Pirates release Matt Morris

Paul Meyer has the word at the Post-Gazette.

It's sad that Morris can't pitch effectively. He can't. We've seen conclusive demonstrations of this.

The money owed him is staggering, but it's better to pay him not to pitch. This way he only hurts the team once. And the money is a sunk cost. It may still be flowing out the safe, but it's already gone. It's spent. There's no getting it back. Learn from the mistake and move on.

I still like the idea of acquiring top-quality veteran players for a year or two at the end of their big contracts. There are values to be had there. This only makes sense, however, if you are getting what you paid for: a top-quality player.

Here, as elsewhere, the success of the team depends on its ability to evaluate talent at every level of play and in every organization. The more you know, the better value you will get for your payroll dollars. The Matt Morris acquisition was an enormous mistake in the talent evaluation department.