The Miami Marlins have perhaps found their first baseman for 2015 when they signed a slugger away from the San Francisco Giants. Meanwhile, the San Diego Padres have added a starting pitcher to provide depth for their rotation.
Earlier this morning FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal noted the Marlins were close to a deal with Michael Morse. Soon thereafter, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com confirmed Miami signed the 32-year-old to a two-year deal, pending a physical. Morse spent the 2014 season as a key member of the World Series champion San Francisco Giants, during which he slashed .279/.336/.475 with 16 home runs and 61 RBIs in 131 games.
He played the outfield and first base for the Giants during the regular season and added four games at the designated hitter position in the playoffs. In 10 postseason games, Morse batted .300 with five runs scored, two home runs and seven RBIs, including a crucial pinch-hit game-tying home run in the eighth inning in Game 5 of the NLCS against the St. Louis Cardinals. The Giants went on to win that game and advance to the World Series.
Miami has had Morse on their radar for quite some time now in hopes of signing him to be their first baseman in 2015. It looks like that will be the case as the Marlins continue to build around slugger Giancarlo Stanton.
On the West Coast, the San Diego Padres are looking to continue improving their roster. The team traded for Dodgers' outfielder Matt Kemp last week and now, according to Corey Brock of MLB.com, have signed starting pitcher Brandon Morrow to a one-year deal, which is believed to be worth $2.5 million with additional incentives. It was previously mentioned the Padres offered him a contract that was incentive-laden.
Morrow, an eight-year veteran, has pitched for the Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays. However, he's only appeared in 23 games (16 starts) over the past two seasons with Toronto due to a torn tendon sheath in his right index finger as well as an entrapped radial nerve in his right forearm. The right-hander owns a career record of 42-43 in 231 games (108 starts) to go along with a 4.28 ERA, 1.36 WHIP and 765 strikeouts.
The Padres are said to be looking to add outfielder Justin Upton in a trade with the Braves, so perhaps the acquisition of Morrow will help them add depth to the starting rotation in case they have to trade one of their pitchers.
UPDATE: Morse's deal with Miami is for two years and $16 million plus incentives.
