Seriously...Why Am I Not a GM?

I realize that professional sports isn't exactly a shining beacon that attracts the most intellectually minded people, but you'd think that there would at least be some level of common sense. Now, poor decisions are always going to be made in sports, where passion and favoritism always rule over logic and good business practices, but there have been two recent baseball transactions that defy any sort of explanation.

1.) The Pittsburgh Pirates trade some guy (doesn't matter who...could've been my grandma for all I care) to San Fransisco Giants for Matt Morris and his entire contract - When Matt Morris signed his contract with the Giants, the more intelligent baseball fans out there immediately saw this is a unnecessarily risky deal. The money is in and around the $9 million a year range for a one time decent pitcher (ie. pitched in some all star games) coming off the kind of surgery that causes most pitchers to decline. And decline Morris did this year. While his ERA and win totals don't look horrible, his peripheral stats (the ones that measure true performance value) are very scary. Now, if the Yankees or someone were looking for a fifth starter for the stretch run, sure, this sort of trade would make sense. But the Pirates?

Let's see...first off they are a small market team with limited financial resources. The last thing they need to be doing is tying up their budget with an overpaid, aging, declining pitcher. Second, they are nowhere near close to make any sort of playoff push so they don't need his veteran presence and moxie (if you believe in such a thing). Finally, and probably worst of all, this takes the ball out of the hands of some of the Pirates talented young pitchers. Guys like Snell, Gorzelanny, Duke, Maholm and Van Benschoten all have fairly high upsides and are all ready for the show (except may Van Benschoten). So why bring in a guy that is overpaid and sucks just to push these youngsters to the bullpen or triple A? It just doesn't make sense, yet it provides pretty clear evidence as to why the Pirates are forever a last place team: their organization doesn't get it!

This trade just makes no sense. It's like a young guy that has a great wife, just graduated from med school with his Ph. D and he's sitting in a room when a stranger walks up to him and offers some heroin. The guy sits there for a moment, thinking about it, and then decides "Yeah...YEAH...I could really go for some heroin right about now. Heroin is exactly the thing that will not cause any problems to my potentially bright future."

2.) The Arizona Diamondbacks sign Eric Byrnes to a 3 year, $30 million deal - First off, Eric Byrnes is NOT a $10 million a year player. He is a league average player that has his value inflated by the media and fans because he is a fan favorite. And past attendance records prove one thing: people like winners more than they like fan favorites.

More importantly, though, is the fact that the Diamondbacks are now blocking some of their top young players in order to overpay an average outfielder with no upside for the next three years. Firmly entrenched in center field is Chris Young, who is looking more and more like an improved version of Mike Cameron (that's a good thing). Just joining the D-Backs is Justin Upton (BJ's more talented, younger brother) that is getting compared to Ken Griffey Jr. an awful lot. Arizona also has Carlos Quentin, a solid outfield that projects to be at least as good as Byrnes, but with a lot more potential. This deal does make more sense than the Pirates trading for Matt Morris because at least the Diamondbacks have the talent to compete next year, but still....why overpay a replaceable player that blocks the development of your top prospects? Furthermore, why not let Byrnes hit the free agent market? I can't see another team offering him that sort of money and if they do, so what! Let someone else pay for his declining skill set.