The Braves announced this evening they’ve signed starter Charlie Morton to a one-year contract extension. He’ll make $20MM next season, and the sides tacked on a matching $20MM club option for the 2024 campaign with no buyout. The Braves are one of the few major league teams that announce contract terms.
Morton will stick around for a third season in Atlanta. Originally signed to a one-year, $15MM free agent deal over the 2020-21 offseason, he’s now signed late-season extensions in each of the past two years. In both cases, they’ve been a one-year, $20MM guarantee with a matching team option. Atlanta could’ve simply exercised the $20MM option for 2023 in Morton’s previous contract, but their preemptive agreement with the Wasserman client tacks on an additional option for the ’24 campaign.
There’s clearly a mutual comfort between the team and the 15-year MLB veteran. He’s been a durable and effective member of the starting rotation, avoiding the injured list during his first two campaigns in Atlanta and starting 63 regular season contests. He made another four starts during the 2021 postseason. That didn’t end the way he’d have hoped personally, as Morton broke his right leg during his World Series start and had to be scratched from the roster. The club went on to defeat the Astros to secure the title, though, and Morton was back in action by the start of this season.
During his debut campaign in Atlanta, Morton worked to an excellent 3.34 ERA across 185 2/3 innings. He’s not been quite that effective this year, tossing 167 2/3 frames of 4.29 ERA ball heading into his final start of the season. The two-time All-Star’s strikeout rate has been almost identical in each season (28.6% in 2021, 28.4% this year), and he’s not shown any signs of physical decline. Morton has averaged 94.9 MPH on his four-seam and 81.2 MPH on his go-to curveball this season, not far off last year’s respective 95.5 MPH and 80.6 MPH marks.
It’s a similar story on a pitch-for-pitch basis. Morton has generated swinging strikes on 12.3% of his total offerings in both seasons. That’s above this year’s 10.7% league average for starters, and Morton has held a swinging strike rate in the 12% range for five straight years. Even with his 39th birthday less than two months away, Morton hasn’t lost anything from his raw arsenal or his ability to miss bats.
The biggest contributor to his overall dip in production was an atypical struggle to throw strikes early in the season. Morton walked 11 batters in four starts in April, surrendering 14 runs in 18 innings. He’d mostly found his footing from a command perspective by the time the calendar flipped to May. In 26 starts since May 1, he owns a 3.97 ERA with a 29.9% strikeout rate and a manageable 8.2% walk percentage. He’s held opposing hitters to a .218/.301/.384 line over that span. Morton was excellent between June and August before hitting another rough patch this month, posting a 5.27 ERA in five September starts.
The Braves aren’t much concerned about either his early-season control woes or a couple recent tough outings at the hands of the Mariners and Phillies. Morton’s velocity and strong strikeout and walk profile give plenty of reason for optimism he can remain an above-average starter next season, even as his ground-ball rate has dipped to a personal-low 39.7% clip.
Morton, meanwhile, seems content taking a year-by-year approach to his playing career. A longtime back-of-the-rotation grounder specialist with the Pirates, Morton reinvented himself as a strikeout artist with the Astros in 2017. After spending two seasons in Houston, he signed a two-year free agent deal with the Rays before what’ll be at least three consecutive seasons as a Brave. He’s reportedly set geographic limitations during his recent potential free agent trips, preferring to stay in the Southeastern part of the country to be closer to his family.
Of course, the Braves have far more than just locale to make them an appealing place to pitch. Morton remains part of a stellar roster that has the team on the verge of 100 wins and firmly in contention for another NL East title. He’s among a strong rotation led by star rookie Spencer Strider, All-Star Max Fried and breakout hurler Kyle Wright. Veteran Jake Odorizzi has occupied the fifth rotation spot since being acquired from the Astros at the trade deadline, but Atlanta also has rookie Bryce Elder and prospect Freddy Tarnok as promising depth options.
That entire group could return for 2023. Strider, Fried and Wright are all under club control. Odorizzi has to decide whether to trigger a $12.5MM player option or take a $6.25MM buyout and test free agency. Elder and Tarnok are controllable, as are former top prospect and mid-rotation arm Ian Anderson, Mike Soroka, Kyle Muller and Huascar Ynoa (although Ynoa is unlikely to pitch next season after undergoing Tommy John surgery recently).
That’s a number of options, reducing the urgency for the club to look outside the organization for rotation help. Signing Morton to an extension also continues the front office’s habit of trying to preserve as much of the current core as possible. Atlanta has also signed Matt Olson, Austin Riley and Michael Harris II to long-term deals this year, in addition to previous extensions for Ronald Acuña Jr., Travis d’Arnaud and Ozzie Albies.
