Atlanta Braves sign Charlie Morton to one-year deal

Right-handed starting pitcher Charlie Morton agrees to a one-year, $15 million contract with the Braves.

On Tuesday morning, the Atlanta Braves officially signed right-hander Charlie Morton to a one-year, $15 million contract for next season.

Morton, a 37-year-old starting pitcher, bolsters a Braves rotation that fell just one game shy of the World Series last year.

Atlanta survived a barrage of injuries to its rotation last season, yet still took the eventual World Series Champion Los Angeles Dodgers to seven games in the NLCS.

The news of Morton’s signing comes just a week after Atlanta signed LHP Drew Smyly to a one-year contract. And, in the first few weeks of MLB free agency, the Braves now possess one of the stronger rotations in the NL.

Morton and Smyly join the young core of Atlanta’s rotation in Max Fried, Ian Anderson, and Mike Soroka.

Fried was phenomenal in 2020, pitching to a 2.25 ERA in 11 starts. Anderson, just 22-years-old, started six games and recorded a 1.95 ERA. Soroka is dealing with a torn Achilles, which will sideline him until a month or two into next season. Still, the 2019 All-Star owns a 2.86 ERA in 37 career starts.

Morton returns to Atlanta, the team that drafted him in the third round of the 2002 MLB Amateur Draft. Over the past few seasons, Morton has revitalized his own career, especially after a number of elite postseason runs with the Houston Astros and Tampa Bay Rays.

Since 2017, Morton pitched to a regular-season 3.35 ERA and owns a 3.38 ERA in 12 postseason starts.