Morris

PITTSBURGH — Something just doesn't seem right about the Pittsburgh Pirates' rotation.

Ian Snell, age 26, 24 career victories. Paul Maholm, age 25, 21 career wins. Zach Duke, age 24, 21 career wins. Tom Gorzelanny, age 25, 16 career wins. Matt Morris, age 33, 121 career wins.

So how did Matt Morris land in a rotation in which he is at least 7 years older than every other starter? One in which he makes about 20 times more than any of the other four? A rotation in which only one pitcher, Snell, has more career wins than Morris had by himself (22) for St. Louis in 2001?

"My piece didn't seem like it fit here, but actually it does," said Morris, who heads off to spring training in two weeks as the unofficial leader of the rotation and the untitled assistant pitching coach. "It does more than the previous team I was on."

Morris, who has 39 more major league wins than the other four Pirates starters combined, wound up with Pittsburgh in one of the most unexpected deals made at the July 31 trade deadline.

Normally, an experienced, big-ticket pitcher such as Morris is dealt from a noncontender like the Giants to a team that is close to first place. Instead, Morris went from one last-place team to another, and without San Francisco picking up any of his $9.5 million salary for 2008.

Pirates general manager Dave Littlefield rationalized that adding an experienced and reliable starter would be a move applauded by Pirates fans during the offseason. So why not make it during the season?

Barely a month later, coincidence or not, Littlefield was fired.

Morris' take on the trade: It actually makes more sense for him to be in Pittsburgh, where the rotation is relatively young, than in San Francisco, where the team was much older.

"Usually, you can find one or two (younger) guys on a staff like this, but there's maybe six guys here," Morris said. "There's a lot of talent here, a lot of quality players. They just need some seasoning and I think my role, besides competing and showing them what I do between the lines, it's about (displaying) heart and desire."