Locking in another $20MM to next year’s books brings the team’s guaranteed commitments north of $165MM (assuming Odorizzi exercises his option), in the estimation of Roster Resource. That’s before considering the possibility of extending impending free agent shortstop Dansby Swanson or accounting for arbitration salaries for Fried, Soroka and high-leverage reliever A.J. Minter. It’s virtually certain they’ll top this year’s franchise-record $178MM Opening Day payroll, but it’s evidently comfortable territory for the Liberty Media ownership group on the heels of last season’s title and another forthcoming postseason trip that’s certain to include at least two home playoff games.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Surprising. Figured they’d renegotiate for a lower salary. This has to mean they have a lot of money to spend.
Team friendly deals on almost everyone has the Braves sitting at $157 million in committed payroll for 2023 after this deal.
Max Fried, Tyler Matzek, and A.J. Minter are arbitration eligible and will be in line for raises. Huascar Ynoa and Silvino Bracho are arb eligible and are both non-tender candidates.
Braves are sitting pretty well right now
Where are all the people who insisted Matt Olson would be better for the Braves than Freddie Freeman? I hate to say I told you so.
Even an aging Freeman 5 years from now would put up a better line than what this bum Olson is putting up in his prime
There’s really no debate any more. Those of you who backed the Olson deal need to take this L gracefully and admit it.
Seriously after one year that’s it? Stop trolling.
Freddie may only have been a Dodger for one year thus far, but he has proven he is in a different league than Olson. He is probably in top 3 position players/hitters. Olson can’t claim anything close to that.
@getrealgone2 Here we go again. Back in June it was “It’s only been 3 months, wait until it’s a year!!!”
Well now it’s a year and the excuse is that it’s “only” been 1 year? Some of you are pathetic. When you’re obviously very wrong just stop and admit it instead of continuing to dig deeper. I’d have complete respect for the people who can come in and acknowledge they made a mistake thinking Olson was a good trade. People like you I have 0 respect for.
And yes I know he homered tonight. Changes nothing for his year overall.
lmao exactly. I can’t wait for ‘it’s only been 7 years!!! Give him a break!!!!’
40 plus doubles; 30 plus homers and close to a 100 rbi and people want olson gone lol some people need understand baseball
… And not exactly bad on defense either. My only knocks are 1. he can’t run like Freeman, but that can’t be fixed and 2. the over-long swing needs work, and that can be fixed, hopefully , in the off-season. For the money, age, and time, a good contract, plus he wants to be in Atlanta, apparently mor ethan Freeman.
Want him gone? I just want what we easily could have had.
Olson has been better than a lot of 1B but compared to Freeman he’s been very bad. It’s ok to be honest about it.
If freeman wanted to be a brave he would be a brave . Why y’all still beating a dead horse? Glad we kept Morton.
@TrumboJumbo my good man, I was very discouraged to see Freeman go but Olson is still a productive hitter, & a good fielder & like Freeman, a very likable guy.
So many naysayers on the Braves FO, but I’m still a Braves fan. They seem to do some questionable things at times, but they keep winning & that does it for me. They have an amazing youth movement going & they will be a winning team for years to come IMHO.
Curly, yes sir, the Braves are an impressive team and if they somehow go back to back I would hardly be stunned. I followed Olson with the A’s and I know how good he was with them. I know it’s only 1 year thus far and I have given Rendon plenty of slack with the Halo’s so I suppose I can do the same with Olson.
Sorry man. I just wanted to go to Cali and then blame the whole thing on my agent. You should be happy to have Olson.
Olson was never a good hitter and never will be. He is all or nothing power threat, which is not necessarily bad.. He complements the Braves well since they have others guys capable of being complete hitters (Swanson, Riley, Harris). With Acuna and Albies being mediocre hitters, the Braves gained a lot with Harris luckly. If Freeman was on this team, the Braves would have already won the division in mid-september.
It is what it is though.
Swanson a complete hitter??? Foh
He’s 3rd in doubles. That’s not really “all or nothing”
Never said he’s “all of nothing”, in fact that isn’t anywhere in my comment.
Swanson isn’t a complete hitter. Everyone can let their regency bias show, but i don’t believe it.
@Beans petfoodfella is responding to the comment above yours
My bad. Notifications just showed the response was to my comment.
@BumgarnerequalsNLCS & Acunaisoverrated
You should give up commenting on the Braves for good. 2 clutch home runs from Olson, 30 + Home runs, 40+ doubles, and you’re asserting, “Olson was never a good hitter and never will be”. You are clueless on baseball matters.
