APRIL 21: Morse has been unconditionally released by the Pirates, tweets MLB.com’s Adam Berry. He’s now a free agent and can sign with any club.
APRIL 13: The Pirates announced today that they have selected the contract of right-hander A.J. Schugel and designated first baseman/outfielder Michael Morse for assignment in order to clear a spot on the 25- and 40-man rosters.
The Pirates acquired Morse and cash considerations from the Dodgers last season in exchange for outfielder Jose Tabata and the remaining money on his contract, meaning they didn’t actually take on any additional salary in picking up Morse, who is owed $8MM in 2016 — the second season of a two-year, $16MM contract originally signed with the Marlins. The 34-year-old Morse has had one of the more interesting career arcs you’ll come across, going from third-round pick of the White Sox to failed prospect in Chicago/Seattle to breakout slugger at the age of 28 with the Nationals. Morse slugged 64 homers in 346 games for the 2010-12 Nats, posting an OPS+ of 131 before being sent back to Seattle in a trade. The 2013 season was another dreadful year for Morse, but he again revitalized his career with a huge season at the plate for the 2014 World Champion Giants. Upon signing his two-year deal with the Marlins, though, Morse’s offense again deteriorated, and he found himself involved in two salary dump trades last season.
Morse has batted a combined .247/.356/.351 in 90 plate appearances with the Pirates across the past two seasons. However, the offseason additions of Jason Rogers and David Freese left the club without a clear need for Morse, who had previously been penciled in as a right-handed platoon mate for first baseman John Jaso. It’s unlikely that any club will pick Morse up on release waivers due to his salary, so Morse is likely to clear and hit the open market, where he’ll be free to sign with any club. In that scenario, a new team would only be required to pay him the pro-rated league minimum (assuming they’re willing to give a 40-man roster spot).
As for Schugel, the 26-year-old was an offseason waiver claim for the Pirates, who subsequently outrighted him off the 40-man roster. Schugel struggled in nine innings with the D-backs last year — his first taste of Major League action — and has had some alarming troubles at the Triple-A level as well. Schugel has dominated Double-A but owns a 7.92 ERA in 128 1/3 Triple-A innings.
The Dodgers are paying Morse’s salary for 2016, so he’s free for the taking. Someone will claim him
Yep… Dbacks?
Whoever claims him has to pay the salary for the Dodgers.
Okay, guess he plays in AAA then.
If he’s claimed the team picking him up pays the 4.5 mil so he’s guaranteed to clear waivers and keep the Dodgers on the hook for that money then sign him to a league minimum deal
Yes.. Waivers means the team picks up the full salary (since the dodgers agreed in their trade to the Pirates to pick up$3.5mm), the team claiming Morse would only be on the hook for $4.5mm
After he clears waivers, the team signing morse would only be on the hook for the prorated amount of the major league min..
.. Just reinforcing your point that he is ‘guaranteed’ to clear waivers
Was glad when he left Seattle unhappy when was resigned then happy when he left. Guy was suspended for PEDs still looks like he is taking HGH. He has short bursts where he is decent but long droughts. He is also a liability in the OF. I hope Seattle doesn’t even look at him.
As a Giants fan, I have far happier memories of The Beast from 2014. NLCS Game 5, World Series Game 7.
So now we get to add AJ Flippen Schugel to our already totally erratic pitching staff.
Huntington could teach P.T. Barnum a few things….
How many years in a row did P.T. Barnum lead a team to the playoffs?
AJ goes bye bye when Hughes gets activated from the DL. Morse would have been gone in about 3 weeks anyway when Kang comes back from the DL. This is not a huge deal. Too bad Neil could not swing a deal even for a very low level prospect and pick up all but the ML minimum for their share of what is owed to Morse.
Michael Morse, even hitting like he did with Pitt, would be a massive upgrade over Chris Colabello as Smoak’s platoon partner in Toronto.
Personally, I’d rather they put EE at first and rotate everyone through DH, but Morse wouldn’t be a terrible option either.
When Morse played in Pittsburgh more than just PH duty, he hit well.. It was when he sat for extended periods that he was more erratic. Would be a cheap pick up for the Birds or any other team needing a RH DH or 1b. Decent player