The Pittsburgh Pirates have traded Jose Tabata for Michael Morse and cash, according to Jon Heyman.
michael morse went with cash to pirates for jose tabata
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 31, 2015
Nothing yet on the money exchanging hands, but here are the contracts for each player:
Morse – Making $7 M this year, with about $2.5 M remaining. $8 M in 2016
Tabata – $4 M in 2015, $4.5 M in 2016, $250,000 buyout in 2017
Obviously the base salaries have the Pirates taking on money here. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Dodgers send enough to even this out.
Morse batted .213/.276/.313 in 160 at-bats this season for the Marlins, who just dealt him as part of a much bigger deal to the Dodgers, who then immediately designated him for assignment. He had an .811 OPS in 131 games for the Giants last year, then had some big hits during their World Series playoff run, including a game-tying homer in the deciding game of the NLCS, helping to eliminate the Cardinals.
The Pirates have been looking for a platoon guy, and Morse will probably be used in that role. Unfortunately, he’s struggled in that department this year, with a .291 OPS against lefties in just 25 plate appearances. Last year he had an .827 OPS against lefties, while also posting an .803 OPS against right-handers. This got him his two year, $16 M deal, and now the Pirates will have to hope that he can bounce back to that point. If he does, then they not only have their option against lefties this year, but they also have their replacement for Pedro Alvarez next year until Josh Bell arrives, along with an upgrade over Alvarez this year.
Update 6:49 PM: The Pirates have officially announced the deal. Morse will join the team on Monday and a 25-man roster move will be made then.
