April 30, 2008 Matt Morris has decided to retire following his release by the Pirates, according to MLB.com. Morris said, "It's over and I'm happy where I am right now. In my heart, I'm happy. At the end, it all came to a head very quickly, but I've had a great career. It was time to move on and, obviously, the Pirates felt the same way. Once you mentally turn it off, it's hard to turn it back on. When you lose your edge competing and the confidence is down, it would be hard to pitch again. I don't have to go back. It's nothing against the game, but I will enjoy being with my family for Fourth of July and stuff like that. I haven't done that in 15, 16 years. I'm looking forward to it."
Our View:Morris went 121-92 with a 3.98 ERA over 11 seasons and memorably won 22 games in 2001. In 2008, he went 0-4 with a 2.15 WHIP and 9.67 ERA over five starts.
April 28, 2008 According to the Pirates team website, the organization hopes that Matt Morris' 1.2-inning performance last Saturday will not be his last moment with the Pirates.
No, there is no thought of ever sending him back to the pitcher's mound. However, the Pirates would like to welcome Morris back in some other capacity, preferably in some sort of instructional role.
Our View: Morris has a lot of other decisions to make before deciding on a career outside of pitching, but that part [pitching] of his future appears to be over.
April 27, 2008 The Pittsburgh Pirates have released RHP Matt Morris today, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Morris has made five starts, going 0-4 with an ERA of 9.67 and a WHIP of 2.15.
Our View:The Pirates will pay Morris a bit over $10 million (a sum that includes his entire '08 salary plus a $1 million buyout of the '09 contract option) to send him off, putting LHP Phil Dumatrait into the rotation to fill the void. Dumatrait is now scheduled to start on Thursday versus Washington.
April 26, 2008 Matt Morris lost his fourth game of the season after allowing six runs, three earned, in 1.2 innings against the Phillies. He is now 0-4 with a 9.67 ERA.
Our View:No one should be shocked if he is released soon. The Pirates would need to eat Morris’ big contract, but they would be better off. Morris has allowed 41 hits in 22.1 innings this season with only nine strikeouts.
April 23, 2008 The Pirates will not rule out buying out the contract of struggling starter Matt Morris, according to The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. But that is not the current focus of the team, as a release would force the Pirates to eat Morris' $10,037,283 salary, as well as the $1 million buyout of his 2009 option, all of which is guaranteed. Team President Frank Coonelly stated, "As an organization, we can never rule out releasing a player who cannot help the team win, even if such a release would be expensive. Our objective is to win as many games as possible and we need to have the players on the roster who will put us in the best position to win. Morris is not pitching up to his standards or our expectations, but he is still working very hard to regain his effectiveness. We are working equally hard to make him an effective member of our staff and have not given up on him." Manager John Russell added that once Morris gets his control and velocity back, he will be fine.
Our View:The team still has faith in Morris, but that does not mean that you should too. He is 0-3 with a 9.15 ERA and 1.98 WHIP. He could improve and be effective, but he will bury your team before he gets to that point.
