When ex-Pirates' GM Dave Littlefield got the axe last September, it was widely assumed that the final straw in his disastrous reign of terror was the Rajai Davis-for-Matt Morris trade executed at last year's deadline. It wasn't that Davis was a great prospect (he's since been cut by the Giants), but rather that Morris was a shadow of his former self and due around $10 million in 2008 and an option for 2009, with Littlefield graciously picking up all of the onerous contract from Brian Sabean. Morris was pretty bad with the Pirates last year and he's been downright awful this year, off to an 0-3 start with a 9.15 ERA, a WHIP of nearly 2.00, and opponents slugging nearly .700 against him. Surely, the Pirates are ready to cut bait, right? RIGHT?!? Wrong. From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
"As long as we feel there's still an ability in there to get people out, we're going to continue to let Matt be a starting pitcher for us," general manager Neal Huntington said last night. "If we get to the point where we just don't think he can compete, then we obviously have to make a move at that point."
Are they getting close?
"At this point, we're not all that close, which I know the fans don't want to hear. We're not close to deciding that Matt is done, because that's essentially what you'd be deciding. Maybe he could go somewhere else and click. We want to make sure we exhaust all opportunities right here."
The problem is that the Pirates sadly don't have other options right now and it's probably true that their best choice is to keep trotting Morris out there, hoping against hope that he finds some kind of form and pitches his way into a trade, in which they'll have to eat most of his salary but will be free of the bane of watching him pitch.
