Mariners reacquire Kendrys Morales, who represents dodged bullet for Pirates

The Mariners have reacquired Kendrys Morales from the Twins for pitcher Stephen Pryor.

This has no direct bearing on the Pirates' deadline behavior, of course, but now is as good a time as any to note that if the Pirates had signed Morales last offseason, it would have been an enormous mess. Signing Morales would have forced the Pirates to give up the first-round pick they used on Cole Tucker, and since Morales signed with the Twins following the draft, he's hit .234/.259/.325. We're also no closer to knowing whether he can handle first base on an everyday basis, although if he'd hit that badly with Pittsburgh, his offense might have knocked him out of the lineup before he'd had time to answer that question anyway.

Ike Davis, who the Pirates acquired instead of Morales, hasn't played that well either, but at least he gets on base, can field his position, makes much less money, and cost the Pirates less in trade than the value of a first-round pick.

Remember when Scott Boras said Morales would be a "perfect fit" for the Bucs? That was funny.