Charlie Morton Plans to return for 18th season in the majors. After four years with the Braves, the right-hander may need to find a new landing spot.
David O’Brien of The Athletic writes that Morton and the Warriors have not had any recent contract talks. Atlanta and Morton had preliminary discussions shortly after the postseason, but the team appears to have moved on to other targets as it searches for outfield and pitching help. Morton is open to pitching elsewhere, although O’Brien wrote that the two-time All-Star would prefer a team that hosts spring training near his home in Bradenton, Florida. In addition to Atlanta, the Blue Jays, Rays, Yankees, Phillies, Orioles, Pirates and Tigers also fit that description.
Morton played last season with a $20MM club option. Even in a strong pitching market, he may need to cut back on pitching this winter. Morton finished behind the rotation in 30 games. He had a 4.19 ERA in 165 1/3 innings. Morton struck out 23.8 percent of batters at a 46.3 percent ground ball rate. While this is his highest ground ball rate since 2021, his strikeout numbers have declined for several consecutive seasons. Morton fanned 25.6% of his opponents in 2023 and posted a 28.2% strikeout rate in ’22.
Speed and swing rate are also slightly regressed. Morton’s fastball averages around 94 mph and has a swing rate of 11.4 percent. Both numbers are solid, but lower than what he produced from 2021-23. As the season went on, those yellow flags started to catch up with him. Morton had a 4.07 ERA in the All-Star Game. He allowed 4.37 points per nine, while opponents slashed .279/.357/.469 in the second half.
That’s not to say Morton isn’t a reliable pitcher anymore. There is value in a veteran who can get through 150 innings with roughly league-average production. Even if he was positioned more as a #4/5 starter rather than a mid-rotation arm for most of his career, he could get something like $13MM, Kyle Gibson Got it last winter.
This may be outside of Atlanta’s financial comfort zone. The Warriors are already close to Level 3 luxury tax penalties this year, marking their second straight season of paying the luxury tax. It doesn’t look like they want to reach that level of spending next season. RosterResource calculated their CBT amount to be approximately $217MM, including arbitration estimates. That puts them about $24MM below the base threshold.
Atlanta could pursue pending ways under the tax line to reset their status and avoid escalating penalties levied on repeat payers. However, this does not appear to be an explicit command. President of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos said at the winter meetings that the Braves were willing to pay the tax again under certain circumstances. “It’s just a percentage you go up. It’s every dollar. You know that, but it doesn’t stop you from doing anything,” he said (link via Mark Bowman of MLB.com). “If the right opportunity arises, we’ll do it.”
Still, it’s been a quiet start to winter in Atlanta. they restructured the deal Aaron Bammer and Reynaldo Lopez Transfer some money back to future seasons. Warriors abandoned Jorge Soler The salary didn’t pay off as they ended up not tendering the players they acquired (Griffin Canning). Atlanta seems to be making little effort to retain Max Friednor any sign that they take speculative targets seriously Willie Adams. Their only MLB acquisition to date has been a spinoff deal Carlos D. Rodriguez and Connor Gillispie.
The Warriors have almost never been big spenders in free agency under Anthopoulos. They have a greater impact on the trade market. There may be another such move, but they could also rely on internal rotation options to strengthen after losing Fried and Morton.
Chris Sale will lead the staff after his first Cy Young victory. Lopez and Spencer Schwerenbach Coming in behind him as a strong 2-3 combination. Spencer Strider While not ready for Opening Day, he could return after undergoing internal stent surgery during the first half of the season. The staff at the back is questionable. Ian Anderson Has not played in an MLB game since 2022. AJ Smith Schauffer and Heston Waldrep They struggled with command in the minors. Bryce Aird Was good in Triple-A but had a 6.52 ERA in 10 major league starts.
This may provide rotation opportunities for Grant Holmes Depends on how the rest of the offseason goes. The 28-year-old right-hander has primarily been a reliever this year, posting a 3.56 ERA in 26 MLB games (seven starts). Anthopoulos said this week that the Braves are interested in the possibility of Holmes getting a rotation job in spring training. “We want to see what he can do because we do think he’s going to have a lot of upside if he gets the starting job,” Anthopoulos said (link via Justin Toscano of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ). “But, that doesn’t stop us from trading or signing any starters.”
