Bonds' fate still key to Giants
13-DEC-05
If you tried and tried and still couldn't get all the way to "blockbuster" with the San Francisco Giants' signing of Matt Morris to pitch, fall in line. We'll have someone over to lay hands on you shortly.
This is a classic Giants move, or at least one straight out of the Brian Sabean School of Mid-Moderate Risk. Morris is going to cost a fair chunk of change (a guaranteed $27 million over three years) for what he might deliver as a 30-something starting pitcher, but with San Francisco's rotation looking like it ought to be coached by Morris Buttermaker, something had to happen.
Hey, 75-87 doesn't seem so ludicrous when it only adds up to seven games out in the National League West, as it did for the Giants this year. If you put Morris together with incoming relievers Steve Kline and Tim Worrell, and bring Barry Bonds back into the offensive mix, division contention is no longer such a nutty pizza dream, is it?
Still, you can't get all the way to "blockbuster" with Monday's news. I'm with you. Here are three reasons why:
1.) Morris, nearly 40 games over .500 in his big-league career, went 6-10 down the stretch last season with a St. Louis team that was winning 100 games. Creepy. He lost his last five regular-season decisions and finished with a 4.11 ERA that is half a run above his career average (and he was at 4.72 the year before that).
2.) St. Louis manager Tony La Russa and his pitching coach, Dave Duncan, rarely miss a trick, yet the Cardinals did little to entice Morris to remain with their division-winning unit. Giants catcher Mike Matheny, himself a former Card and a good friend of Morris, even described St. Louis' arbitration offer to Morris (two years, $13 million) as a "slap in the face." Why?
3.) Well ... when in doubt about pitching, see No. 2 above. Just not crazy about the sound of the Cards' indifference to the man Giants general manager Brian Sabean describes as "a winner," that's all.
So we come here not to bury Morris, but neither to outright praise him. He's an "innings" guy, whom they said about Brett Tomko, and he is a quality pitcher, which they said about Kirk Rueter.
Morris, whose penchant for giving up home runs won't be such a crippler at SBC Park, is solid behind Jason Schmidt in the rotation, and after that it's all about the futures market. A year ago, people couldn't stop burbling about Brad Hennessey; now, it's Matt Cain's turn to be the Next Great Starter. Cain and Noah Lowry appear to have starting spots waiting for them.
And that's it! That's your Giants update for another offseason.
Actually, if you're handicapping the N.L. West, it's the Padres and Giants, still in that order. Everybody else is playing for third, and not even the hype machine can make the Dodgers better than they are.
Sandy Alderson is making sure no one in the Gaslamp Quarter misunderstands who is running the Padres. He's turning the roster inside out and improving it along the way. San Diego got better behind the plate with Doug Mirabelli over the outgoing Ramon Hernandez, better at third base with a long-in-the-tooth Vinny Castilla arriving and erratic Sean Burroughs departing.
Geoff Blum makes San Diego better. Mike Cameron makes the Padres better. They'll miss Mark Loretta and (it says here) Mark Sweeney, but with Alderson keeping Brian Giles, Dave Roberts and especially Trevor Hoffman in the fold, the Padres have a chance to be very good.
With all due respect to Morris, who is known as a great clubhouse guy in addition to being a give-me-the-ball type of starter, the Giants of 2006 are still going to come down to Bonds. The pitching was sub-mediocre last season, it's true, but surely no one failed to notice that Felipe Alou's team finished next to last in the N.L. in runs scored. Only the Washington Nationals were less productive.
If Bonds comes back to anything approaching his past output, then the Giants will be able to focus their attention on the job Morris and Kline and Worrell are doing on the mound. Bonds in the lineup means more pitches for Moises Alou to hit, more chances for Randy Winn to score.
Looking back, you realize that Bonds' signing was one of the most out-of-character deals this San Francisco ownership group has ever devised. Certainly under Sabean, the team has leaned more toward solid if unspectacular veterans (Benito Santiago, Edgardo Alfonzo, et al., than toward the true massive talent (Vlad Guerrero, for one).
Matt Morris arrived on Monday with his 101-62 career record and that 6-10 header he took to the finish for St. Louis in 2005. He's a perfectly fine pickup. They'll need a Bonds-type season from Bonds to turn it into a blockbuster.
