Personally, I have never been particularly high on Morris. Not sure why. Perhaps others can shed some insight and opinions on him. Just doesn't seem to be a big game pitcher to me. Giants rotation starting to shape up nicely with Schmidt, Lowry, Morris, Cain, and Hennessey as well as the bullpen with Benitez, Worrell, Walker, Munter, et al. Sure wish the Giants would have kept J.T. Snow for one more year keeping the team intact for 2006. Niekro may be a defensive liability at first base. Everyone else stays put.
Hitman26 said:
Hitman:
Nice to hear from you. To answer your question, yes. This is of course assuming Bonds is healthy and starts and plays this year. Injuries devastated the Giants last year, but the division is so weak that the Padres won by default. If the Giants are healthy for the most part, they should run away with this division.
I have to agree 8.5 million for Matt Morris? Baseball has lost its mind. Seriously. I'm gonna risk it and say Morris doesn't have a season with under 4.5 ERA and has a win total of under 30 over the next 3 years. That's a crazy trade. I don't think the market for pitching is that bad, so that you could justify paying the kind of money for him.
Any pitcher with a heartbeat these days can demand big bucks. The Giants have been desperate for a solid starter for years to go along with Schmidt. When they missed out on Loiaza to the A's, they had to overpay just to make sure they landed someone.
Their rotation is now respectable with Schmidt, Morris, and Lowry as their top 3. Morris is overpaid, but it shows their fans and players they are serious about winning this season.
I am excited to see them with Morris and Winn in the leadoff spot for an entire season...not to mention Bonds.
Their rotation is now respectable with Schmidt, Morris, and Lowry as their top 3. Morris is overpaid, but it shows their fans and players they are serious about winning this season.
I am excited to see them with Morris and Winn in the leadoff spot for an entire season...not to mention Bonds.
About the Giants winning the division, there is a long time till season's start, but I'm REALLY liking the moves the Padres have been doing. Their starting is solid, their pen is second to none, I have immense respect for Mirabelli and getting Cameron could never be bad. If they make the move and try to ship Giles/Klesko/Roberts in any combination for some pitching, I can see them winning the division again. Still, long time to go, I doubt either team is clear on what exactly their line up will look like in 3 months time.
Edit: Last note, IMO, re-signing Hauffman was a mistake. You keep the funds, you stick Linebrink in there, and you get a bloody decent 1B.
Edit: Last note, IMO, re-signing Hauffman was a mistake. You keep the funds, you stick Linebrink in there, and you get a bloody decent 1B.
8.5 over 3 years isn't that bad. I believe that the Giants made out pretty well in the deal. Morris has won 20 games and while he isn't in the top tier of pitchers I still remember how well he pitched a couple years ago against Schilling and Arizona in the playoffs in a 1-0 loss. Morris is 32 years old but if his arm doesn't blow up again he is a pretty good bet to win 15 games plus I'd rather pay Morris 8.5 million a year to win me 15 games than Brett Tomko the 5 million or so he might get to go 8-15.
