Mariners

Geoff Baker  is on vacation and Larry Stone is otherwise occupied at the moment.

But we wanted to make sure to pass along the news of the day, that the Mariners have acquired outfielder/first baseman Michael Morse from Washington in a three-team deal that sent catcher/first baseman John Jaso to Oakland.

Here are some details.

Mariner general manager Jack Zduriencik and Morse each just spoke to the media, and Morse, who played for the M’s from 2005-08, said “I’m so excited, words can’t describe what me and my family are going through right now. Seattle gave me my first shot and this is where I became a man so I’m glad to be back home.”

Zduriencik said adding Morse gives the Mariners another power bat for the middle of their lineup and said he was confident that Morse will return to his 31-homer form of 2011 after being bothered by a lat muscle injury last season.

Losing Jaso means the Mariners need some more backup catching, and Zduriencik said the Mariners “will definitely be shopping” to add depth there behind Jesus Montero.

Jaso can play a corner outfield spot or first base, something the Mariners appear to have a lot of right now. Zduriencik said for now he will not pigenhole Morse into any one spot but will wait to see how it unfolds in spring training. But he said he expects Morse to be an everyday player.

Morse has one year left on a contract that will pay him $6.75 million this year.