.
0-7 with a 7.82 ERA, 1.84 WHIP and 31 strikeouts in 38 innings at the Class-A Advanced level, should tell you all you need to know
THAT’S all it took to get a bat like Morse? The Mets couldn’t have matched that offer???????
I’m thinking the Mets could have matched that offer, if they wanted to.
So I’m assuming either:
(a) they didn’t want to give up a prospect b/c Morse is a FA at the end of 2013
or
(b) they looked into it and thought the asking price too high
or
(c) they looked into it but Nats wouldn’t trade him within the division
Truthfully, I never heard a breath of a rumor about Morse being a possible suitor for the Mets after LaRoche was signed.
Or
d) they ever bothered to call them to find out who might be available…
I’m going with D! LOL
Me too. D for Didn’t call. Why would Rizzo talk to him after Alderson practically called him a moron in 2010 at Winter Meetings?
I can hear the conversation now…
Rizzo: Hello?
Sandy: Hey it’s me Alderson from the Mets
Rizzo: I have plenty of pipes to shove up horizontally already so I really don’t need anything from you!
CLICK!
If I could pull it off I would love to pull a prank and call every team in the league and say I’m calling on behalf of the Mets, we are looking to move Flores for some OF help what can you do for me and how much more do you need from me to get it?
I bet over 30 teams would have a decent and reasonable offer and none of them would require or mention the names Wheeler, Niese, Harvey or d’Arnaud!
But I guess we cut the Phone Budget when we slashed the Payroll as well…
I bet no one even bothers to call us anymore and thats why we can’t make trades not because no one wants what we have it’s just that they know they have a better chance of Getting Wright than kid in our Farm system.
Would you feel beter to read about moves like these tomorrow:
1. Wilmer Flores to A´s for Coco Crisp.
2. Lucas Duda and Michael Fulmer to D´backs for Jason Kubel.
3. Jenry Mejia and Kirk Nieuwenhuis to Rockies for Michael Cuddyer.
???
Hey, Mets suddenly have a solid starting OF without trading any of the elite prospects / young players – but have traded for a bunch of shortterm contracts that´ll help them win 82 games instead of 75 games in 2013 for 25 million $ extra in salary while doing nothing for 2015 & beyond purposes, other than taking away several prospects and young players that may well help in 2015 – be it on the field for the Mets or as part of a bigger trade package for outfield help that will be around for longer than just a season or two.
I understand rebuilding is agonizing and one can question the (certainly also financially motivated) decision to rebuild – but what good does it do to trade away better prospects for shortterm OF help such as Michael Morse right now ???
Other than to appease the fans or for cosmetic reasons ?
I´d rather keep my chips and wait until it makes sense to go “in” instead of wasting them on players that will not turn the 2013 Mets into a playoff team.
Sure, trade a fringe prospect like Jefrey Marte for Collin Cowgill (i.e. a fringe backup outfielder). Why not.
But when you´re talking prospects that are among the top 20 or so in the system right now or even young major leaguers, it only makes sense if you acquire a player you can control for several years.
Say, the Rockies are willing to trade Dexter Fowler for Wilmer Flores and Jenry Mejia tomorrow (which I doubt). Sure, you do that. But anything shortterm that included giving away frontline young talent or frontline prospects for players close to free agency is smearing lipstick on a pig,.
Doobs,
I agree, but if the price of Morse was that high a prospect, what makes you think the Mets can actually make any of the deals that you suggest?
Well considering how you like how Sandy thinks it’s no wonder that those were the best deals you could come up with….
I suppose getting Morse for Flores was totally out of the question right?
I mean all those guys the Nats got are WAY more promising than Flores?
Please….
I also agree DrDooby. I would rather gather as many prospects as I could to make the right deal (Stanton) than give away my better prospects for a rental player.
I guess the Nats wanted to get something for that 2 MIL signing bonus they gave Cole back in 2010.
Didn’t they get Gio Gonzalez?
The asking price was to high….
I would assume the real Alderson would know the difference in to and too.
Good job Capt. Spell-check…Smh…Its a blog post not a column for the Gazette…you know what he meant
When someone comes in with a name designed to make fun of someone and then tries to make that comment yet spells it incorrectly? He’s supposed to be Sandy right? Lol.
“He’s supposed to be Sandy right? Lol.”
No more like he’s supposed to be responded to in a manner in keeping under the Commentary Guidelines recently posted!
Metsie, who was that? I see his comment was deleted. Now we can’t poke fun of the author of a writer for misspelling either?? WOW…..
It’s still there….LOL
I was just giving TRS a little Nuggie….
Not sure I broke terms of posting. Again, when a guy comes in with a name like that and then others make fun of the GM because he can speak proper English I consider it ironic. Sorry. Different things make me laugh.
Well TRS as I said I was just tweaking you….(Different things make me laugh to(o))
But seriously…If the only thing you have to comment on is spelling it’s not worth the potential storm it can create…. do you agree?
Besides you teach History not English or Spelling….
LOL
MetsBlog could use a man with your talents.
