Bronx, NY – The Baltimore Orioles and Seattle Mariners completed a waiver wire trade on Friday, with the O's receiving outfielder Michael Morse in exchange for minor league outfielder Xavier Avery.
Morse was traded back to the Mariners prior to the start of the season, but his production to this point has been curtailed by finger and quad injuries. In 76 games this season, he has compiled a .226 average with 13 homers and 27 RBI.
Needing to make up ground for the stretch run, the Orioles entered Friday 6 1/2 games back of first-place Boston in the AL East standings and 3 1/2 games behind Oakland for the second wild-card spot.
Two years ago, Morse batted .303 with 31 homers and 95 RBI for the Washington Nationals.
Avery, 23, has split this season with Double-A Bowie and Triple-A Norfolk, hitting .259 with 29 stolen bases and 35 RBI over 120 games. He will report to Triple-A Tacoma.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.