The Baltimore Orioles made a much-needed move on Friday to fill a void in their rotation after their former ace, Corbin Burnes, signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Baltimore agreed to terms on a one-year, $15 million contract with veteran right-hander and journeyman Charlie Morton.
To make room for Morton on the 40-man roster, the O's designated catcher René Pinto for assignment. Pinto was claimed off waivers from the Rays at the start of the offseason. His presence was a tad redundant as Baltimore signed Gary Sánchez and Pinto was out of minor league options.
We have agreed to terms with RHP Charlie Morton on a one-year contract for the 2025 season.
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) January 3, 2025
Welcome to Birdland, Charlie! pic.twitter.com/QsqvAt3VLf
Orioles sign grizzled veteran Charlie Morton to fill need for quality starting pitching
Morton, who spent the last four seasons with the Atlanta Braves, is joining his sixth organization over a tumultuous but successful 17-year career. He turned 41 in November and despite his age, Morton has continued to be one of the most dependable starters in baseball.
Uncle Charlie compiled a 3.87 ERA over 686.1 innings during his four years with the organization that originally drafted him. He tallied 771 strikeouts versus 269 walks. Considering his age, it's impressive how well he's continued to pitch and with decent velocity. Atlanta got at least 160 innings from Morton each year, so the O's will hope to get the same amount from him.
He saw a bit of regression in 2024 with a 4.19 ERA over 165.1 innings (30 starts). Morton struck out 23.8% of opposing hitters with a 9.3% walk rate. That strikeout rate was the lowest of his career since 2017. He was still able to induce a lot of ground balls thanks to his elite spin rate, as he ended the season with a 47.2% groundball rate and opponents batted just .200 against his curveball.
2024 had the potential to be Morton's final season but he clearly still has the desire to keep pitching. However, last month, The Athletic’s David O’Brien touched on Morton's preference to sign with a team that held spring training close to his home in Florida. Atlanta was a great option for him, but it appears that the $15 million price tag may be more than the front office was comfortable handing him.
Morton is Baltimore’s second veteran rotation addition after they signed former KBO pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano to a one-year, $13 MM contract. Both pitchers should provide durable back-end rotation options for the O's.
The former Braves starter provides great clubhouse leadership, and that's something every team needs. He has the 82nd most strikeouts in MLB history at 2,047 and is likely to surpass Madison Bumgarner and Fernando Valenzuela this season.
With the addition of the grizzled veteran, the Orioles rotation now features Morton, Sugano, Zach Eflin, and Grayson Rodriguez. Dean Kremer could easily fill the fifth and final spot. However, this leaves Baltimore without a true ace and they need to add an impact arm at the top of the rotation. They could look to reunite with Jack Flaherty or add another talented starter via trade.