Morse man of many positions as he readies for utility role with Mariners

PEORIA, Ariz. – Because of the arrival of shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt with the Seattle Mariners last season, Mike Morse had to reinvent himself this winter.

“I think whatever position I get to play at and get comfortable at is my best position,” Morse said. “I actually feel great in the outfield, I feel great at first, I feel great at third and I feel great at short.”

With Betancourt scheduled to start at shortstop, Raul Ibanez in left field, Adrian Beltre at third base and Richie Sexson at first, Morse needs to be versatile to get on the field.

After being recalled from Triple-A Tacoma on May 31, Morse started 50 games at shortstop, but Betancourt was promoted from Tacoma on July 28 and he demonstrated in 52 starts at shortstop that had a Gold Glove future in Seattle.

But while the Mariners love Betancourt for his glove, they also love Morse’s offense. In 72 games in Seattle last season, he hit .278 (64 for 230) with three homers and 23 RBIs.

“People like Betancourt do change a lot of careers,” manager Mike Hargrove said. “The good thing of it is that Mike can swing the bat. You can always find a place for somebody like that to play.”

Morse is expected to make the Mariners’ roster this spring as a reserve outfielder. He doesn’t have any problem losing the shortstop’s job to Betancourt because he considers Betancourt to be a special defensive player.

He did not see Betancourt play until the two were teammates in Seattle last season.

Betancourt, then a first-year player from Cuba, started last season at Double-A San Antonio.

“I heard he was a great shortstop, but I said, ‘When he comes up here, we’ll see,’ ” Morse said. “Well, he is. He’s a great shortstop. I always felt like if you were going to lose your position to somebody, that that guy better be good and Yuniesky’s a guy who I’ll lose to any day.”

Acquired from Seattle along with center fielder Jeremy Reed on June 27, 2004, in a trade that sent right-hander Freddy Garcia to the Chicago White Sox, Morse appears to have a bright major league future in front of him.

He will celebrate his 24th birthday on March 22. The White Sox drafted him in the third round in June 2000.

“The thing about Mike is that he’s intelligent and he takes coaching well,” Hargrove said.

During the winter in Florida, where Morse still lives with his parents in Fort Lauderdale, he worked out hard with Ibanez and Betancourt in the Miami area. The 6-foot-5, 227-pounder also got bigger and stronger, gaining 10 pounds of muscle.

“I worked out and ate right,” he said. “I take a lot of pride in the off-season in getting ready for the season. I want to get in the best shape I can get in.”

He also has his own chef now.

“I hired a guy who cooks for Raul and he got me on a good eating regime,” Morse said. “I think it helped me a lot. I never really knew how much eating right can actually help you and give you energy.”

This off-season also was about learning for Morse.

He started seven games in left field last season and played in left in the Mariners’ spring opener against the San Diego Padres on Thursday.

“Really, this off-season was about, ‘Hey, if you want to play up here, you’ve got to learn this stuff and it’s not going to be an easy road, you’ve got to focus during the off-season,’ ” he said.