Puke, Puke, Puke! (Matt Morris)

[Madtown Bomber]

Did anybody hear ESPN radio today when Van Pelt was talking to one of the baseball guys, I think it was Phillips but anyways they said the Brewers are one of the teams that have been calling the Giants about Matt Morris. Do we need a rundown 30 something pitcher?

 

 

 

 

edit: added Morris' name to thread title

[dadofandrew]

Morris is having a nice year, and has had a nice career. I'm not sure what his contract situation is, but he'd be a nice rental.

[Never Outhustled]

Morris is pretty good overall, but I wouldn't want him for the playoff push, as he been even worse than Cappy down the stretch the last 3 years.

[endaround]

I'm sure the Brewers inquired but not sure they are that interested. He is signed next year at $9.5 million.

[foamboy1]

Do we need a rundown 30 something pitcher?

 

Is Don Sutton still available?

 

Morris would be interesting....reminds me of the kind of guy who might be able to muster up some leadership and good starts as we approach the critical late-season run.

[LouisEly]

Actually I was thinking about Matt Morris. He's only 32, and has an ERA around 3.60 this year which is pretty darned good. I have a feeling that Morris is going to get traded because the Giants have a good young core of starters (Lowry, Cain, Lincecum), a lot of money invested in Zito, and the rest of the team is older than Moses. Do they have any starters under the age of 32? They are in dire need of youth, and Morris and Bonds are the guys who they can trade to get it. Unfortunately because they are so old they would want young guys that are ML ready, not AA or A ball prospects. They have Wynn and Fred Lewis, so I don't think Gwynn is appealing. I don't know that Brad Nelson, Brendan Katin, Alcides Escobar, and Hernan Irribarren are good enough, or the glut of A/A+ OFs are close to ready enough to get the deal done. But they need some power in the OF and 1B and some good middle-infield prospects, as Visquel, Durham, and Aurilia are on their last legs. I would certainly offer Nelson, Sarfate, Escobar, and Irribarren and see what the Giants say.

 

Before you laugh too hard, the last couple of years teams have been very unwilling to trade top prospects, so those four may be one of the better deals the Giants are offered.

[igor67]

I would like to emphasize Louis ELy's point about top prospects. I think unless you are trading for a perennial All-star there is no longer the expectation that you are going to be giving up a top 50 prospect. And once you get beyond that upper crust prospect ratings tend to vary a lot more on depend on when scouts see a guy and their preferences. I'd be somewhat worried that Morris ERA might be deflated quite a bit by home park, but he's certainly intriguing.

[JohnBriggs12]

Morris has been getting shelled as of late. No thanks.

 

The title of this thread makes this a good place for my annual mention of another starting pitcher who in the past month has been considerably better than Morris, is considerably cheaper, and certainly available for the right price (which isn't much):

 

Jamey Wright.

 

Yes, that Jamey Wright who is 2-0 in July with an ERA of 1.38.

 

I promise this will be my one and only post regarding JW.

[dadofandrew]

Wright would be cheap, and I suggested they sign him to a minor league deal in the offseason as well...however, I don't see a place for him unless another SP goes down. Even then, Parra would be the "extra" guy for the rotation, and many would say they'd rather have Manny than Jamey.

[brettac1]

I honestly didn't even know he was still around. He used to always have a run like that every year - his stuff was real good. He'll still bounce back to his usual 5.50 ERA self, though.

[igor67]

Matt Morris may be his best in years, but with less than 4.5K's per 9 innings I don't see how he's worth anything without a ton of fly catchers and a spacious stadium.

[JoeHova]

I don't get why the Brewers would be desperate for trash like Morris or Wright. They have guys better than them that aren't even in the rotation.

 

Sure, it would be nice to get another pitcher, but not a guy like one of them. It would have to be an actual star-quality guy to really improve the team, imo, and I don't think any of them are available.

 

I guess what I'm saying is that I don't think Wright is even better than Dessens and while Morris is probably better than Elmer, Gallardo and Villanueva and maybe Parra are better than Morris.

 

So, the Brewers (imo) have 9 starters better than Wright and 7 or 8 better than Morris (unless we assume that Morris's resurrection is real). How would either of them help much?

 

If anything, I'd rather see Villanueva and Parra added to the rotation at the expense of Suppan and Capuano. I think that they'd be much bigger upgrades than Wright or Morris would be. I know that there is no chance Suppan gets demoted from the rotation in the first year of a $40 million dollar deal, but I feel that Villanueva is significantly better than him and would be a nice upgrade in the rotation. Capuano isn't right right now, so I'd let him have another DL stint and try Parra out in the rotation for a couple turns. Bush appears to have straightened it out after a horrible start. Vargas is what he is- 5 innings/3runs.

 

If anything, the Brewers should be trying to move a starter if the market for starters is so bad. They have depth and they may be able to take advantage of it at this deadline if some team gets desperate (like Cincy was for relievers last year).

 

I'm just dreaming of 2008 when the rotation is (with ages next year):

 

Sheets 29

Gallardo 22

Villanueva 24

Bush 28

Capuano 29

 

Suppan can close or something, although that wouldn't be the best use of him. He has a no-trade clause though, so the Brewers are probably stuck with him despite having 5 better starters.

 

Depth is always nice, but Suppan just doesn't seem to fit this team past this season, imo. Vargas and Parra can be the long-men next year, that way the team is still covered in case of injury.

[gregmag]

I think Joe is exactly right. We may be getting contender fever -- it's just been so long since we could even talk about dumping prospects for a pitcher at the deadline, and we do have some dumpable prospects -- plus of course Sheets is hurt, and behind him our rotation this year, on balance, has looked like a bunch of #4 starters.

 

But the problem -- a nice problem to have -- is that you really only improve our rotation if you pick up a solid #2, and those guys just aren't out there. Even if you could find a solid #3, whom do you bump? Cappy, Bush, and Suppan are capable of running off #2-type stretches for the rest of the year. Of course you could bump Vargas, so that's the tipping point. But I don't think I'd swap out Vargas for Matt Morris unless it didn't cost anything -- and it would cost a bunch.

 

Villy and Parra, to me, are far more promising than any of the names I've heard tossed around. Even if you resolve to keep Villy in the pen, which I think makes sense, I would give Parra a couple of starts before going after the guys we're talking about.

 

Greg.

[Ennder]

We already got Suppan as our overrated vet on the staff, Morris isnt' any better than Suppan so why do we need him. He'd be our 6th or 7th best starter.