Ageless right-hander Charlie Morton is not finished but. Weeks after suggesting he hopes to pitch once more in 2025, the 41-year-old Morton has agreed to phrases with the Baltimore Orioles on a one-year free-agent contract. The membership made the announcement on Friday. In line with Mark Feinsand, the deal shall be price $15 million.
This previous season for the Atlanta Braves, Morton registered a 4.19 ERA (99 ERA+) and a 4.46 FIP in 30 begins. Throughout his 165 ⅓ innings, Morton struck out 167 batters and walked 64 unintentionally. This marked the sixth straight full season — i.e., excluding the closely abbreviated 2020 marketing campaign — by which Morton has logged a qualifying variety of innings and made at the least 30 begins.
Earlier within the offseason, CBS Sports activities ranked Morton because the No. 29 obtainable free agent within the present class. Here is a part of our write-up:
He is made 30-plus appearances 4 years working, all of the whereas posting a median or higher ERA and strikeout-to-walk ratio for a beginning pitcher. Regardless of Morton’s superior age and mileage, he continues to adapt and regulate. His curveball stays the king of its area, however he is made a degree of lowering his four-seamer utilization; moreover, he is all however mothballed his once-signature sinker, bumping it to his fourth-most used pitch behind a changeup. Morton has been as versatile as any non-elite pitcher in latest reminiscence; that helps to elucidate why he is in place to pitch past his forty first birthday.
The 2025 season shall be Morton’s 18th in MLB. Over his 17 seasons up to now, he is put up an ERA+ of 101 with a profession WAR of 17.3. He goes into 2025 with 138 profession wins in 382 begins. Morton has two All-Star picks to his credit score, and in 2019 he completed third within the American League Cy Younger voting as a member of the Rays.
In Baltimore, Morton joins a rotation that additionally consists of latest addition Tomoyuki Sugano out of Japan. As nicely, the Orioles in 2025 will get their first full season from 2024 deadline acquisition Zach Eflin. Nevertheless, they will be doing with out ace Corbin Burnes, who lately signed a $210 million pact with the Diamondbacks. The Orioles are coming off a 2024 season by which they went 91-71 and made a second straight journey to the postseason.
