As the Baltimore Orioles look to bolster their lineup for the stretch-run in hopes of playing some playoff baseball come October, the team acquired a power bat in outfielder Michael Morse Friday from the Seattle Mariners in exchange for minor leaguer Xavier Avery in a waiver deal.
"We just need a little bit more punch in our lineup, and hopefully, Mike will be able to add that to the team," executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette said to MLB.com of Morse. "He's had some good offensive numbers over the course of his career. He's a big, physical guy who is athletic and has experience in the postseason."
The Orioles (71-61) will look to fill Morse in the designated-hitter role as the team hunts down a playoff berth in the final month of the season. The Orioles enter play Friday in third place in the American League East, 6.5 games behind the first place Boston Red Sox and 3.5 games behind the Oakland Athletics for the second wildcard spot.
Morse, 31, started this season well but has had a disappointing campaign after the promising start. In 76 games with Seattle, Morse hit .226 with 13 homers and 27 RBIs. Morse started off the season with a bang until a broken finger and strained hamstring set him back. Morse had a taste of the stretch-run to the postseason last year with the Washington Nationals where he posted a .302 average with six homers in September leading up to a 5-for-19 postseason appearance that included a homer.
Morse has proven his power, hitting 31 homers back in 2011. A video of all 31 long-balls can be seen in the video below:
The Orioles had been searching for a power bat, and after failing to come to terms with the Minnesota Twins on Josh Willingham and following being unable to land Kendrys Morales from the Mariners, the team was able to come to a deal to land Morse.
According to MLB.com, Avery, 23, was ranked the No. 10 prospect in the Orioles' system in the site's rankings. In 120 minor league games this season spent between Double-A and Triple-A, Avery has 20 steals and 70 runs.
Morse will go from playing with a bad team to a contending one in the deal as the Mariners are 60-73, and 18 games behind the Texas Rangers in the American League West.
Morse will try to help lead the Orioles to the postseason for the second-straight year.
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