I dont blame Alderson for not being able to pull of a deal like this, its just too complicated. Only a Harvard Grad could pull off something this complicated
This deal involved a little too much creativity…..3-teams being involved…. o__O
Its nothing like holding a prize possession like Beltran or a Cy Young winner in Dickey and sitting on your hands til one of the opposing GM’s of a team that wants to win caves.
Seattles GM cant afford to put another stinker on the field in Safeco so he is fighting for his job while Sandy is a lame duck GM just like his lame duck Manager….He can afford to sit on his hands because he could care less about this gig…lol…after-all he didnt want it in the 1st place.
I guess Sandy is hunting bigger game.
That is great but I don’t know what kind of bigger game would want to come here.
This is a really nice haul for the Nationals,
Cole is a top 100 caliber prospect and was a key piece of the Gio Gonzalez trade a year ago.
His value and upside is pretty similar to that ofMichael Fulmer and Domingo Tapia – albeit with spme extra pre draft hype, so at least the folks at Baseball America with their draft prep ” name” fetish probably rank him even higher.
Would anybody have been happy, had the Mets traded Fulmer and, say, Alex Panteleodis ( probably equal to the 2nd arm) for a year of Morse now ?
Wouldn’t make sense in the big picture. Fulmer might be traded eventually – but not for 2013 shortterm help.
Morse is a free agent after the 2013 season.
Heck, if the Mets are interested in him, might as well sign him as a free agent after next season.
The A’s add a nice C – maybe their faith in Derek Norris, another key piece of the Gio G trade is a bit less.
Seattle meanwhile has pretty strong C depth and might give Jesus Montero another shot while waiting for phenom Mike Zunino to arrive….
I am really so sick of reading about other teams moves while every story regarding the Mets is about doors opening and closing…Things being too high and too low….
Sandy…Get a Friken Ladder and a Door stop already and earn your friggin salary!
C’mon, people, get real. Ricco isn’t going to trade Morse within the division if he has other viable options on the table. The Mets would have had to overpay to get Morse, who is a lousy fielder by the way. The Mets need to IMPROVE their team defense. Not make it WORSE, lol.
Again, trading anything significant for a 1-year rental of Michael Morse would not have made any sense for the Mets.
Besides the Nats probably not motivated to give him away to a division rival anyway.
Their package is at least equivalent to a package of Michael Fulmer and Tyler Pill for Morse.
How would such a trade be helpful for the Mets going forward ???
I´d rather keep the prospects now and hope that Lucas Duda finds his 2011 stroke again or that someone like Andrew Brown thrives, given a real chance to prove himself, instead of shooting myself in the foot while trading longterm pieces for shortterm help when pretty much all the moves over the past two years have been designed to rather help longterm than shortterm.
Dooby, yes, getting a 1-year rental who is a POOR defensive OFer makes ZERO sense for the 2013 Mets. Zilch.
And people underestimate the unwillingness of most GMs to trade within their division. This is especially true for homegrown star players. Which is why there is a snowball’s chance in hell that the Mets could ever get Stanton from the Marlins.
Like not getting Mike Piazza, Al Leiter from Marlins. They have traded inter division before. Marlins will not care who they trade to as long as they get what they want.
They were not homegrown star players. Piazza played like, what, 5 games for the Marlins? And Leiter was part of a massive fire sale.
One could say the Marlins are undergoing a fire sale now, but it’s not the same thing as in 1997 (their owner was soon selling the team) and Stanton is a homegrown star.
I’m telling you, there is no way the Marlins trade Stanton within the division. Of course there are exceptions to almost everything. The exception here is if Stanton falls off a cliff and his value drops dramatically OR a NL East team gives up virtually the entire farm for him. Even then, the chances are small.
That is why Morse going to Mariners and Upton going to maybe Rangers would be good for team looking at Stanton. Marlins might not have a choice of where they trade him (if they do trade him) if other teams already gave up thier best prospects for Upton and are out for Stanton. You also have to look at what teams can afford to pay down the line for his contract and have the players Marlins want when they are ready to trade. I would load up prospects and clear salary.
Upton is one player. Meaning only 1 team is theoretically removed from the bidding for Stanton — the Mariners. Believe me, if the Marlins ever put Stanton up on the market, the Mets, Braves, Phillies and Nats are the LAST teams they would consider. And there is hardly any team in either league who wouldn’t pursue him.
He’s not coming to the Mets (unless his value falls big time) so Mets fans (and Phillies, Braves, and Nats fans) can stop dreaming and think about trades that can happen.
As a Glass half full type Mets fan. I look forward to having a chance of getting him. Good luck to us then.
Metstheory, I’m an optimistic Mets fan too. But I am realistic too.
There is nothing more I’d love than to have Stanton hitting in the Mets lineup. But the chances of that happening via a trade with the Marlins are like zero. That won’t stop some of the pessimists from whining about the Mets “failure to get Stanton” should he be traded soon.
I am not putting all my eggs in basket either. If we get him, more than great, if we don’t, next.