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As reported earlier, the Pirates traded today for pitcher Matt Morris, surrendering Rajai Davis in a deal that was not announced until roughly 45 minutes after the 4:00 PM EST trading deadline. This trade does not make any sense at all on first glance and, when digging deeper, it simply makes less and less sense.

For instance, Morris will be the highest paid player in team history. Yes, you read that right. In a franchise that has had a chance to keep a superstar like Barry Bonds, that has had the potential to build around players like Brian Giles, Jason Schmidt, and Aramis Ramirez, a journeyman ex-hotshot pitcher will be the highest paid player ever.

Just as surprising about the trade is that, according to San Francisco GM Brian Sabean, Littlefield offered to take the whole contract on. That is a ridiculous move on the part of Littlefield and the Pirates, if Sabean is telling the truth, as the contract is a massive one and the Pirates have to deal not only with the contract of Jack Wilson but also the option on Cesar Izturis this off-season.

The issue with Morris is partly that he seems to have completely lost effectiveness in the past month-and-a-half (he went into his start on July 17 with a 2.56 ERA; since then he has given up 40 runs in 45.1 innings resulting in an ERA of 7.98). The Pirates are clearly going to have enough issues in the second half of this season, as Paul Maholm appears to be the only starter who can get opposing hitters out right now. They don’t need another pitcher that’s going to struggle.

The other major issue is the ridiculous amount of cash that he’s going to be paid. Littlefield honestly couldn’t find a better way to spend $9 million than on Matt Morris? This trade simply screams of the one that the Pirates will be able to point to when they claim that they’re trying to field a competitive team next year. It will inflate the payroll and not help the team much, sort of like the Burnitz/Randa signings of last season.

On the positive side, Morris is a reliable veteran pitcher who has made at least 30 starts in six of the last seven seasons and appears to be on his way to reaching the mark again. He may even provide the veteran presence in the rotation that Littlefield seems to think he will. Who knows?

As for right now, it simply looks like the Pirates’ front office realized that it did not have a viable option for a fourth or fifth starter, especially if they have to shut Tom Gorzelanny down, panicked, and put together the deal for this overpaid but potentially effective veteran.

If I had to grade Littlefield on this trade, I would probably give him a C- and ask him, like Greg Linelli said on his show tonight, why the Pirates didn’t use that money on stud catching prospect Matt Wieters in the draft. I would also remind Littlefield that it is generally not a good idea to trade for players four years too late based on past performances, especially on a small market team like Pittsburgh, where expensive mistakes can not be hidden. Somebody really needs to buy this man a copy of Moneyball.

Hell, I’ll give him one personally if he lets me sit in the home plate club.

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