Apologies if you have heard this story before, but it's actually pretty impressive how we got Michael Morse, now a key producer in the heart of the Washington Nationals lineup. And if you have not heard this story before, hopefully you find it as interesting as I do.

In June 2009, the Nationals traded with Seattle for Morse. In exchange, Washington gave up Ryan Langerhans.

Langerhans was a free agent signing of the Nationals from November of 2008.

However, he was initially acquired in a trade with Oakland. In exchange, Washington sent Oakland Chris Snelling.

Now things get interesting. The Nationals acquired Snelling in a trade with... Seattle. And who did we give up in this trade?

None other than Jose Vidro.

Vidro was a sixth round draft pick of Montreal in 1992. He was with the organization right up until that trade with Seattle.

That turned out to be quite a pick for the organization, didn't it? Vidro hit .301/.363/.459 in 10 years with Montreal/Washington, although his time in D.C. was marred by injuries. But after the Nationals traded him, he only played two more years, being released by Seattle in August 2008 and never playing again. In the meantime, Snelling, the player we acquired for Vidro, was traded for Langerhans. And less than a year after the end of Vidro's career, we traded Langerhans for Morse.

The rest, as they say, is history.

But it is also, hopefully, the future, provided the Nationals continue to get many happy homers from Michael John Morse.

(All transaction info thanks to Baseball-Reference)