Pirates Urged To Reunite With Former Pitcher
Last offseason, signing outfielder Andrew McCutchen on a one-year deal paid huge dividends for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Could another reunion be in store for the Pirates?
MLB.com's Will Leitch listed 10 reunions he'd like to see this offseason, and among them was Pittsburgh signing veteran right-handed pitcher Charlie Morton. Morton pitched for the Pirates from 2009 to 2015.
"Morton actually broke through with Atlanta back in 2008 before being traded, along with two other players, for Nate McLouth. (Remember Nate McLouth?) Morton has become a much different pitcher since leaving the Pirates; the notoriously reliable innings-eater never actually made more than 30 starts in a season in Pittsburgh," Leitch writes. "That would be the expectation for a team that has a lot of young talent already in the rotation or on the way, but not a lot of experience and reliability. Morton could fill that role, even in his age-41 season."
Morton, 41, has spent the last four seasons with the Atlanta Braves, who drafted him in the third round of the 2002 MLB Draft. He went 8-10 with a 4.19 ERA over 30 starts in 2024 and has made at least 30 starts in six straight seasons outside of the COVID-shortened 2020 season.
Morton had an up-and-down tenure with Pittsburgh, going 41-62 with a 4.39 ERA and finished below .500 in five of his seven seasons. He also didn't surpass 30 starts once for the Pirates.
Morton pitched one season for the Philadelphia Phillies before landing with the Houston Astros, where he had a chance to work with Pirates assistant coach Brent Strom. The veteran right-handed pitcher had the best two-year stretch of his career in Houston, going 29-10 with a 3.36 ERA over 55 starts from 2017 to 2018 and made the first All-Star team of his career.
He also had a two-year stint with the Tampa Bay Rays, which included going 16-6 with a 3.05 ERA in 33 starts and making his second All-Star team in 2019. After his last season with Tampa Bay, he's spent the last four years with the Braves.
Adding a veteran presence to a young starting rotation that boasts 2024 National League Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes and Jared Jones could pay dividends, but who would get bumped out of the rotation would be a big question mark. Skenes, Jones, Mitch Keller, Luis Ortiz and Bailey Falter have a chance to be one of the league's better young rotations. The Pirates also have three top-100 pitching prospects Bubba Chandler, Braxton Ashcraft and Thomas Harrington waiting in the wings after they reached Triple-A Indianapolis last season.
Barring a trade that nets Pittsburgh an impact bat or reliever, adding a veteran starting pitcher like Morton is difficult to foresee this offseason.
