Ageless right-hander Charlie Morton isn’t done yet. Weeks after suggesting he hopes to pitch again in 2025, the 41-year-old Morton has agreed to terms with the Baltimore Orioles on a one-year free-agent contract. The club made the announcement on Friday. According to Mark Feinsand, the deal will be worth $15 million.
This past season for the Atlanta Braves, Morton registered a 4.19 ERA (99 ERA+) and a 4.46 FIP in 30 starts. Across his 165 ⅓ innings, Morton struck out 167 batters and walked 64 unintentionally. This marked the sixth straight full season — i.e., excluding the heavily abbreviated 2020 campaign — in which Morton has logged a qualifying number of innings and made at least 30 starts.
Earlier in the offseason, CBS Sports ranked Morton as the No. 29 available free agent in the current class. Here’s part of our write-up:
He’s made 30-plus appearances four years running, all the while posting an average or better ERA and strikeout-to-walk ratio for a starting pitcher. Despite Morton’s advanced age and mileage, he continues to adapt and adjust. His curveball remains the king of its domain, but he’s made a point of reducing his four-seamer usage; additionally, he’s all but mothballed his once-signature sinker, bumping it to his fourth-most used pitch behind a changeup. Morton has been as flexible as any non-elite pitcher in recent memory; that helps to explain why he’s in position to pitch beyond his 41st birthday.
The 2025 season will be Morton’s 18th in MLB. Over his 17 seasons to date, he’s put up an ERA+ of 101 with a career WAR of 17.3. He goes into 2025 with 138 career wins in 382 starts. Morton has two All-Star selections to his credit, and in 2019 he finished third in the American League Cy Young voting as a member of the Rays.
In Baltimore, Morton joins a rotation that also includes recent addition Tomoyuki Sugano out of Japan. As well, the Orioles in 2025 will get their first full season from 2024 deadline acquisition Zach Eflin. However, they’ll be doing without ace Corbin Burnes, who recently signed a $210 million pact with the Diamondbacks. The Orioles are coming off a 2024 season in which they went 91-71 and made a second straight trip to the postseason.