Of course, it is easy to come here after Olson had 2 very solid nights compared to 100+ nights of mediocrity and lack of consistency. It is also very convenient of you to ignore what I said after in regards to him still being useful for what he brings to the team. A career <.250 hitter is not a good hitter no matter how you want to slice it. He is still dangerous due to his power, which I alluded to.
Crime Dog, I hear what you are saying. I know Olson is good. When I posted yesterday I was just saying Freddie was the better player. Got nothing against Olson I wish him much luck I know he is a solid player.
@BumgarnerequalsNLCS
It isn’t after that at all, even taking out those 2 home runs against 2 of the elite pitchers in MLB, his body of work is exactly what the Braves expected, and you have to remember he went around 4-60 in his torrid run and played every damn game without a day off.
He isn’t Freddie Freeman, he does not hit for average,(but you’re trying to assert he should by making the Freeman comparison) the only comparison is that they are both 1st basemen, they are far different hitters. His average is down a bit, .250-.280 is about the expected range.
The fact is he’s in his 1st season, facing new pitchers. How many other teams do you think would take a guy that can hit 30hr and drive in 100. Stick to the negativity. You have a false perception and expectation of Olson, and you’re making a false comparison.
Morton v Bassitt is huge, as last time they met Bassitt won, and Charlie was belted for 3 home runs. We still have to win 4 games, that’s it, and also thankfully we won’t face Alcantara in Miami.
Not sticking up for MadBumNLCS here Fred, but Olson was 8-91 at one point in his September collapse (and it got a bit worse than that before his recent resurgence.) He probably just should have said that Olson hasn’t hit for average this season and left it at that.
Olson has never hit for average and never will because of his big swing. Everyone with any knowledge of Olson and Freeman know they are two completely different type of hitters; however, to say Olson is comparable to Freeman in terms of production and outcome (taking into account their respective skills) are kidding themselves to cope for the mistake the Braves made to not bring Freeman back. Freeman is a tier above Olson is everything other than power. It is the same people who think the Braves will be just fine without Swanson.
The Braves are where they are today because of the emergence of Harris and Stridor. If Swanson walks, they will lose their two most important players in consecutive years. Banking on another young guy to offset the loss is unrealistic. Grissom is not good defensively unfortunately.
@Acunaisoverrated
You keep on using the term “hit for average”. You just don’t get it, he’s a power hitter, he’s not Freddie Freeman, even though Freeman has power too, Olson is not not Jeff McNeil, Freddie Freeman, Tony Gwynn(RIP) etc those guys hit for average.
What do you actually want Olson to do, reform his swing so he hits for average?
You are clueless.
I know Acuna is overrated, but you don’t have to keep mentioning it every post when responding to me.
Yup. Freddie was a franchise player who is better than Olson. But AA’s computer told him age is the only thing that matters.
This reminds me of when the Cubs had success with Cole Hamels initially, and they decided to pick up his option that was in the $20m range. It was pretty clear that he wasn’t the Hamels of old, much like Morton. Morton is serviceable, but realistically shouldn’t be getting more than $12-$14m for this deal.
You could probably get a comparable pitcher in Eovaldi for 1 year and $10m-$12m next season. He comes with injury risk, but probably as much or more upside given the age factor. The other factor would be where Verlander goes – I’d much rather see them throw that $20m towards a 1 year-deal for him – obviously $20m won’t get it done, but $35-$40m probably does IF Verlander has interest in coming to Atlanta.
I mean the Brages lucked out with Olson. Yes freeman is better, but Olson is productive and at a great price.
Eovaldi will not be signing a 1-year, 10-12 million dollar deal on what will probably be his final contract. He will either be offered a qualifying offer by the Red Sox and accept it (or) will sign a 2 to 3 year deal elsewhere.
Verlander’s goals will clearly be the Max Scherzer contract. He already has a $25 million player option in Houston so $20 million wasn’t even worth typing. Justin will be 40 in February and has publicly expressed interest in pitching until he is 45. I assure you he will parlay his 5.5 war platform season at age 39 into a top of the market rate, multi-year deal.
Exactly. All these people talking about age like it’s the end all. Everyone ignored the fact Olson has never had a consistent track record of superstar success and latched on to the idea he’s going to be in his prime while Freeman on the back end.
People now saying it’s only 1 year. Yeah…. It’s only 1 year… that might actually be the bad part about all of this. We got a long way to go with it.
Freddie had his chance to be a Brave!!
Freddie is going to win the NL batting title, Olson has the edge in Home Runs. The rest of the numbers are a wash. From Freeman to Olson has not been that drastically different
Freeman to Olson has been drastically different. In what world are the rest of the numbers a wash outside of average and HR?
