Charlie Morton Re-Ups With Braves, Inking $20 Million Deal For 2023

Charlie Morton won’t be retiring after all.

The veteran right-handed starter has signed a new, $20 million contract to remain in the rotation of the Atlanta Braves for 2023 and perhaps 2024 – if a club option, worth another $20 million, is exercised. There is no buyout included.

The deal, announced before the start of the crucial Mets-Braves weekend series Friday, was a surprise.

Morton, 38, has had an erratic season and had openly flirted with retirement. In fact, the front office had reportedly been considering how to re-invest his $20 million in getting a potential rotation replacement – preferably someone younger.

Although he is a two-time All-Star, Morton has struggled this season, posting an uncharacteristic 4.29 earned run average in 167 2/3 innings heading into his last start Sunday. He has a 9-6 record but 200+ strikeouts – joining with rookie Spencer Strider to become the first Braves tandem at that level since 1886 with Old Hoss Radbourn (218 in 509 1/3 innings) and Bill Stemmyer (239 in 348 2/3 innings).

Morton is also the first Braves pitcher with consecutive 200-strikeout seasons since Hall of Famer John Smoltz did it in 1996 and 1997.

The 6-5, 215-pound pitcher broke into the big leagues with the Braves in 2008 but was traded for Nate McLouth a year later when the team needed an outfielder.

He has pitched for the Pirates, Phillies, Astros, and Rays but is best-known for his clutch performance in post-season play.

Morton has a 7-3 lifetime record and 3.38 earned run average in 13 games, all but one of them starts. He has won four decisive post-season games and has five career wins in potential elimination games – both major-league records.

He won World Series rings with the 2017 Astros and 2021 Braves but was hit by a comebacker in the opener against Houston last year and had to leave early with a fractured fibula. That injury, coupled with the shortened 2022 spring training caused by the owners’ lockout, could have contributed to his troubles this season.

His reputation as a big-game pitcher convinced the club to keep him around.

A control artist whose curveball gets lots of strikeouts, Morton once went unbeaten in nine straight post-season appearances starting with Game 7 of the 2017 American League Championship Series. His record over that stretch was 7-0 with a 1.45 RA and a .185 opponents’ batting average.

An All-Star in both 2018 and 2019, Morton figures to be Atlanta’s fourth starter in 2023 behind Max Fried, Kyle Wright, and Strider. He’ll be 39 by then and could be the oldest man on the team unless the Braves retain relievers Jesse Chavez and/or Darren O’Day. Rookie Bryce Elder, who has made several impressive spot starts this month, may have first dibs on the fifth spot if veteran Jake Odorizzi doesn’t return after a poor showing.

The soft-spoken Morton, a New Jersey native raised in Connecticut, is considered a stabilizing influence in the clubhouse and a major off-the-field asset to one of the youngest teams in the majors.

His signing continues a club policy of giving long-term job security to key players in the form of multi-year contracts. Already signed long-term are Ronald Acuna, Jr., Ozzie Albies, Michael Harris, Raisel Iglesias, Matt Olson, Austin Riley, and Ozzie Albies. The Braves are also trying to land the signature of their fourth infielder – All-Star shortstop Dansby Swanson – before he becomes a free agent five days after the end of the World Series, which would be Nov. 5 if it goes a full seven games.

Next year will be Morton’s third in Atlanta. He has signed late-season extensions in both of the last two seasons.

Morton will be making the same $20 million next year – and perhaps the following year if he pitches at age 40 – that he did in 2022. He led the league with 33 starts in 2021 and an .833 winning percentage in 2018. He has had four 200-strikeout seasons, including 2022.

The Braves, owned by Denver-based Liberty Media, always announce salary figures for their players. The team has a $199,013,037 payroll that ranks eighth in the majors, according to SpoTrac, but is virtually certain to increase because of players due raises through arbitration.

Strong home attendance at Truist Park, where the team has topped three million in attendance, and the success of team-owned businesses at The Battery, a shopping and entertainment area adjacent to the ballpark, have put the team in a strong financial position.