Matt Morris - bringing back the suck

A month ago Matt Morris' ERA was 2.56. He was looking like the odds on favorite for being the obligatory Giant in the All Star game and would be fantastic trade bait for a franchise that badly needs a successful fire sale to get some quality prospects into the system. Morris, a big money free agent signing a year ago who has mostly disappointed, naturally went into the tank as soon as being traded to a decent team was a possibility.

Since mid-June, Morris has given up fewer than 4 earned runs in one start, and even then he gave up 3 runs (1 earned) while "scattering" 10 hits and 2 walks over 7 innings. He's given up at 6 runs or more in 4 of his 6 starts in that span, including 8 runs at Wrigley today, wasting Barry Bonds' 2 HR 6RBI slump-buster performance. Morris' ERA is now at 4.08 and climbing, and his record has fallen from 7-3 to 7-6 (not that pitcher record means anything, but a gaudy record helps sell a trade to a fanbase which doesn't know any better). Had Morris continued to do well or only drop off to having an ERA of 3, he could've fetched the Giants a tidy ransom as a potential #2 starter for a contender. Now he's a #4 with a big contract past this season. You can't have a fire sale if there are no buyers. Sabean's task will be roughly equivalent to peddling used diapers to expectant parents in Beverly Hills.

Oh, and where was this 8 runs of support for Matt Cain yesterday? He got 1 run, well after he left the game. Sure he got lit up, but it must be hard pitching when you know that after giving up 1 run you have no chance at the win and 2 runs given up are a guaranteed loss. I've seen NBA teams freeze out a player before (and more often, one player freeze out another) but I don't recall ever seeing a baseball team's entire offense basically freeze out their own starter for an entire season. Actually, Roger Clemens had it happen in Houston a few years ago, but he deserves it. Maybe Cain slept with one of the position players' granddaughters?