This week, we’re going to take a closer look at the Mike Morse-John Jaso trade that was made by Jack Zduriencik earlier this month. While the reactions, both from fans and writers, have been overwhelmingly negative so far, there are mixed opinions elsewhere on the blogosphere that deserve to be considered.

Jack Z’s Reputation: A Retrospective — As part of Michael Clair’s blogathon to support Doctors Without Borders, Ben Lindbergh of Baseball Prospectus tracked the rise and apparent fall of Jack Zduriencik—from the trades that made him great to the moves that threaten to shorten his time in Seattle.

Mariners Trade John Jaso For Michael Morse For Some Reason — I think the title of this thread adequately sums up my initial reaction to the trade. Beware that this is a reactionary post: Jeff Sullivan has since polled the Mariners fanbase, examined the results of what turned out to be a very emotional poll, and rethought things about Mike Morse. It is becoming increasingly difficult to summarize Sullivan’s conclusions on this trade, so you should probably just read all of the posts.

Morse: The Lesser of Two Evils — Though not necessarily an advocate of the Morse-Jaso trade, Dave Cameron sheds light on Jaso’s time with the Mariners, explaining that for all the good John managed to do last year, this year was headed for inevitable decline given the role the Mariners had given him.

Jaso for Morse — Finally, Prospect Insider’s Jason Churchill echoes Cameron’s sentiment, approaching the trade from this basic viewpoint: Given two equal bats, take the one that will see more playing time. Although both players are defensive liabilities, Morse is more than capable of matching Jaso’s offensive production, and will get many more chances to prove it.

What do you think about the Jaso-Morse trade? Share it with us on Twitter or in the comments below!

A parting look at John Jaso, via his Twitter account (@johnjaso27). We’ll miss him, but that beard had to go.

Should you need a bit of a breather from Wednesday’s trade news, here are some offseason events to shift your focus to the exciting additions the Mariners have coming their way.

• Yesterday, Ryan Divish broke the news that Boston’s Triple-A broadcaster Aaron Goldsmith will be joining Rick Rizzs in the broadcast booth this season, eliminating the rotating panel of broadcasters that temporarily filled Dave Niehaus’ spot. Goldsmith is 28 years old, with six years of experience scattered across the Cape Cod Baseball League, Frontier League, and minor league systems of the Red Sox and Rangers.
• Baseball America’s Ben Badler reports that the Mariners have signed Dominican prospect Luis Liberato to a $140,000 contract. Liberato, a 17-year-old outfielder, is currently projected as a power-hitting center fielder. From the scouting report:

“Liberato is 6-foot-1, 175 pounds and has flashed a mature approach to hitting from the left side with gap power and advanced baseball instincts for his age. Like many young Dominican amateur hitters, he’ll try to sell out for power at times, but when he’s at his best he’s shown a solid swing.”

• Per the Mariners’ official blog, Erasmo Ramirez was invited to speak at a FESA banquet in San Salvador this offseason. FESA is a leadership organization that provides education and baseball training for Nicaraguan youth. During his visit, Erasmo described his journey to the majors, from FESA’s helping hand to his first year with Seattle.

For now, Jesus Montero is the only guaranteed catcher on the Mariners’ roster.

I’ll give Jack Zduriencik this much: he certainly knows how to pull off a surprise.

Today, the Mariners announced a three-way trade with the Oakland Athletics and Washington Nationals. John Jaso went to Oakland, A.J. Cole, Blake Treinen, and a PTBNL went to Washington, and Mike Morse went to Seattle.

It’s a move that, according to Twitter, left many fans scratching their heads.

In 2012, Jaso held a backup catching role, splitting time behind the plate with Miguel Olivo and Jesus Montero, and coming in as a left-handed pinch-hitter during late innings and extra-inning games. Offensively, he was the hottest lefty on the team, batting .276/.394/.456 in 108 games and 361 PA, with a .372 wOBA, 15.5% walk rate and 3.3 bWAR.

Mike Morse is a familiar name to Seattle fans. The Mariners saw him through the first four years of his career, from his MLB debut in 2005 to an injury-riddled 2008. In just 107 games and 337 PA, he batted .300/.365/.397 for a -0.2 bWAR. His batting average and playing time increased considerably after his departure, peaking at .303 in 2011 and dipping to a comfortable .291/.321/.470 over 430 PA in 2012.