Freeman has a .922 OPS to Olson’s .790 OPS. Obviously those 10 extra home runs Olson has aren’t carrying the weight you think they do to make this a wash.
Freeman also has 114 runs scored compared to Olson’s 82.
Freeman also leads the league in doubles. And Olson isn’t terribly far behind in this category, Freeman isn’t terribly behind in HRs either.
It’s not a wash. And technically, Olson is hitting in a smaller park. I’d bet some of those doubles would be HRs for Freeman if he still had that short porch in right compared to what he has at Dodger stadium. Just speculation of course, but I really don’t even need to speculate on that aspect of things to know even without that this is nowhere close to a wash because Olson has 10 more lousy HRs
Olson is younger. Freeman’s still great but his production could jump off a cliff at any moment. It’s why that 6th year was a deal breaker for Atlanta. The Dodgers dont have to worry about money. Atlanta does
I’m sure most Braves fans including myself wanted Freeman to stay but he made his choice and recently it came out that the whole agent debacle never even happened. Braves got a great replacement and the guy was a stud on a pretty horrid Athletics team for several years. I imagine this is just an adjustment period and the best is yet to come for Olson. You are comparing the guy to a potential hall of fame player if Freddie can keep up his pace for several more years. I myself am over the Freeman leaving as well as most Braves fans by this point. Time to move on.
Thank you! Freeman is a generational talent who’s agent played hardball so the Braves got a good player who is locked up for 7 plus years. Freddie is happy. I love Freddie and wish hi the best (not against Atl). If you have some kind of mental illness who can’t move on–that’d be on you.
@MJ
Truist Park
Field size Left field – 335 ft (102 m)
Left-center – 385 ft (117 m)
Center field – 400 ft (122 m)
Right-center – 375 ft (114 m)
Right field – 325 ft (99 m)[7]
Dodger Stadium
Field size Left Field – 330 ft (101 m)
Medium Left-Center – 360 ft (110 m)
True Left-Center – 375 ft (114 m)
Center Field – 395 ft (120 m)
True Center Field – 400 ft (122 m)
True Right-Center – 375 ft (114 m)
Medium Right-Center – 360 ft (110 m)
Right Field – 330 ft (101 m)
Your argument about right field at Truist being a “short porch” and Truist being a “small park” is not correct, 5 feet isn’t a lot at RF, and then when you look at the other lengths compared to Dodger stadium they’re all pretty similar. Olson only had about 5-6 home runs that were close to the fence at RF at Truist, more were hit to center and right center, and center at Truist is 5 foot longer, and right center it’s the same for both parks.
Olson max hr distance 443ft and had 58 barrels
Freddie max hr distance 446ft and 50 barrels
Hey dipstick, why are you comparing the 2 players? Everyone knows FF is the better baseball player today, but HE decided to leave the Braves!!
The Braves filled a need with the trade for Olson. He’s going to be just fine over the course of his contract.
And BTW, the Braves are a BETTER team this season without FF.
Get back in your lane.
Sure MJ but do the Braves miss Freeman more than Freeman misses the Braves? That’s the real question. My guess is no they don’t they’re still a great team but he’s playing someplace where he obviously doesn’t quite feel at home. I bet if he had to do it all again he’d take the Braves offer. Is he the better of the two, sure but who cares the Braves are just as good right now as they were with him if not better. Basically your question doesn’t really matter to Atlanta fans as they have a great chance at repeating.
Why would Freddie not feel at home in Southern California? That’s where he grew up.
@Fink It’s not a geographic thing it’s a locker room thing. I clearly remember the report not long ago claiming Freeman regretted not staying in Atlanta. That’s where he belonged and the idea that one more year on the end of what was already a five year deal is what kept him from resigning is sad. At his age five or six years should not have been a sticking point. He screwed up not the Braves. I agree Freeman is better but it doesn’t matter the Braves are better right now than last year even if Olson has nothing to do with it. When Atlanta beats the Dodgers in the NLCS it’ll hit Freeman right in the heart.
The Braves aren’t better without Freeman.
Being a better team this year than last year doesn’t mean they’re better without him. It means other parts of the team picked it up to be better. You keep Freeman here, they’re not tied with the Mets. They’ve long clinched the East and probably have a better record than the Dodgers as well.
If it makes you feel better the overall record is better that’s fine. But last I checked the Dodgers overall record is way better too. If we don’t win the East they’ll be directly in our path to deal with. If we do win the East, there’s still a good chance they’re waiting in the NLCS again.
