Rizzo: Cole was key to Morse trade

Mike Rizzo was willing to keep Michael Morse on his bench this season if he didn't receive a strong trade offer for the slugger. The Nationals general manager, though, was confident all along he'd get the kind of offer he was seeking.

"We could've kept him. And knowing me, if we didn't get the deal we wanted, we would've kept him," Rizzo said. "But I don't think it would've been fair to him in a contract year to come off the bench. I don't think his skills are really indicative of a bench player. There was enough interest. We were getting enough phone calls and hits on him, I thought there was going to be a deal that we liked out there."

That deal came together this week, with the Mariners strongly interested in re-acquiring Morse, the Athletics interested in acquiring Seattle catcher John Jaso and the Nationals very

The burden of trading a beast

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Michael Morse was popular with Nationals teammates and fans alike.

Michael Morse's arrival in Washington on Aug. 21, 2009, barely merited even the briefest of mentions.

Acquired from the Mariners for Ryan Langerhans two months earlier in what was universally described as a "swap of minor leaguers," Morse was promoted to D.C. after producing a robust .339 batting average at Class AAA Syracuse. His first appearance in a Nationals uniform came in the bottom of the eighth of a meaningless game against the Brewers. Pinch-hitting for Tyler Clippard, Morse swung at the very first pitch he saw from Milwaukee's Todd Coffey and lined out to first baseman Prince Fielder.

Few among the announced crowd of 26,307 that Friday night bothered to applaud the newest member of the Nationals bench, a big galoot of a ballplayer with no natural position and a track record for getting hurt.

Who could have imagined at the time what Morse's final at-bat in a Nats uniform would look and sound like: bottom of the eighth

Morse to M's, Cole back to Nats

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Michael Morse became expendable after the Nats re-signed Adam LaRoche.

Updated at 7:50 p.m.

The Nationals have sent Michael Morse back to Seattle and are getting A.J. Cole back from Oakland in the process.

Morse was part of a three-team trade involving the Nationals, Athletics and Mariners, with Cole (one of the prospects sent to Oakland in last winter's Gio Gonzalez blockbuster) among the three players acquired by Washington, the club officially announced this evening.

The Nationals received two more players from the A's in addition Cole: minor-league right-hander Blake Treinen and another player to be named. Oakland, meanwhile, receives catcher John Jaso from Seattle.

Thus ends Morse's productive and popular, 3 1/2-year stint with the Nationals. Originally acquired from the Mariners for outfielder Ryan Langerhans in 2009, the slugger burst onto the scene two years later when he took over for an injured Adam LaRoche at first base and led the club with 31 homers, 95 RBI and a .303 batting
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