Tigers Designate Charlie Morton For Assignment

The Tigers announced this morning that they’ve designated right-hander Charlie Morton for assignment. Right-hander Tanner Rainey had his contract selected to replace Morton on the 40-man and active rosters.

This surely isn’t the ending that either Morton or the Tigers were hoping for when Detroit acquired from the Orioles on the day of the trade deadline. Even then, however, Morton was in the midst of an up-and-down season. His first five starts with Baltimore saw him get torched to a 10.89 ERA as he walked 13.9% of his opponents. That led him to be demoted to the bullpen before the end of April, and he spent roughly a month in a multi-inning relief role before injuries in the rotation created an opening for the righty to start again.

Once Morton was returned to the rotation on May 26, the rest of his time in Baltimore saw him pitch to the mid-to-back of the rotation results the Orioles were hoping for when they acquired him with a 3.88 ERA and 4.17 FIP across 11 starts and 60 1/3 innings of work. In that time, he struck out 22.7% of his opponents and walked 8.9%. Those numbers were serviceable enough that the Tigers decided to bet on Morton’s recent performance and history of mid-rotation success, including his 3.87 ERA in four years with Atlanta.

It’s a bet that did not pay off. While Morton threw six innings of one-run ball during his first start as a Tiger and pitched to a perfectly solid 3.63 ERA with a 3.77 FIP across his first four outings (despite a clunker against the Angels in his first start at Comerica Park), the wheels came off with a five-run outing against the Athletics in West Sacramento at the end of August. Things only got worse in September, as he pitched to a 12.75 ERA across four starts with more walks (13) than strikeouts (11) while averaging just three innings per start. Morton’s struggles reached a crescendo on Friday, when he surrendered six runs on five hits and two walks while striking out two in 1 1/3 innings of work against his former teammates with the Braves.

The Tigers will now put Morton through waivers. It’s likely at this late stage in the calendar that he will go unclaimed, and if that comes to pass Morton has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment and head into free agency early. All told, the veteran will walk away from the 2025 season with a 5.89 ERA and 4.98 FIP across 140 2/3 innings of work. That includes a 7.09 ERA and 5.20 FIP in his nine starts in a Tigers uniform. That tough performance makes Detroit’s decision to cut ties with Morton somewhat unsurprising, and even after Friday’s game Morton and manager A.J. Hinch both told reporters (including Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press) they didn’t know if Morton would pitch again for Detroit.

Perhaps if the Tigers were in a more stable position in the playoff picture then it would be easier for them to give Morton another opportunity to get right. The Guardians’ recent surge toward the top of the standings has put a lot of pressure on Detroit ahead of the final week of the season, however. Cleveland currently sits just one game back of the Tigers in the AL Central after winning ten games in a row while the Tigers have lost five straight. Detroit’s playoff odds according to Fangraphs are down to just 85.1% entering play today after sitting at approximately 100% as recently as September 6. That increased pressure is forcing more aggressive moves than other teams that have already clinched a playoff spot are making at this point in the calendar.

As for Rainey, the right-hander pitched for the Pirates earlier this year but struggled to a 10.57 ERA in 11 appearances before being designated for  assignment. He eventually caught on with the Tigers on a minor league deal and has posted a 2.66 ERA in 19 appearances for Triple-A Toledo. That success in the minors isn’t likely to outweigh his career 5.44 ERA in 209 big league appearances, but perhaps Rainey will look good enough in a couple of appearances in the majors that it could help him either hold onto a 40-man roster spot with Detroit this offseason or find a contract elsewhere.