While Morse has experience at first base (123 career games) and left/right field (247 career games), he will be fighting for a position that is over-saturated with candidates: Kendrys Morales, Mike Carp, and Justin Smoak at first, and Casper Wells, Michael Saunders, Eric Thames, Franklin Gutierrez, Jason Bay, Raul Ibanez, and Carlos Peguero in the outfield.

Where does this leave the Mariners’ catching situation? Miguel Olivo is gone. Montero is on the 40-man, but will not be expected to catch 162 games next year. Mike Zunino is promising, but as of yet unproven—and the Mariners seem to be in no rush to hurry him through the next level of minor league development. From Greg Johns’ trade report:

“We’re going to be shopping,” Zduriencik said. “We have our list; we’ve already talked to people this afternoon. We like our catching in the organization. We’ve got some good young kids right on the horizon. But for immediate needs, we’ll definitely be shopping.”

In a nutshell, this trade sees a poor defensive catcher with decent offensive production swapped for a poor defensive outfielder with decent offensive production. It leans in Oakland’s favor (and, for that matter, Washington’s), but bear in mind that Jack isn’t quite finished with the Mariners’ 2013 roster yet.

As 2012 winds down, here’s a look at the Mariners’ recent holiday gifts to the Seattle fanbase—and a few presents you may have neglected to leave under the tree for your Mariner-loving family and friends.

Awful Gifts For Mariners Fans You Hate — The only thing worse than giving someone a bad present is giving them a bad present one day too late.

Radio comments by Josh Hamilton on whether Mariners made strong play for him: ‘No, not really’ — Continuing the spirit of bad taste in gift giving, here’s another one the Mariners missed out on giving the fans this year: Josh Hamilton. Geoff Baker breaks down Hamilton’s recent interview on The Dan Patrick Show, shedding more light on the talks between the Rangers and Mariners this offseason.

Anatomy of a transaction: Morales trade was 36 years in the making — The Seattle Times‘ Larry Stone weighs in on the Morales-Vargas trade with a round of Six Degrees of former Mariner infielder Bill Stein (actually, it’s 38 degrees, but who’s counting?).

The End of Mike Carp — As we celebrate the arrival of a promising power hitter in Safeco Field, the increasingly crowded roster means that someone will be booted out of the first base/catcher/designated hitter platoon. According to U.S.S. Mariner, it won’t be Justin Smoak, Jesus Montero, or John Jaso.

Prospects Will Break Your Heart: Seattle Mariners Top 10 Prospects —- Finally, a small ray of sunshine in the middle of a long, now Christmas-less winter: the Mariners top ten prospects, as ranked by Baseball Prospectus’s Jason Parks. Note: This article comes at the price of $4.95, and it will be money well spent to find out just how soon Taijuan Walker and Mike Zunino are scheduled to arrive in Seattle.

What have you read this week? Share it with us on Twitter or in the comments below!

As the Hot Stove simmers over the holiday weekend, the Mariners focus on finding a few more pieces for the 2013 roster.

• Here’s something guaranteed to make you go “aww”… Felix Hernandez snuggling with a pair of adorable puppies ready to be adopted. You can find ways to support the Seattle Humane Society here at the “Felix Says Donate” donation page.
• With three new faces on the Mariners’ 2013 roster, there are a few jersey changes to be made. Per the team’s official Twitter account, Robert Andino will don #3, Oliver Perez will switch from #36 to #59, Jason Bay will take Trayvon Robinson’s #12, and Kendrys Morales will stick with #8. Carlos Triunfel, #8 in 2012, will receive another jersey number shortly.
• Although we glossed over this yesterday, Morales will slip into a joint 1B/DH role next season, splitting the positions with Jesus Montero, Justin Smoak, and, to a lesser extent, John Jaso and Mike Carp.
• According to Greg Johns, these are the remaining holes the Mariners need to fill over the rest of the offseason:

A back-end starter
A hot-hitting outfielder
A veteran backstop
A veteran hitter

• Speaking of future moves from Jack Zduriencik, here is an updated list of names the Mariners have been linked to this month. Free agents are identified with asterisks.

RHP Rick Porcello
LHP J.P. Howell*
OF Nick Swisher*
OF Michael Bourn*
OF Andre Ethier
OF Curtis Granderson
OF Carlos Gonzalez
OF Giancarlo Stanton
OF Mike Morse

• Several weeks ago, the Mariners announced their plans to restructure the left field seating area for a new open-air pub. The Southwest-flavored cantina is called Edgar’s, named for iconic Mariner and future Hall of Famer Edgar Martinez. As Kevin Martinez pointed out, the restaurant will not be open to fans during FanFest this January, but is expected to be up and running by Opening Day on April 8.

