I know this has been talked about ad nauseum on this site but for the sake of argument and the fact that we all just recently had to suffer through another Matt Morris 1st inning disaster I would like to bring it up again.

What is to be done with Morris?

The way I see it there are a few options, none of wich that seem ideal.

1. Cut bait. While Morris has been bad it doesn't seem that he's been so awful that it warrents taking him out back and going old yeller on him.
2. Trade. I have no doubt that Sabean could swing a trade to rid the Giants of Morris the question is what does such a move garner the team. I think at this point the most we could hope for is maybe a couple of mediocre prospects and we would have to eat almost the entirety of money owed to him. The one thing this does do is free up roster space. But who knows, every once in a while a Vogelsong is traded for a Schmidt, a V. Zambrano passed for a Kazmir.
3. Hang on to him and hope he improves. This is the most likely fate that Morris faces I think and I do believe he will improve next year, if not just to prove that he isn't completely over the hill.

What's the most troubling about Morris is that his pitches just seem to hittable. He is now a couple years removed from his injury and it doesn't look like he is going to regain any velocity and unlike other aging veterans who lost zip on their heater (Clemens, Moyer, Maddux, etc)and became succesful with craftiness, location and an assortment of above average breaking stuff, it doesn't seem Morris can do that.

It might simply be bad timing by the Giants, Morris seems like a very intelligent pitcher but he is not so far removed from losing his above average fastball that he should be expected to be uber succesful with his breaking pitches. It is possible that in a year or two his location and movement will improve to the point where he once again becomes effective, but my guess is the earliest that will happen is in his contract year or once he dawns a uniform other than the Giants.

Ive heard and believe that he has greatly aided the development of the Giants young pitchers, a point that cannot be stressed enough given the quick and obvious maturation of Matt Cain and even the Marlins have stuck with and won with Brian Moehler in their rotation. The difference is Moehler gets Tom Berenger league minnimum money and Morris gets something like 7 mil a year. So does possitive influence warrent a rotation spot? Would it be better to try to trade him and bring in a veteran journeyman to fill the role as teacher/baseball philosopher?

So once again I put it, what to do with Matt Morris? I admit that I was one of the people begging Sabean and Co. to bring him in at the beginning of the season. A decision I made aided by the brilliance of his first half last year, the hope of the return of his fastball and half a bottle of unbridled delusional over-excitement mixed with whiskey. For that I throw myself on the mercy of my baseball peers and plead for forgiveness and to everyone who was against bringing in Morris at the start of the year; I admit it, you were right!

HERES A POLL!