Looking further at the O's signing of right-handed pitcher Charlie Morton

Let’s get this part straight. Right-hander Charlie Morton is not the replacement for losing Corbin Burnes. Neither is righty Tomoyuki Sugano. No one is saying they are. No one is hinting at it or suggesting it in any way.

The Orioles may still add a pitcher they can slot closer to the top of their rotation and based on comments here, that would be welcome.

Nothing they have done in the last few days precludes that from happening. In my mind, maybe you have a different take, that is just as likely to happen today as it was before the Morton signing.

Where I think some fans slanting toward the negative over the Morton are missing the boat, is this addition could help the 2025 Orioles. No matter who slots at the top of their rotation.

Yes, he turned 41 in November and was the fourth-oldest pitcher in the majors last year. He’s also pitched to a 3.92 ERA since 2023, throwing 328 2/3 innings. No O’s pitcher on the team in those seasons, pitched that many innings. Even those in their 20s. His ERA for those seasons tops that of Dean Kremer and Grayson Rodriguez, both at 4.11 for the 2023-2024 seasons.

So yes, he could help this team. He could take up a middle or back-end of rotation spot while pitchers like Cade Povich, Chayce McDermott, Brandon Young and even Trevor Rogers, who has options left, are getting minor league reps.

Teams always need more than five starters, right?

Somewhat surprisingly, Morton has been a strikeout pitcher, averaging 10.35 per nine since the 2017 season. That ranks ninth in the majors in that time in K per nine.

MLB strikeout leaders since 2017:

1,713 – Gerrit Cole

1,590 – Aaron Nola

1,526 – Max Scherzer

1,417 – Charlie Morton

Ranking fifth through ninth on that list are Zack Wheeler, Kevin Gausman, Luis Castillo, José Berríos and Blake Snell.

It also occurs to me that the last three O’s signings came with no warning or hints from media outlets. No reports that the O’s are talking with, showing interest in or could sign any of Tyler O’Neill, Gary Sánchez or Morton. This team is good at keeping its business in house.

FanGraph.com’s RosterResource estimates the O’s 2025 payroll at 148 million, which would be their most since 2017.

Top O’s salaries for 2025:

$18 million – pitcher Zack Eflin

$16.5 million – outfielder Tyler O’Neill

$15 million – pitcher Charlie Morton

$13 million – pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano

The O’s have had a good run of veteran pitchers that were great in the clubhouse in Jordan Lyles, Kyle Gibson and Burnes. Morton is in that mold per an Atlanta reporter who tweeted that, “There aren’t many like Charlie, who is kind and always insightful. He never has a pre-determined answer to a question. You always learn something.”

All three of those pitchers I mentioned proved to be wonderful to interview. Would love to see the local media be able to add Morton to that list.