Nationals agree to terms with Michael Morse on multi-year contract extension

By Josh Land

Nationals

January 20, 2012, 11:30am

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The Washington Nationals today agreed to terms with outfielder/first baseman Michael Morse on a multi-year contract extension, thus avoiding salary arbitration. This contract was agreed upon prior to arbitration figures being exchanged and was contingent upon a since-completed physical. Nationals Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement. Morse, 29, is a career .296 (338-for-1140) hitter with 69 doubles, 52 home runs and 183 RBIs in 383 games spanning seven big league seasons with Washington and Seattle. In two seasons (2010-11) as a regular in Washington, Morse has paced the Nationals in home runs, RBI, slugging percentage (.539) and OPS (.896) while batting .298 (235-for-788) with 48 doubles, 46 home runs and 136 RBIs in 244 games. In the same two-year span, Morse has started 135 games in the outfield and another 87 at first base for Washington. In 2011, Morse led the Nationals in all three Triple Crown categories (.303, 31 homers, 95 RBIs) and became just the fourth qualified National to hit .300 since the club came to DC in 2005. Morse was acquired from Seattle in exchange for outfielder Ryan Langerhans on June 28, 2009.