This is the dead zone in baseball. The GM and Winter Meetings have passed, and the biggest free agent has come off the board. We are now into the new year, and there’s no urgency for the remaining free agents to sign until spring training gets closer next month. So next month, there will be a dripping faucet of signings. There are still 170 free agents who have yet to sign anywhere.
This past week, Charlie Morton was the biggest free agent to come off the board. He signed a 1yr/$15M deal with the Orioles. Although he is no Corbin Burnes, the 41-year-old right-hander has had a really nice career. He has a career 138-123 record, with an ERA of just over 4.00, and he’s struck out over 2000 hitters.
Like a fine wine, he has gotten better with age. From 2017-19, he went 45-16. And he’s been extremely durable. Since 2018, he has made at least 30 starts each year (except for the COVID season of 2020). Last year, he did see some slippage, only going 8-10, and his WHIP and ERA were slightly elevated, but he still managed to strike out over a batter per inning.
Morton slides in nicely into a solid Baltimore rotation, which already has Grayson Rodriguez and Zach Eflin at the top. John Means is a free agent, and Tyler Wells and Kyle Bradish are due back mid-year. They still need to add rotation help, but Morton is a great first step. Don’t be surprised if they add Nick Pivetta and/or Martin Perez…and Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer are still out there.
