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Neal Huntington’s rampage through the rumor mill continued today, with notes about Matt Morris, Jack Wilson and Kazuo Fukomori cropping up. According to the PG, Huntington is trying to trade Morris, the Cardinals want Morris and Jack Wilson, and the Pirates have interest in Kazuo Fukomori.

Huntington is trying to dump Dave Littlefield’s Last Vengeance (AKA Matt Morris) and his $9.5 million contract (plus its $1 million buyout) on another team, probably the St. Louis Cardinals at this point. The Cardinals apparently want some veteran pitching in order to shore up their rotation, which consists of Adam Wainwright, Braden Looper, Joel Pineiro, Anthony Reyes, and Brad Thompson at this point (Chris Carpenter and Mark Mulder are recovering from surgeries). That rotation definitely does need more of a veteran presence, which Matt Morris could provide, but the question from the Pirates’ standpoint is what would the Cardinals possibly be willing to surrender for Morris?

That question may be simplified when the facts that the Cardinals also have a potential hole at shortstop and supposedly have interest in Jack Wilson are taken into consideration. Wilson, who was originally acquired from the Cardinals for Jason Christenson, actually has trade value, unlike Morris. If the Pirates sent Wilson and Morris to the Cardinals, they may be able to get a decent young pitcher.

Of course, the Pirates would next need to find a shortstop because Brian Bixler definitely is not ready for the major leagues. He probably needs about another season at AAA and could be a midseason callup this year. The Cardinals, however, could also help fix that problem. They have Aaron Miles (he has not been mentioned in any trade rumors, this is just me speculating), a gritty utility infielder who could be a decent stopgap option until Bixler is ready. Hey, the team is going to be awful next year anyways, so they might as well be gritty and awful instead of just awful.

Huntington is also looking to shore up the bullpen by going after Japanese closer Kazuo Fukumori, a 31 year old with 38 saves over the last two seasons. He has had injury problems, however, hitting the disabled list in July and had surgery in August to remove bone fragments from his elbow. He is still going through the rehab process, however, and is “expected to be ready for spring training.” In other words, he’s a potential set-up man, but he puts runners on base and has elbow problems. That does not necessarily sound like someone that the Pirates should get mixed up with.

• In another note, Shane Youman was claimed by the Phillies. So, apparently, he is good enough for a team that made the playoffs, but not good enough for the team that finished with the worst record in the major leagues. Youman is a pitcher who will stick around for about five years, collecting major league paychecks the whole time and never quite excelling, but always getting the job done. Just not for Pittsburgh.
• Since the season ended, the Pirates have dumped Youman, Josh Sharpless, Josh Shortslef, Josh Phelps, Matt Kata, Carlos Moldonado, and Cesar Izturis off of the 40 man roster. Seven out of 40 guys. That either says that Huntington is being reactionary or that Littlefield and his people were really terrible at scouting. The answer more than likely lies somewhere in between, as Phelps, Youman, and Izturis all should have stayed Pirates while the other four should have gone.

Related Posts

• Happy trails, Matt Morris
• Matt Morris. Enough said.
• Fallout to Matt Morris and Continuing Jack Wilson Talks