Charlie Morton’s 4-year run in Atlanta has officially ended.
Charlie Morton and the Atlanta Braves ended their 4-year partnership over the weekend, with Morton signing a 1-year $15M contract with the Baltimore Orioles.
It wasn’t certain Morton was going to pitch at all in 2025, with plenty of speculation all throughout last season that 2024 might’ve been his swan song. Morton conducted more than one interview last year in a contemplative and introspective tone, causing many to believe he was hanging them up soon. Of course for Charlie, that deeply reflective tone could’ve been because he was seriously contemplating retirement or just because it was a Tuesday.
But as the winter has progressed, glacially I might add, reports began to surface that Morton was looking to pitch again next season, and everyday the Braves didn’t re-sign him made it less and less likely he’d finish his career in Atlanta. Baltimore took advantage and locked him to a 1-year deal and with it, the Braves say goodbye to the veteran right-hander.
Objectively, Morton’s 4 years in Atlanta was a complete success. Just purely from a value standpoint, the Braves paid Morton $75M over 4 years, all a series of 1-year deals along with club options and early extensions thrown in there, and got almost exactly 10 fWAR of production out of him. $7.5M per win is considered positive value on the free agent market, where the Braves first found Morton, and of course that doesn’t take into account any playoff value he added, like for instance playing a major role in winning a World Series in his first year. The Braves paid Morton a chunk of change over 4 years, but objectively, he was worth every penny and then some.
Subjectively, it was less clear. The problem with signing a 37-year old pitcher and then keeping him around for 4 years at basically the same salary is he’s going to get worse while simultaneously not getting any cheaper. Part of that is just the nature of free agent contracts in general. And that always causes tension between a player and a fanbase.
When Charlie first signed with Atlanta, he was still very much a top of the rotation arm, he started Game 1 of the NLDS and Gams 1 of the World Series his first year, all while only making $15M in 2021. That jumped up to $20M for 2022, 2023, and 2024 and well, Charlie got a little worse each year. That’s how age works. By the end he was much more of a back-end starter and fans had long since convinced themselves his salary could be best used elsewhere on the roster.
All toll, Morton made a 124 starts over 4 years for the Braves and threw 686 innings in those starts. On average that’s 31 starts and 174 innings pitched per season. I’m not sure that puts him in official “workhorse” status but that absolutely puts him in “you could set your watch to him” status. Over those 686 innings he posted a 3.87 ERA and a 3.92 FIP with 771 strikeouts and 269 walks. Of course you can’t mention the walks and not also mention Morton hit 65 batters over his 4 years with Atlanta, with approximately 124% of those being curveballs off the back foot of lefties. Like I said, you could set your watch to him.
Even as a 4th/5th starter, and even with fans regularly questioning the wisdom in paying him $20M/year, Morton was an important piece of the 2024 club that is now gone. Along with his counterpart Max Fried, who has also signed elsewhere this winter, the two combined to throw 340 innings last season. And as of yet, the Braves have not replaced either in the rotation, though Spencer Strider is set to return in 2025 and is expected carry a chunk of that work.
But Charlie will be missed.
Both on the field and maybe even more so off the field, where he was regularly a teacher and mentor to all the young arms the Braves have had in and out of the dugout the last few years. His teammates, his coaches, reporters, fans, everyone who’s ever come into contact, had a conversation, gotten an autograph from, or heard him give an interview will tell you how much they loved Charlie. He was a first class teammate, always was available to answer tough questions as his performance dropped over the years, and always with genuine and truthful answers.
The Braves need to make a move to supplement at least some of his yearly workload, yes, but they also would be wise to consider that clubhouse leaders like Morton, and Fried, and Travis d’Arnaud have all left this winter and AJ Minter has not yet been brought back either. That 2021 team is more and more of a memory at this point.
But we’ll miss you Charlie. Striking out Jose Altuve in a World Series game on a broken leg was, and always will be, legendary stuff around these parts. Thanks for the memories and best of luck in Baltimore.