So enjoy the better record. Pretty sure LAD is just fine with the trade off themselves here as they look to knock us back down like we did to them last year.
MJ they’re better right now than they were last year at this time and Freeman isn’t there hence being a better team without him. You can’t say they’d be better with him because you just don’t know. If they kept him maybe they don’t make certain moves maybe he gets hurt it’s all uncertainties. The only fact is that right now they are better. They don’t need Olson to be as good as Freeman to win that’s clear. I’m not saying they’re better because he’s gone I’m just saying they’re better.
I doubt with a batting title and maybe another WS title this year that he will have any lingering home sickness. Freddie has already solidified himself as a legitimate Dodger…All the fans love him…People have been saying Trout wants to go play in Philly for 10 years. He loves his Newport Beach mansion and the incidental weather just fine..
Lolz. Put the Braves in the NL West and they’d have ridiculous offensive numbers 38 games against Colorado and Arizona – there’s like 3 good starters in the whole division and all the bullpens are tire fires.
Let’s see how things look after next year which is going to be played with a balanced schedule.
I agree 100% the Braves are loaded and I believe all things being equal they or the Mets will beat the Dodgers in a series. When all is said and done I see Atlanta hoisting another trophy they’re just too good from top to bottom. Imagine having a guy like Harris batting 7th or 8th he’s been one of the best if not the best player in baseball since his callup. That’s a scary lineup.
The Braves have been torching Washington extra hard all year. I don’t think we’d trade that for facing Colorado more often. At best it’d be a wash.
And Arizona we barely won the season series we did have with them (4-3).
@MJ
Really, you should not talk absolute garbage on this baseball site, it makes you look as though you know nothing about baseball, however, that seems to be the correct summary of the situation. 31 HR and 43 doubles, and the season isn’t over, and it’s his 1st year in the NL getting to know new pitchers and new ballparks. He is not Freeman, and his hitting style is not the same as Freeman’s.
Freeman could have signed, but he mucked around and allegedly “relied on his agent”. Freeman should have relied on himself to use a pen if he loved the Braves so much.
Olson has had less than 10AB v DeGrom.
mlb.com/braves/video/matt-olson-goes-deep?t=braves…
Boom!
Freeman may be better right now, but can we stop pretending Olson isn’t good? In his first year, he struggled and still put up good numbers. The money the Braves saved allowed them to make other moves as well. Freeman is great, but look at the Braves record. Clearly they know what they’re doing.
What other moves did they make? They didn’t bring anyone else in. That Olson deal was the last deal of the offseason basically.
I guess you could say they extended Riley and Harris but that has 0 bearing on this season. Riley would have been extended anyway. They didn’t save that much that you can argue it allowed them to extend both. So maybe it gave them the money to extend Harris (though still a weak argument cause they probably still could have done this too). They would have had Harris for a long time even without extending him though as is.
Was it really worth losing the production Freeman will give the next 5 years (Harris would have been here all those years without the extension btw)?
The extensions are what I’m talking about. The Braves are set for years and still have the financial flexibility to make a FA splash or three. Freeman is a stud, but the Braves didm’t need to splurge on him and they proved it by having a 100 win season. (I’m assuming they hit the 100 mark at this point).
They didn’t need to make any more major deals after the Olsen trade. Braves were pretty much set once they had their first baseman.
The last I checked, Matt Olsen has more Gold gloves than freeman. Is younger than freeman, has more power than freeman.
People gave an issue with Matt Olson not being as good as Freeman. Olson going to finish with over 100 RBI over 30 HR and will give Goldschmidt and Alonzo a run for the Gold Glove award
The fawk? It’s been 1 year, almost.
FF had his choice to remain in Atlanta. He chose to be more hands off.
If I was FF and I was as adamant as he was that he wanted to be in Atlanta, I’d be in damn Atlanta.
FF made his bed, now he lies in it – which for him isn’t a bad thing. But let’s not act like it was all the Braves’ fault.
@MJ
Who are all the people you exclaim who insisted Matt Olson would be better for the Braves than Freddie Freeman?
Well I for one never compared the two on their hitting abilities, they’re not comparable, therefore your knowledge of Freeman and Olson must be limited.. Freddie decided, or his agent decided that he was going to be a Dodger, because Freddie didn’t take care of his own business.
They are two different hitters. You can’t watch baseball very often not to know this. Olson has how many HR and how many doubles in 2022, facing new pitchers in new ballparks, many of which he hasn’t seen before.
The Braves got exactly what Matt Olson is, of course his average is a bit below where it should be, but he hit a clutch home run against one of the better pitchers in baseball in DeGrom, that was huge in the context of the game.
