Tampa Bay Rays looking to strengthen rotation with Charlie Morton

Last year, the Tampa Bay Rays won 90 games despite an unconventional approach to the starting rotation. This offseason, they are looking to strenghten the pitching staff.

Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports that the Tampa Bay Rays are interested in free agent starter Charlie Morton. Morton spent last season with the Houston Astros, and was 15-3 with a 3.13 ERA..

The addition of Morton would be an interesting one for the Rays, who last year moved away from using a traditional starter for most games. Rays starters average 3.9 innings a start in 2018, compared to an average of 5.4 innings a start for the rest of the league.

For the most part the strategy was a successful one, and the Rays finished with a respectable record of 90-72. This would be enough to be compete in most divisions, but the in the mega strong AL East, where both the Yankees and Red Sox reached 100 wins last year, big moves will have to be made to take the next step and secure a division win.

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Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell was the one Ray who got consistent starts for 5+ innings through all of last season, finishing the year with a 1.89 ERA and a 7.5 bWAR, so the Rays would not be starting a traditional rotation from scratch. The midseason acquisition of Tyler Glasnow also gives the Rays another starter that they could rely on for the coming year.

Any talks between Morton and the Rays are only in their preliminary stages, and Topkin also reports that the Astros hope to retain him. Patrick Corbin was widely considered to be the top pitcher in this year’s free agent class, so his signing with the Nationals last week will also open up the market for starting pitchers like Morton.

Morton has been a late bloomer; last year was his first all-star appearance in his 11 year career, and he’ll be 35 next season. His 171.2 IP in 2018 were the most he’s thrown since 2011, so despite his age he’s not showing any immediately concerning signs of physical regression. It was the first time that he had ever started 30 games in a season.

If the Tampa Bay Rays do sign Morton, a move indicating that they intend to seriously compete next year, they have plenty of room to grow. The team had the lowest payroll in baseball last year, and though it’s doubtful that they will start spending like a major market team it’s not unreasonable to think they’ll put a little more money into big players to rally the fanbase and garner more support for their proposed new stadium.