When the Washington Nationals finally came to terms on a two-year agreement with Adam LaRoche two weeks ago, it was pretty much a foregone conclusion that Mike Morse would be traded. What we didn't know was to where, for what price, and when.
Well, now we know. Five years after sending Morse to the Nats in exchange for Ryan Langerhans -- seriously, just Langerhans -- the Seattle Mariners have reacquired the slugger. To facilitate the deal, the M's will send John Jaso to the Oakland Athletics and, in turn, the A's will send young righty A.J. Cole back to D.C. with two other prospects.
But what is Twitter saying?
The internet response to the three-team deal was fast and furious -- as internet responses are wont to do -- most of it lampooning the Mariners.
A small sampling...
Prominent M's fans Jeff Sullivan and Dave Cameron were none too pleased, to put it nicely:
This trade is brutal. Just brutal. Can't even pretend to rationalize it. Been a while since one of these.
— Jeff Sullivan (@LookoutLanding) January 16, 2013
John Jaso for Mike Morse, straight up, might be Jack's worst trade since taking over as a GM.
— David Cameron (@DCameronFG) January 16, 2013
I'm not even sure Bill Bavasi would have traded John Jaso for Mike Morse.
— David Cameron (@DCameronFG) January 16, 2013
Ouch. When someone pulls out a Bill Bavasi comp, you know someone's royally screwed the pooch.
At least Marc Normandin of Over the Monster was nice enough to show pity on Cameron and Sullivan:
Multiple prominent Mariners fans just sad faced all over Twitter. Poor guys.
— Marc Normandin (@Marc_Normandin) January 16, 2013
For Sullivan and Cameron's more detailed looks at how Jack Zduriencik made a terrible, terrible move (in their opinion), check them out here and here.
Moving on to less invested opinions, even SI's Joe Sheehan is impressed by Jack Z's ability to make the team worse:
The #Mariners just made a win-now deal that makes them, relative to their competition, worse. Neat trick.
— Joe Sheehan (@joe_sheehan) January 17, 2013
While Grant Brisbee of Baseball Nation finds the whole thing a bit confusing:
I've never seen a three-way trade where each of the teams would have been better off getting one of the other players.
— Grant Brisbee (@mccoveychron) January 17, 2013
Away from the Twittersphere, Keith Law at ESPN piles on the Mariners as well, but also notes the positives for the A's and Nats as well:
The Nats came out way ahead, the A's made a modest gain, and the M's leave me scratching my head at why they'd ask for change for a five-dollar bill and be happy with three singles.
The Nationals move a player for whom they had no use, and to whom they would have paid $6.75 million just to sit on the bench...
The A's gave up some prospect depth, although they are still deep in pitching throughout the organization, especially in the majors, and get a part-time DH who can serve as the backup catcher, with a strong history of getting on base dating back to the minors...
The probable upgrade here for Seattle isn't more than an extra win in 2013 -- and Jaso will make up for that with what he delivers in 2014-15, while likely earning little more over the three years than Morse will earn this year.
From the instant reaction, the majority feeling seems to be that the Mariners got hosed, while the A's and Nats made nice additions.