The Winter Meetings officially kick off tomorrow, but talks among the GMs should start to percolate this evening. What’s in store for the Mariners?

• As reported by Geoff Baker, the Mariners tendered contracts to John Jaso, Brendan Ryan, Jason Vargas, and Shawn Kelley last night. They signed Josh Kinney to a one-year deal, and non-tendered newly-acquired Robert Andino, releasing him at 9pm and signing him to a one-year contract fifteen minutes later.
• Catcher Jesus Sucre and RHP Jonathan Arias have signed minor league contracts with spring training invites, according to Greg Johns.
• Jack Zduriencik has a concrete game plan heading into the Winter Meetings today, and it’s one that involves taking more risks and, as he put it, “not going to be gun shy because of what happened with Chone Figgins.” I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not, but it’ll depend on whether the Mariners decide to ink Josh Hamilton for 5/$100 or Mike Napoli for 3/$80.
• Kidding, of course. Johns has a comprehensive list of the Mariners’ needs here, which includes a catcher, first baseman, starting pitcher, corner infielder, and right-handed bat. In return, the team can offer a plethora of prospects, including the Big Four, Nick Franklin, and Mike Zunino.

According to the team’s official Twitter account, the Mariners have declined Miguel Olivo’s $3M option for 2013 and released Munenori Kawasaki.

Both moves were anticipated, following Olivo’s waning performance in 2012 and the emergence of Jesus Montero and John Jaso as viable alternate backstops. Olivo collected 232 hits, 90 extra bases, and batted .210/.239/.370 in 321 games and 4 years as a Mariner.

The Mariners are about to enter into a crucial off-season in which the front office has made clear that it will be active. There will be moves made to improve this team for 2013 and beyond, whether it be solely through free agency or with the acquisition of players via trade. One question, however, has been eating at me these past few days. If the 2012 Mariners were foods, which would they be?

John Jaso – Pumpkin. Pumpkin is probably one of my favorite flavors but, because the higher-ups in the world have decided that it doesn’t match up well with the other seasons, we are only allowed to enjoy it for a small portion of the year. I can’t think of a flavor that is more underutilized than pumpkin.

Brendan Ryan – Spinach. I used to hate spinach. Hate it. I think I mostly hated it, though, because I was told to hate it. Spinach has the unfortunate fate of being labeled as unappetizing by many. As I’ve grown older and wiser, however, I’ve learned to like spinach. A lot. Sure, I wouldn’t want to eat spinach for every meal, but it’s a solid side dish.

Dustin Ackley – Mixed Drink. Except the drink wasn’t mixed properly. In the first sip, we got all of the sugary mixer. It was delicious. We thought the whole drink was going to be amazing. Well, guess what we’re left with now? Straight vodka. I don’t know about you, but that wasn’t what I was expecting. And, frankly, this drink sucks now.

Chone Figgins – A Half Pint Of Milk. That expired three years ago. Why is this still in the fridge? Why hasn’t anybody thrown this away yet?

Justin Smoak – Homemade red wine. We invested a lot to make this red wine. We gave up a lot of time and resources making this wine. It’s wine, so it has to be good, right? Nope. It’s cool that we made it though, right? No, because it’s terrible. But it will get better with age, right? Probably not. Couldn’t get much worse though!

Jason Vargas – Bubble Gum. With bubble gum, you know what you’re going to get. Sure, some may be sweeter than others, but you can’t really be too surprised with gum. Sometimes, though when you try to blow a bubble, it will blow up and you’ll be left with a real mess. All over your face.

Hisashi Iwakuma – Ramune. If you don’t know what Ramune is, welcome to my life three years ago. They started selling it in my dorm though, and I bought it. It was some kind of Japanese soda and I really had no idea what to expect. After I finished my first, I realized that I actually really liked it. A lot. Over the next few months. I had a lot of ramune. I hope to have a lot more in the future too.

Blake Beavan – Triscuits. Has anybody ever been really excited because somebody had Triscuits at a party? Not that I know of. Does it get more bland? I don’t think so. Sometimes, though, you’re hungry. Starving. All you have are Triscuits. Will they get you full? Technically, yes. Will you enjoy it? Not a chance.

Franklin Gutierrez – A bunch of grapes. Oh look! This looks good! Nevermind, it’s squished. Here’s one! Ewww… rotten. How about this one? A bug ate half of it. Why do I even bother trying?

