Miami Marlins Trade Rumors: Michael Morse Back to San Francisco?

As the Miami Marlins prepare to make a run at their third baseman from last year, Casey McGehee, could they be preparing to send their first baseman, Michael Morse, back to the team he played for last season?

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According to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, the defending World Champion San Francisco Giants have shown some interest in bringing Michael Morse back to the Bay Area, where he helped the Giants win the World Series in 2014.

"### San Francisco has shown some interest in re-acquiring first baseman Michael Morse from the Marlins but would have to be willing to pay a good chunk of the $11 million remaining on his contract for Miami to consider this. Nothing was imminent Thursday morning…. The Marlins have received several calls on pitcher Mat Latos, who’s available."

The Miami Marlins signed Morse to a 2-year $16 million contract last off-season, a signing which I was never a huge fan of.

"Yes, the Marlins needed a first baseman to replace their mistake of a year ago, in Garrett Jones. But I don’t believe Morse was the answer for the Marlins problems at first base."

To say Morse has been a disappointment to this point in the season would be an understatement. Including last night’s game, Morse owns a .210/.273/.304 slash line with a 61 wRC+. His power, his career calling card, has been non-existent, as he’s posted a .097 ISO, which is half of his career mark of .187.

Morse owns a -0.8 fWAR, which is tied with Donovan Solano for the worst mark on the team, in 150 plate appearances. The -0.8 fWAR would be the second worst in all of baseball, if Morse had enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title.

Clearly, Morse has not been what the Miami Marlins had expected him to be. With Justin Bour and Jeff Baker forming a strong platoon at first, the team could not be motivated to move the contract of Morse.

If the team does engage with someone like the Giants, they’ll have to pay a good portion of Morse’s salary for a trade to take place. The team would probably need to eat most, if not all of the contract to get something worthwhile in return.

The Giants and Marlins did hook up this off-season on a Casey McGehee trade, which brought the Miami Marlins pitching prospects Kendry Flores and Luis Castillo in return. McGehee is now apparently on the Marlins radar to return to the team.

While that trade ended working out in the Marlins favor, a trade involving Morse and the two teams would likely be purely a salary dump for the Miami Marlins, without anything significant headed back.

For the Giants, it would be a buy-low opportunity on a guy they know and hope can turn things around in a familiar, winning environment.

A Michael Morse trade that sends the first baseman back to San Francisco does not look like its imminent, but that does not mean it cannot come together before the trade deadline on July 31st.

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