Brandon Morrow Abdicates Rotation
The playoff hopes for the Seattle Mariners, both in 2009 and beyond, took a dramatic blow yesterday when it was revealed that Brandon Morrow, the 5th overall selection of the 2006 draft, was moving to the bullpen full time. A myriad of reasons have been postulated for the move including health concerns over his arm, health concerns from his diabetes, a preference for closing and a sense that he would be more valuable as a reliever.
No matter which way you slice it, this is bad news for the Mariners. Brandon Morrow has the stuff to be an above average starting pitcher in the Major Leagues, someone capable of posting seasons worth three or four wins. Moving to the bullpen simply offers him no realistic shot at attaining levels that high. Even if Morrow morphed into a dominant closer, a big if, the likes of Joe Nathan, Mariano Rivera or even his now predecessor J.J. Putz, that level tops out at just over 2.5 wins a year on average. 2.5 wins is basically what an average starting pitcher tossing 200 or so innings would compile.
And remember, that would represent Morrow’s absolute best case as a closer. In pointed fact, those top notch closers have shown a much better track record of command and a higher ability to generate ground balls than Morrow ever has. A more realistic, but still optimistic, projection for Morrow would have him around the two-win mark. Suffice to say, Morrow is costing himself and the Mariners value by abandoning the role of starting pitcher.
Of course, it’s not so simple as to just leave it at that, because the health concerns are for real. Morrow’s Spring was under delay this year because of forearm issues. He also suffered from pronounced dead arm after moving into the rotation at the end of the 2008 season. He also has to battle Type 1 diabetes, an ailment that requires constant monitoring of his blood sugar level and one which is exacerbated by prolonged physical activity.
If we the public were informed that these reasons were the reasons Morrow was moving to the bullpen, I would have no qualms with it and would actually applaud Morrow for being willing to speak up when it came to his own health. The iffy part is that we are not sure those are the primary motivators. Morrow’s own words over the past few days have expressed a desire to return to the bullpen for the thrill of closing. If that, instead of his health, is why he’s making this decision, then it’s almost clearly a wrong call at this point in time. However, it seems unlikely that we will ever know and for now, the Mariners will have to move forward with their closing situation likely solved, but a severe blow to their upside in the rotation.
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I think it’s both health and desire that lead Morrow to the bullpen. Of course then the question becomes which factor played a bigger role in the decision?
Larry LaRue of The News Tribune in Seattle had this pretty striking quote from Morrow:
“I asked to be a starter last year because the closing job clearly was filled – we had J.J. for another year, at least,” Morrow said. “Then he was traded, and I started thinking about the job again. There’s nothing in baseball like closing.
“Coming into a game with two men on and Manny Ramirez up? C’mon – that’s exhilarating. And you might work two, three games in a row. I like feeling more like an everyday player than a guy who works every fifth day.”
Health, I’m sure, plays a large factor with the decision but it seems like it’s heavily weighted towards desire for Morrow. Could the health issue have acted as leverage to decide which direction he wanted to go? He was clearly deciding on either starting or closing (not just relieving). Sounds like he could have dealt with starting if someone else was already the closer.
It’s tough to know. Morrow will have to clarify if we’re to get to the bottom of this decision. This is definately a franchise-altering decision. With only Felix and Silva likely set for next year’s rotation they will need to do quite a bit of work to build a servicable starting rotation.
On the surface this looks horrifically stupid, I refuse to believe any of the quotes that were listed. If the Ms management is even a fraction of good as Dave thinks they are there is no way in hell they let him do it because he wanted too. There’s been other diabetic athletes that have been just fine, it’s not the diabetes…it’s probably something else. Then again, the Ms management could have just made a terrible mistake.
Do players get to pick their roles now?
If Morrow is in the bullpen now it has to be a decision backed by the organization. They must have concluded that he just wouln’t make it as a starter. Otherwise there is no reason for this. I’m sure if David Price said he’d rather be the closer for the Rays, the Rays’ brass would say, “Sorry David, you start until we say otherwise.”
It’s one thing to for David Price to say “I’d rather be a closer” and another thing for him to say “I’d rather be a closer partly because I don’t think my body can handle the fatigue of starting and I’m worried what it might do to my health as a Type I diabetic.”
Well put, Sammy. If Morrow has raised health concerns to management, it is in their best interest to listne to what he has to say.
I’m with you, I’d make him demonstrate that he can’t handle it. If we let players decide their roles Michael Young would still be playing short, Jr would still be playing center, Giambi would be playing first everyday, GMJ would be starting, no starter would ever take a day off, and Julio Lugo would be an everyday short stop. Management is there, in part, to make sure that players are used properly. Managers are to tell a starter when he needs to let a reliever take over, everyday players when they need a day off and let a bench player take over, when players need to get pinch ran for, etc. Team management is supposed to make sure that players are used in the most appropriate role that they can be used in. A player with Morrow’s stuff and control should be starting unless it has been demonstrated that he can not handle it. Unless health is the entire reason for this move, it is a bad one.
He does still trade value though in the bullpen. Whether his trade value has gone up or down with this move is not known yet, but not all is lost.
Bear with me, since this might strike you as pathetically inept, or disturbingly idiotic (Gee, great way to start an argument), but Bradon Morrow wasn’t going to start 200 innings this year anyways. However, moving to the bullpen clearly affects the potential player he could be. My solution would be to make him a Sunday starter.
If Morrow was going to be a 3.0 to 4.0 win player going forward (albeit with the potential to be much better) this would salvage some of that value. Sure, he would be making only around 26 starts a year, and giving him six innings a start would top him out at 156 innings a year. Which is around how many innings he was pegged for anyway this year, but with the added bonus of six days of rest between every start, in addition to the extra day of rest for every other starter (you would have essentially a six man rotation, with Ryan Rowland-Smith starting). Granted, it is not the best possible solution, but might be the only way that is viable for Morrow to start due to his diabetes. However, if he doesn’t want to start, he doesn’t want to start, which sucks for the Mariners.
I’ve never heard someone say that Type I diabetes is “exacerbated” by prolonged physical activity. On the contrary, management of Type I diabetes generally becomes much easier if you’re in peak physical condition and exercise regularly. The baseball season is long and hard, but I completely disagree that Type I diabetes would be a legitimate reason to move from the rotation to the bullpen. I would be very interested to hear a more in depth explanation of that statement as I think it lacks a full understanding of Type I diabetes.
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