Jesus Montero – Strawberries. In May. These things are going to be so good soon. You can see it. If we eat them right now, though, we’ll be disappointed. Don’t expect much for a few more months. They’re going to be so sweet eventually.

Carter Capps and Stephen Pryor – Sprinkles. Everybody likes sprinkles. They’re sweet, but you only get a few at a time. They’re pointless if you don’t have a cake to put them on though.

Felix Hernandez – Pizza. Ask 50% of adults and 100% of kids what their favorite food is. Pizza. Pizza has a little bit of everything – vegetables, proteins, breads, even fruit sometimes. Pizza can do it all and it does a pretty damn good job. In one word, it’s perfect.

Miguel Olivo – Durian. Definitions of durian from across the internet: “evokes intense disgust.” “Described variously as rotten onions and gym socks.” “If the smell doesn’t kill you, the taste will.”

Munenori Kawasaki – Pop Rocks. What are Pop Rocks, anyway? What’s the point? Why do they do what they do? How do they do what they do? Nobody mistakes Pop Rocks for real food, but they sure are fun. And completely ridiculous.

Final score: Mariners 6, Angels 1

Unlike the stone-faced foes of the Doctor, these Angels are not liable to kill more than the Mariners’ chances of winning a baseball game. Tonight, however, they were powerless—not, as one might expect, against King Felix, but against Hisashi Iwakuma.

For his third consecutive win, and ninth on the season, Iwakuma allowed six hits and a walk. He struck out seven batters, retiring Mike Trout on four pitches and sending Albert Pujols down swinging three times. In sixteen starts, this marked Iwakuma’s fifth outing with at least six strikeouts. Prior to tonight, his most recent attempt was another 7-strikeout effort against the Angels on September 2.

On the heels of the Mariners’ announcement to restructure the fences, every ball hit in the direction of an outfield wall was imagined in its 2013 resting place. Kyle Seager cleared the fences with a moon shot to right field, while Casper Wells and Michael Saunders smacked several pitches to the warning track.

In a pre-2013 Safeco Field, Saunders, John Jaso, and Jesus Montero followed Seager’s home run with a no-doubt double and a pair of base hits. Not to be excluded, Mark Trumbo ensured at least two RBIs with a handful of throwing errors. Overly grateful, the Mariners returned the favor in the 9th, botching a shutout on a ground ball that tripped Tom Wilhelmsen and popped off Saunders’ glove.

Tomorrow, the Mariners return to Safeco Field for the series finale and their last game of the season. Fighting to skew the series split in their favor will be Blake Beavan and RHP Jered Weaver.

Last game: vs. Angels | October 3 | 3:40pm

Final score: Orioles 4, Mariners 2

When the Mariners began this game, I was still 21.

Nine hours ago, I arrived at Safeco for batting practice, eager to soak up the last little bit of baseball the Mariners have to offer this season. If only I had had an inkling of what was to come.

Through the first eight innings—the first game of the night, really—Erasmo Ramirez shut out the Orioles on two hits and six strikeouts. He returned in the ninth to a standing ovation, then surrendered back-to-back singles to Ryan Flaherty and Nate McLouth. Tom Wilhelmsen blew his fourth save of the year on the third single of the inning, an RBI from Chris Davis that tied the game.

I’m not going to lie: there’s little that excites me more than the prospect of extra innings. In 38 games this year, I had yet to see bonus baseball. So, although I probably should’ve been as sad as Steven was when Wilhelmsen allowed the tying run to score, I was practically bouncing up and down in my seat instead.

I still didn’t know what I was in for.

Over the final nine innings of the game, the crowd of 12,608 dwindled to a few hundred (pictured in the above photo). Eric Wedge brought in John Jaso. Buck Showalter countered with lefty reliever Brian Matusz. Wedge then changed his mind, forfeiting the chance to use his best offensive player, and opted for Alex Liddi.

The 14th stretch came and went. By the 15th inning, even the flocks of seagulls had vanished from the outfield. The field became so quiet that, aside from a few raucous cheers by the seven remaining Orioles fans, you could hear the game broadcast echoing on the main concourse.

It finally ended in the 18th. Lucas Luetge opened the inning with a walk, followed by a pair of base hits and an RBI groundout to give the Orioles a two-run lead. The bottom half of the inning went quickly, without so much as a baserunner for the Mariners.

When this game finally, mercifully finished, I was no longer 21. And although a walk-off would’ve made for an even sweeter story, I couldn’t be happier spending the first part of my birthday at the ballpark. See you tonight, Mariners fans.

Next game: vs. Orioles | September 19 | 7:10pm