Matt Morris re-signed with the Cardinals for three-years for a reported $27 million. The contract includes bonuses for Gold Gloves, Cy Youngs, and MVPs in addition to the $4M he will earn in 2002, $10.5M in 2003, and $12.5M in 2004. Though Morris was only arbitration eligible this season, he would have become a free agent at the end of 2002. St. Louis wanted to lock him up before he had an opportunity to test the free agent market.

Overall, I think this was a smart move by the Cardinals as Morris has emerged as the ace he was on the verge of becoming before his elbow problem. Of course there are some injury concerns given his history, but considering it was St. Louis' misuse of the pitcher that led to his Tommy John surgery in April of 1999, he deserves some commitment from the organization.

One of the most interesting things about this contract is that Morris did not use an agent; he handled his own negotiations. After reportedly ending his relationship with his agents mid-season, he wanted to work with the Cardinals directly to avoid middleman confusion. While Morris was amenable to placing the majority of the value of the contract in the last two seasons' salary, the length of the deal was more to his liking than the team's. St. Louis was originally leaning towards a longer deal. As long as he remains healthy, the length of the contract should work to Morris' advantage, as he will be a free agent for the first time when he turns 30 and should have 4 solid years of performance after his surgery with which to woo potential bidders.

The Cleveland Indians signed Australian Matthew Haynes on Friday. Cleveland discovered the 18-year-old RHP after he participated in the MLB academy recently held in Australia. While Major League Baseball and many individual teams have multiple academies set up throughout the Caribbean and Central and South America, last year was the first year that MLB sponsored an Australian Baseball Academy. The Indians hope that this signing will be the beginning of several from Australia over the next few years, as although other Aussies have played in the majors and players like Seattle's Chris Snelling are good prospects, the market remains largely untapped. Haynes' youth and corresponding experience level mean that he will start the season in rookie ball, but the team seems to think that he has quite a bit of potential.

The Yankees' Friday waiver pick up of Bret Jodie is worth reporting. Jodie was one of the two players that San Diego received from New York in last season's trade of Sterling Hitchcock. The Padres called him up in late August for a spot start in a double header against Arizona, sent him back down, and then called him up again in early September after rosters expanded. He received one more start in late September but mainly worked out of the bullpen.

Jodie has fantastic control, although as a finesse pitcher, he is not overly dominating. The RHP could probably contribute to a major league pen now, but he really needs a full year at AAA to develop into a starter. New York will give him that year, though if he continues to excel I wouldn't be surprised if they traded him again in July. While he could probably help them acquire their annual mid-season trade boost, he's definitely not the type of pitcher I would expect them to make room for in their own rotation.

On Thursday, Mike Morgan re-signed with Arizona for a one-year deal worth $750,000. Morgan is 42 and next year will be his 22nd season pitching in the majors. Since Mike Morgan began pitching...

Baseball has expanded twice,

13 teams have built new stadiums,

89 players have been inducted into the hall of fame, including one player who began his career after Morgan debuted,

Over 140 different men have managed a major league team,

And Baseball has gone through five different commissioners, each one soundly beaten by the Union, except for Bart Giamatti, who died before a CBA expired.

I could go on, but then you'd probably realize that I just needed column filler.

After a long career as a starter, the righty moved to the bullpen near the end of the 1999 season. In 2000 he signed a minor league deal with the Diamondbacks and made the team out of Spring Training. He spent some time on the DL last season but pitched acceptably when healthy. However, Brenly's reluctance during the World Series to bring in anyone from the pen, including Morgan, to replace Byung-Hyun Kim nearly cost them the series. Provided he stays healthy, he should put up pretty much the same kind of numbers in 2002 that we saw in 2001, making this an acceptable signing as long as Brenly actually uses him.

In other Thursday news, the Kansas City Royals avoided going to arbitration with Blake Stein. The pitcher signed a one-year, $1.35 million contract. Stein was developing into a decent starter before the Royals decided to jerk him around between the rotation and the pen last season. He could still develop into a solid starter if the club gives him the opportunity. However, his skills are also probably well suited to a role as a setup man, as his main weakness appears to be maintaining his control over long outings despite above average dominance. Kansas City needs to decide where they want him and then leave him there. They should probably start the season with him in the rotation, and depending on how well he performs, either leave him there or move him to the pen permanently. A move to the pen will likely also hold down his future earnings since starters earn more money based in part on their additional innings pitched.