Source: http://www.shns.com/
If you tried and tried and still couldn't get all the way to "blockbuster" with the San Francisco Giants' signing of Matt Morris to pitch, fall in line. We'll have someone over to lay hands on you shortly.
This is a classic Giants move, or at least one straight out of the Brian Sabean School of Mid-Moderate Risk. Morris is going to cost a fair chunk of change (a guaranteed $27 million over three years) for what he might deliver as a 30-something starting pitcher, but with San Francisco's rotation looking like it ought to be coached by Morris Buttermaker, something had to happen.
Hey, 75-87 doesn't seem so ludicrous when it only adds up to seven games out in the National League West, as it did for the Giants this year. If you put Morris together with incoming relievers Steve Kline and Tim Worrell, and bring Barry Bonds back into the offensive mix, division contention is no longer such a nutty pizza dream, is it?
Still, you can't get all the way to "blockbuster" with Monday's news. I'm with you. Here are three reasons why:
1.) Morris, nearly 40 games over .500 in his big-league career, went 6-10 down the stretch last season with a St. Louis team that was winning 100 games. Creepy. He lost his last five regular-season decisions and finished with a 4.11 ERA that is half a run above his career average (and he was at 4.72 the year before that).
2.) St. Louis manager Tony La Russa and his pitching coach, Dave Duncan, rarely miss a trick, yet the Cardinals did little to entice Morris to remain with their division-winning unit. Giants catcher Mike Matheny, himself a former Card and a good friend of Morris, even described St. Louis' arbitration offer to Morris (two years, $13 million) as a "slap in the face." Why?
3.) Well ... when in doubt about pitching, see No. 2 above. Just not crazy about the sound of the Cards' indifference to the man Giants general manager Brian Sabean describes as "a winner," that's all.
So we come here not to bury Morris, but neither to outright praise him. He's an "innings" guy, whom they said about Brett Tomko, and he is a quality pitcher, which they said about Kirk Rueter.
Morris, whose penchant for giving up home runs won't be such a crippler at SBC Park, is solid behind Jason Schmidt in the rotation, and after that it's all about the futures market. A year ago, people couldn't stop burbling about Brad Hennessey; now, it's Matt Cain's turn to be the Next Great Starter. Cain and Noah Lowry appear to have starting spots waiting for them.
And that's it! That's your Giants update for another offseason.
Actually, if you're handicapping the N.L. West, it's the Padres and Giants, still in that order. Everybody else is playing for third, and not even the hype machine can make the Dodgers better than they are.
Sandy Alderson is making sure no one in the Gaslamp Quarter misunderstands who is running the Padres. He's turning the roster inside out and improving it along the way. San Diego got better behind the plate with Doug Mirabelli over the outgoing Ramon Hernandez, better at third base with a long-in-the-tooth Vinny Castilla arriving and erratic Sean Burroughs departing.
Geoff Blum makes San Diego better. Mike Cameron makes the Padres better. They'll miss Mark Loretta and (it says here) Mark Sweeney, but with Alderson keeping Brian Giles, Dave Roberts and especially Trevor Hoffman in the fold, the Padres have a chance to be very good.
With all due respect to Morris, who is known as a great clubhouse guy in addition to being a give-me-the-ball type of starter, the Giants of 2006 are still going to come down to Bonds. The pitching was sub-mediocre last season, it's true, but surely no one failed to notice that Felipe Alou's team finished next to last in the N.L. in runs scored. Only the Washington Nationals were less productive.
If Bonds comes back to anything approaching his past output, then the Giants will be able to focus their attention on the job Morris and Kline and Worrell are doing on the mound. Bonds in the lineup means more pitches for Moises Alou to hit, more chances for Randy Winn to score.
Looking back, you realize that Bonds' signing was one of the most out-of-character deals this San Francisco ownership group has ever devised. Certainly under Sabean, the team has leaned more toward solid if unspectacular veterans (Benito Santiago, Edgardo Alfonzo, et al., than toward the true massive talent (Vlad Guerrero, for one).
Matt Morris arrived on Monday with his 101-62 career record and that 6-10 header he took to the finish for St. Louis in 2005. He's a perfectly fine pickup. They'll need a Bonds-type season from Bonds to turn it into a blockbuster.
Source: http://www.shns.com/
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