It’s no use crying, Freddie left of his own accord and he can blame who he likes, Larry told him what was going on. If Freddie loved the Braves and wanted to be a Braves for life he should’ve pulled his quill out and used it on paper and signed a contract, instead he allowed his agent to make decisions for him. Life goes on. I’m happy with Olson because he’s playing to his abilities, and he can play even better than what we’ve seen so far.
If you want to see Olson’s massive home run go to MLB and search Olson’s home run off DeGrom.
I wonder if all of this fawning over Freeman has anything to do with him likely winning the NL batting title?
Olson has been as good as advertised for Atlanta and will probably be better next year as he gets more comfortable around the league.
Freddie left on his own accord if fans want to be mad at anyone be mad at Freddie for not being involved in his own contract negotiations
Yeah the batting title is super cool and all, but he has been all around great just about all year for the Dodgers. Expecting similar things next year as well..
No one ever said he would be better, most everything read said they wouldn’t miss Freddie and they didn’t . Basically Olson and the advancement of Austin Riley has been enough to get them to batter record than last year with Freddie.
@Chase don’t forget Michael Harris he’s been huge for the Braves. Gold Glove defense, speed on the basepaths, and power. He does it all and he’s locked up for years along with many other Braves.
“Take this L gracefully” because your opinion must be treated as a fact? You have no idea what any player will be in 5 years. Why wouldn’t a Braves fan have “backed the Olson deal”? Should they whine about something they have no control over? Most Braves fans were sorry to see FF go, but realized that AA did an acceptable job of replacing his production by trading for Olson. Is it important for you to pretend that you have knowledge of future events? You should admit that you, like everyone else, has absolutely no idea how FF and Olson will be playing in 5 years and “take this L gracefully” because you’re not the reincarnation of Nostradamus. “There’s really no debate” that your opinion is just that…..only an opinion.
Olson will not be at Freeman’s level until he hits a game winning/deciding run in the playoffs to clinch a series.
Let’s be frank though, the baseball God’s are clearly giving us a rubber game between the Braves and Dodgers this season in the CS.
The Olson/Freeman/Jansen debate will end then.
It is typical to overpay a single year. The money doesn’t hurt the team in the long run and if it pays off, it’s instantly successful.
1 year commitment for a pitcher of his calibre, that’s a pretty reasonable price.
$20m is barely more than what the qualifying offer is going to be. If the Dodgers want to keep Tyler Anderson they’re going to have to sign him to a long term deal or give him a qualifying offer. There’s a pitching shortage, that’s why pitchers are expensive.
Retirement isn’t real.
Great move! Pitch till you’re 40 Charlie!
Does it seem a bit high at this point in his career?
Yeah especially if you’ve seen him pitch this year.
Morton knows who he is and what he is capable of. If he wants another year, that means he believes in his ability. Therefore, it is a good move.
Ground Chuck WoooOOOoooo!!!!
Uhg. What a waste of money.
Bad move but one they can afford.
Crazy… this man has made more money from ages 36-39 than he did from 25-35
I’m guessing he means more to them than this season’s stats show.
Well, there goes deGrom’s spot…
In all seriousness, they were never signing deGrom. Morton is AA’s dream signing: High AAV, one year commitment
Crazy how the Braves can sign young, uber-talented players to steal contracts (for the team) and veterans and relievers to steal contracts (for the players).
Personally, I think the only way Morton can survive past being a mid-to-back end starter is pivoting to being a long reliever or a middle reliever/setup guy. I think he could maybe do something like a certain Zach in the NL East. He’s been riding the 4 ERA area for almost three months now. I think he could be really deadly in the bullpen since he still has the stuff to go through the order at least once.
Seriously? No team signs a pitcher to a 20 mil contract for a non-closing reliever!!
He had a broke leg and could not have his regular off season. He could not have his regular spring training due to the lock out. Then they switched the ball on him and Morton had to adjust to that as well. He has over 200 k–he has had a few bummer of starts sure but the last 19 starts Morton has given up 3 or less runs in 9 of 18 starts–gotten through the 6th or more in 11 of those games. He will be better next year. He will be the Braves 4th or 5th starter depending on Soroka. He is durable and ‘carries the load.’ Just this year–Ynoa, Ian, Strider, and Soroka all young starters who had major health setbacks. There is a known quality that the Braves need. The Morton extension is a good thing.
