If the National succeed in re-signing free agent first baseman Adam LaRoche to a multi-year deal it could lead to a first base/corner outfield logjam in the not-so-distant future and Mark Zuckerman of CSNWashington.com has an interesting article wondering if that means Michael Morse could be on the trading block soon:
Signed for one more season at a reasonable salary of $6.75 million, he?ll be poised to strike it rich next winter as a free agent. Given all the other long-term financial commitments the Nationals already have on the books (Zimmerman, Jayson Werth, Bryce Harper, Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez) and those they would like to add in the very near future (Ian Desmond, Jordan Zimmermann) there probably isn?t enough money left over to re-sign Morse.
Which is why you?ve heard some speculation the slugger could be traded this winter. Rather than lose him via free agency and receive a draft pick as compensation, Rizzo could be inclined to seek a deal now that would bring a larger return back to Washington. That would certainly be a wise long-term strategy. But if the Nationals are more interested in going for broke in 2013, they?d much rather keep Morse one more season and then let him walk away after that.
Morse?s production fell off in a big way this year and he missed time with injuries, but he still hit .291 with 18 homers and a .791 OPS in 102 games and at age 30 a team that isn?t quite as stacked as the Nationals could view him as a nice middle-of-the-order bat for a while.
Washington could in theory replace him with Tyler Moore, who looked very good in his 75-game debut as a 25-year-old rookie and has hit for huge power in the minors.
Source: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/11/20/will-the-nationals-look-to-trade-michael-morse/related/
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