Cards Make A Play For Matt Morris

Sadly for frustrated Cardinals fans, it's come to this: Plan C.  A distant Plan C, at that.  After falling short on #2 starter types A.J. Burnett and Javier Vazquez, Walt Jocketty confirmed his interest in good ol' Matt Morris.

Jayson Stark quoting an anonymous GM yesterday about the Cardinals:

"That's a team whose window to win may be closing.  They'll still be good. But they're getting thinner, and they're getting older, and they're getting more vulnerable."

This is undeniable.  The Cards aren't packed with young talent in the pipeline, and a couple of stars like Jim Edmonds and Scott Rolen might be creeping towards their decline phase. 

That's why signing Matt Morris is a bad move.  It doesn't seem like the type of move the Cardinals would make.  They were planning on letting him go because they knew he wasn't worth $24MM over three years and they refused to pay it.  Now they might hand him that money anyway because there's nothing better and cheaper out there.

Continuing to pitch in front of a solid St. Louis defense will be good for Morris's career as he becomes a finesse pitcher.  A few weeks ago, I gave an '06 projection for Morris as a San Francisco Giant.  I said a 4.41 ERA with that defense; he might manage 4.25 with some luck as a Cardinal in '06.  U.S.S. Mariner said it best on October in their Free Agent Landmines post:

"Since the all-star break, Matt Morris has been, well, awful. His numbers across the board have taken a nosedive. His strikeout rate has fallen and he’s getting lit up like a Christmas tree. He has a history of arm problems, and at this point, wouldn’t be a good bet even on a one year contract. Given his reputation and his overall totals, someone is certainly going to overpay."

Looks like that someone could be the Cardinals. 

Comments

[Coty W]

Us Cards fans took a hit when AJ jumped ship so to speak. Everyone here in Arkansas was wanting our hometown boy to play for the hometown team. Now that it didn't happen, we've had to look elsewhere. The Vazquez-Quentin trade fell through, sadly. So now we're faced with signing another mediocre pitcher. However, people seem to forget our gaping hole in LF and that Albert can't keep carrying the team. We need a young outfielder. There was very small talk of Nomar in LF but that is about as safe as re-signing Matt Morris. I'm lost and distraught as a die-hard Cards fan. I feel like the ownership has given up and won't spend the money he is making to put the team over the edge. I know in the past we've had the teams and choked in the playoffs, but this is the year we need that difference maker. Looks like we might have to wait until at least mid-season if not next year...

[RumorMonger]

Yeah that's the same vibe I'm hearing from a lot of Cards fans. Imagine how different the team would be perceived if they'd signed AJ. Morris would make things worse, not better.

[mattf]

At first I was upset that we could not land AJ. Although I am in agreement that he hasn't proved he deserves what he got. However I though it was worth taking a chance on what untapped talent he has. Since AJ passed and all that is left is a bunch of mediocre FA's. I don't think the club should be making moves just to be making them and appease the fans. I think we all have to remember that we are not GM's nor are we qualified to do anything more than speculate. As far as the public bashing the owners for being cheap, remember, we are a mid market team that has previously spent with the Big Boys. I don't think it is fair to make these assements until we see who takes the field opening day.

[FARcard]

wouldn't there be someone cheaper than Matty Mo to sign and we would still wind up with similar stats? If so, maybe we could use the $$ on Nomar and plug him in a 2b or OF. I saw somewhere that most the offers he is recieving is close to 1yr/4 Mil? Am I crazy to think that the number he request is truly under his value? I think it makes more sense than when we were thinking of offering J. Jones close to 6 Mil a year! any thoughts?

[Coty W]

Well... here's the problem I have with Jacque: he doesn't ever get on base and he strikes out alot. We need someone that can take some pitches or else Albert won't see a damn thing. Jimmy's getting old and Scotty is injury prone. Nomar would be worth taking a risk as much as Looper or Dotel. Jones still needs to prove himself as far as I'm concerned. I would rather see a Burnitz or a Lawton before him. And yes, mattf, the signing of AJ would have made that difference. It could've meant that trade for Carlos Quentin or Boobby Abreu considering that Marquis would've been expendable. What really pisses me off about the whole thing is Grudz really. He wanted $3MM and the ownership said no. How in God's name can you say that?! That's cheap considering the only other 2B on the market was...oh wait...there was't any. We missed our chances on Loretta which I think would've ben a great fit not Castillo. So who knows what Opening Day will hold in store. We can't blame Walt though. It's Mr. DeWitt we need to be angry at. It's a bad year to be scraping the bottom of the barrell because the FA Crop is dry. Trades are all that's left and we can't afford to give up our top-tier prospects unless we get some extremely promising youngsters or proven vets (which in turn, usually means large salaries). Someone give me hope please. I don't want to wait until next year...but it looks like we might have to...

[jason]

If the Cards are selling off parts in July, I'll eat my hat. People have short memories. This team was 10 games better than the rest of the league without Rolen. They don't have to make big moves to contend.

[Coty W]

I can agree with you, Jason. You also have to remember it's not the big moves. It's the small ones, too. We've lost a lot of everyday-ers this off-season. We need to get those back. I'm just praying...