I love Charlie Morton and how he completely revamped his pitching approach later in his career to get to where he is now, but $20M for him seems like a sizable overpay given his age and his 2021 results. He’s at the “what have you dine for me lately” age.He’s more of a $10M-$12M base salary pitcher who you tack on sizable incentives for # of innings pitched, total appearances, etc. I’m guessing he gave Atlanta a take it or leave it amount (or he’d retire) and the Braves took the bait, especially after the Freeman negotiation experience. I’m sure he’s great in the clubhouse and his teammates look to him for leadership but this deal may have cost them a chance of signing a high end bullpen piece or perhaps even a #5 or a #5B depth starter. Atlanta always seems to lose at least one starter for a long period of time so they need that extra pitching for sure.
Agreed, If players got big money for being great team mates and having veteran presence then Heredia would be getting 25 million this year.
That’s the only reason Heredia even has a job. I mean, he’s not a particularly good base runner or outfielder.
Dorothy_Mantooth;
He could “give them a take it or leave it amount or he’d retire”? Where do you get this from? They had an option on his services in 2023 for $20m. If he retired he wouldn’t have pitched in 2023 and made any money. In that case the Braves could have used the $20m (or less) to sign another pitcher or pitchers.
And why would this deal: “cost them a chance of signing a high end bullpen piece or perhaps even a #5 or a #5B depth starter.”? All this deal did was tack on an option for 2024.
Morton and the Braves have a good relationship. Last year they agreed to an option for 2023. He didn’t have to threaten them to get them to exercise that option. They have a business agreement. Both sides are happy with it, and they extended it another year. That’s all. Morton is an above board guy, the Braves are an above board organization. Why the intrigue?
An absolute mistake. They just set their franchise back. That ownership group is clueless. They just opened the door for the Phillies to win the division next year
100%. Unless they’re able to convince Nick Markakis to come out of retirement to replace the leadership they lost with Freeman, their demise is soon to come.
Get Julio Teheran to be the ace of their staff as well.
A baseball team doesn’t need a self appointed leader. Personal responsibility and drive cannot be taught. Take me for example. I’m self made and admired everywhere
@trollw/cheese…..
Yeah bad try/take par usual,
Unfortunately (as a Phillie fan)…Braves’s payroll can afford him @20$
Phillies will have to be content being the WC winner for this next set of contention years and as a fan-base we’ll hope they become the hot squad in Septembers….
@poet with high estrogen levels
You ought to be ashamed at your lack of faith in the Phillies.
Quality person. Quality player. Quality organization.
Oh yeah he got that bread.
It seemed clear that the Braves would sign a veteran starter because they have so many young, somewhat inexperienced starters. Like others I’m surprised they didn’t sign Morton for less. Their payroll is close to 200 million already, even before they sign Swanson (or another shortstop) But they do have a great rotation with Fried, Wright, Strider and Morton; and Elder, Muller, Soroka and Anderson to compete for the 5th spot and provide depth. Plus maybe Tarnok and Shuster at some point next year. And the bullpen is mostly set, too with Iglesias, Minter, Matzek, Lee, McHugh, Yate and Stephens. they just to bring Chavez back.
How is Morton making $3mm more than Kershaw ??
He is just a lucky, blessed, fortunate man.
Jagonza: For one thing, he doesn’t have a bad back that keeps him out of the rotation.
I’m worried about his toe.
Braves actually overpaid for once…
Let’s just call it what it is…. It’s too expensive for him at his age and current performance… 12-15 mil with a 2 mil buyout for year two is plenty good,
Well say what you will about morton hears a boo but he has really solidified that no 5 spot. Now if strider and wright continue on their pace they got 2-3 spots on lock and fried is the ace. Just need someone to pitch in the 4th spot in the rotation. I think that could be bryce elder. I hope he is on the playoff roster though not likely to be needed in a vest of 3 should braves face that.
$20MM for a 1.8 WAR pitcher!? A bit expensive but it is for just a year.
That’s why WAR doesn’t mean jack!!
Always better to have a solid veteran that you know for 1yr while young arms develop.
Bigger question, do they trade Albies & resign Swanson??
Wise move for short term investment on a known asset. Instead of a large multi-year deal for someone we don’t know will fit.
Also, this allows us to workout deals with Fried, Minter, maybe Wright next year.
Funny every time people Freeman maybe a better player right now than Olson but 40 plus doubles; 30 plus home runs and close to 100 rbi is a solid seasons
Major difference Olson wanted be a a Braves and freeman wanted to play his game
Not knocking Charlie. I like him. But wasn’t he going to retire, like, four years ago?
I can’t believe Odorizzi got that sort of contract, I am astonished.
Fact-Drew Smyly was better.
Morton’s downfall this year has been the longball. A career high 26 in only 167 innings. Interesting considering the dead ball. Otherwise the stuff is still there. The Braves are the team to beat again in the NL.
