Morton thought he might have thrown his last pitch. Then O's came calling

BALTIMORE -- Each of the past four or five offseasons, Charlie Morton has contemplated retirement. He has sat down with his wife, Cindy, and discussed whether it could be the time to end his big league career.

It happened again earlier this offseason, when Morton hit free agency after a four-year tenure with the Braves. And while the 41-year-old right-hander was “really on the fence” regarding his future, he thought back to his final appearance for Atlanta on Sept. 29.

“I felt like my year hadn't gone how I had hoped, and I really wasn't thinking about it a whole lot. I was thinking more about trying to take it all in, because I thought that there was a really good chance that that was going to be my last year,” Morton said. “I got a chance to pitch in a couple games down the stretch, and my last start, I remember walking off the field and just this like sinking feeling in my stomach -- it just didn’t feel right.

“I'm sure a lot of guys toward the end of their careers, they think about retiring, shutting it down, and you really want to walk off the field the last time and feel good about it. And a lot of guys don't get that opportunity. I just didn't feel good about it. I felt like I could have done better. I felt like I still had the tools to be a good pitcher in the big leagues.”

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When Morton’s agents received calls from multiple teams, the decision became even clearer.

Last Friday, Morton signed a one-year, $15 million deal with the Orioles, who will become the sixth team the righty has pitched for when he takes the mound for his 18th MLB season. The veteran is coming to Baltimore to try to help the club reach the postseason for the third straight year and end a 10-game playoff losing streak that dates back to 2014.

For Morton, the O’s were a perfect fit with his lifestyle at this point in his career. He lives with his wife and four kids in Bradenton, Fla., just north of the Orioles’ Spring Training complex in Sarasota. Morton also has family members in Virginia and North Carolina, while his wife’s family is located in Delaware and New Jersey.

But there was more to the signing than that.

“And then, there's the team,” Morton said. “There's the group of guys that are in that clubhouse that have done some special things, and a chance to be a part of that group -- and getting to know the guys and getting to know the staff and the city of Baltimore, which I've loved playing in when we visited -- they're just a really talented group and young and exciting.”

Morton is a two-time World Series champion, having won titles with the Astros in ‘17 and the Braves in ‘21. He wanted to be on a contending team, and the Orioles -- who have won 192 games over the past two seasons -- certainly fit the bill.

Meanwhile, the O’s are hopeful that Morton will provide quality innings to a pitching staff that lost ace Corbin Burnes, who signed with the D-backs last month. Morton and Japanese righty Tomoyuki Sugano are expected to slot into a rotation that returns Zach Eflin, Grayson Rodriguez and Dean Kremer, with others in the mix for jobs heading into the spring.

During his recent stint in Atlanta, Morton threw at least 163 1/3 innings in each of his four seasons. He had a 4.19 ERA over 30 starts last year, and his best showing during that time came in ‘21, when he recorded a 3.34 ERA in 33 starts.

The second half of Morton’s career has been more impressive than the first. He earned back-to-back All-Star nods in ‘18 with the Astros and ‘19 with the Rays. He also received Cy Young Award votes for the first time in ‘19, when he placed third.

Morton cited better health as a primary reason for those results. He’s had Tommy John surgery and underwent operations to his left hamstring and both hips, but all of those happened before he signed with Houston ahead of the 2017 season.

Also, Morton’s arsenal has evolved. He was a sinkerballer during his seven-year stint with the Pirates from 2009-15, but he now leans mostly on his curveball and mixes in a four-seam fastball.

Morton has taken good care of his body, but there might be something else at play as well.

“I'm sure a lot of it is just luck,” he said.

Some of it could be passion for the game, too, which Morton clearly still has as he extends his career for at least one more season.

“I don't know about the desire to play baseball going away. I don't think that'll ever happen,” Morton said. “I think it's just a recognition that it's time, whether that's starting to feel like you don't really belong, or maybe you just realize you can't do it any longer.”

Morton is again ready to prove that neither of those things will be the case for him in 2025.