Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports
The Seattle Mariners were a team in 2012 that struggled terribly on offense and needed a ton of help going into 2013. Seattle has made some moves to improve the offense, including trading for Kendrys Morales - and now, the Mariners have traded for Michael Morse. Morse should bring a solid right-handed threat that could hit 30-35 home runs at Safeco Field.
Seattle is in a very difficult American League West with the Los Angeles Angels and Texas Rangers and while the addition of Morales and Morse will help, the Mariners probably won’t finish above fourth place in the division. Morse should be familiar with Seattle after playing there before and will have a good idea of what it will take to hit home runs in that ballpark. Morse was a piece that had to be traded by the Washington Nationals. There was simply no place on the field to start Morse every day, and getting Morse back to Seattle is a good move.
Morse probably will hit third or fourth in the Seattle lineup, likely either before or after Morales. Seattle will be an improved team in 2013 and has a lot of young talent that will continue to grow, but I don’t think the Mariners can compete with the top of the division. It is a shame because the fans in Seattle really come out for their team, and last season’s struggles didn’t help the fan base. I hope Morse can bring some excitement to the Mariners and maybe Seattle can surprise some people this coming season.
Andy Schmidt is a columnist/writer for RantSports. Follow him on Twitter @ASchmidtSports or like his Facebook page.
