Assessing the Orioles’ Signing of Charlie Morton
p/c: Jim Rassol
The first notable pitcher signing of the new year was made Friday evening, as the Baltimore Orioles announced that Charlie Morton will be inking a one-year deal for $15 million. MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand was the first to report the amount.
The big league journey will continue, for the 41-year-old Morton, as there had been speculation about him retiring, following the 2024 season.
Morton performed decently last year by posting a 4.19 ERA, in 30 starts for the Atlanta Braves.
Baltimore is the sixth different team Morton will be pitching for.
Assessment: By and large, Morton has been a #4 starter type, who is going to pitch to a high threes or low fours ERA, while being an innings eating, and keeping his team in the game most of the time.
Although the Morton signing comes across has a pretty good move, it doesn’t really do much for the Orioles, in the bigger picture. The O’s already have plenty of backend starter depth, with the likes of Tyler Rogers, Dean Kremer, Tyler Wells, and Tomoyuki Sugano, who they signed from Japan, on a one-year, $13 million dollar deal a month ago.
It seemed unlikely that Baltimore would be able to re-sign Corbin Burnes, however, given their plentiful, prospect capital, it feels as if they could’ve traded for Garrett Crochet. Instead, Crochet was acquired by their AL East rival Boston Red Sox at the Winter Meetings.
Again, Morton is a fine addition, for the Orioles, but the lack of a true, top-of-the-rotation ace is one of the more confounding developments from a contending team this offseason.