Examining the Morse - Jaso - Cole deal

The A's, Mariners and Nationals completed a three-way deal yesterday. The most famous player in the deal, first baseman/corner outfielder/slugger Mike Morse is headed from Washington, DC to Washington state, catcher John Jaso heads south on I-5 from Seattle to Oakland, and minor league pitchers A.J. Cole and Blake Treinen. To clear a spot for Jaso, the Athletics also designated catcher George Kottaras for assignment. The Mariners and GM Jack Zduriencik are catching a lot of flak from the trade. Jeff Sullivan at Lookout Landing and Dave Cameron at USS Mariner (both of who also contribute at FanGraphs) both pilloried the deal. Cameron even ventured to call the trade "Bavasi-esque" which is a pretty powerful slur in Marinerland.