Olson has 50hr plus potential, that raw power Freddie doesn’t have. Freddie is a great hitter no doubt. But that power potential of Olson. He’s still young. Figuring it out.
Olson’s average exit velocity is 92.8 MPH and his max is 116.8 MPH. His average home run distance is 404 ft.
Freeman’s average exit velocity is 91.2 MPH and his max is 112.3 MPH. His average home run distance is 406 ft.
Freddie doesn’t appear to suffer from any lack of raw power. Juan Soto looks like a pretty strong boy, and his average exit velocity is 90.9 MPH and his max is 113.2 MPH. His average home run distance is 411 ft.
Interesting, for some reason watching Olson through career to date , I just feel he’s gonna be a 50 hr guy at least once during this contract. But who knows :).
Baseball.
There’s no reason he can’t. The year Pete Alonso hit 53 HR his average exit velocity was 90.7 MPH, his max was 118 MPH, and his average HR distance was 414 ft. He was 8th in Barrels per Batted Ball Event. He made the most of pitchers’ mistakes.
As Aaron Judge said , HRs aren’t hit , they are thrown !
Btw Fink , have you listened to the new remastered Animals ?
Did Judge say that? If he did, he was quoting Prince Fielder, who said that to Joey Votto when Joey was suffering from a home run drought and asked Prince for advice.
I have the Animals’ Greatest Hits on CD somewhere but I dont know when it was remastered. Personally, I hate remasters. I want the mix that the original producer and the band approved.
The point of production back in the day was not to make every instrument stand out distinctly — it was to blend all the instruments and the voices to create a whole sound, same as an orchestra blends all the various instruments to create a single effect. They always issued a mono mix that would sound good over a car radio speaker or a 6-transistor radio with a single speaker.
Speaking of which, do you know if the new issues of vinyl pressings of albums by old artists like the Animals are the original mixes, or have they been remastered too?
Not sure about the vinyls regarding Floyd , I actually follow many threads and forums but my obsession lies only with Zeppelin. Was reading about the remix vinyl of animals today 🙂
I really hope with Atlanta offense core signed for a long time that they go get another veteran starter or reliever. In baseball you can never have enough pitching.
Be a shame to have this core offense locked out and not get good pitching.
Braves have plenty of pitching depth. Imo, they don’t need to block arms like Soroka, Tarnok, Muller, Shuster, and Vines by wasting resources on a #5 vet starter. One of those arms will be a quality #5. The rest can add to the pen or AAA starting depth. Save all the money to re-sign Swanson. They’re in trouble if they don’t. Being stuck w/Grissom, Arcia, or a FA vet like Iglesias at SS would be an ugly downgrade to the defense and lineup.
Hoping that Morton can have one of his best outings of 2022 v Mets. Last time they met Bassitt won that battle and Morton went for 3 home runs.
I hope the Braves can get a good early lead, as in both games the Mets have had the lead 1st, and in those games where the Mets scored 1st were 87-14 before playing the Braves.
Bassitt is a very very good pitcher.
Let’s go Braves and Charlie Morton. Sweeping teams has been a problem lately. eg the Nats-those 2 games were really costly..
Yeah, a little worried about this one Fred. Bassitt’s the kind of pitcher the Braves struggle with. Good off speed stuff. Braves are better against fastball heavy pitchers. Just have to hit him tonight because he doesn’t walk himself into trouble. Still need to be patient and work counts to get his pitch count up. Need to get to the Mets middle relievers as early as possible. Build a lead and keep Diaz out of the Mets pitch mix again.
What a great series played by the Braves. Olson came up huge when it counted, and that insurance run was just what was required at that stage of the game when it mattered the most. How about Kenley, 3 saves in absolutely high leverage situations against that excellent team.
Where is “Youcanputitinthebooks”, and “RealMetsFan22″, ‘but we’re 10.5 games ahead’, ‘we’re going to smash the Braves’, ‘we’re going to….’, ‘we’re better than the Braves” amongst other disrespectful comments…
See what happens when you talk trash about your opponents? Mets fanbase is trashy. Never disrespect your opposition.
Tremendous sweep. Yeah, it’s no surprise that those angry little Met trolls have disappeared. In fairness to a couple of Met guys on here, Cosmos2 and rct are knowledgeable and respectful to other teams fans on here. There are others as well, but the strident, angry troll voices of books and 22 get attention because the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Met fans have to be feeling crushed this morning. They shouldn’t be. They’re lucky to have a really good team to follow. They have a strong chance to go deep into the playoffs. Been a great race this season. Another excellent time to be a Braves fan, lol.
Go with Charlie on Friday.