<p>The top priorities on the Toronto Blue Jays&#8217; offseason shopping list have been apparent for months now, but one of the <a href="https://www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/article/blue-jays-show-clear-interest-in-starting-pitching-as-gm-meetings-wrap/">most surprising developments</a> early in the offseason has been their reported interest in top-tier starting pitchers.</p>
<p><a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/free-agent-profile-the-blue-jays-may-be-interested-in-corbin-burnes-the-best-starting-pitcher-on-the-market">Corbin Burnes</a> and <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/free-agent-profile-adding-max-fried-would-provide-stability-to-the-blue-jays-rotation-beyond-the-2025-campaign">Max Fried</a> — two of the top three starting pitchers on the market this winter — are reportedly being pursued by the Blue Jays. Left field, third base, backup catcher and the bullpen are the bigger areas of concern, but perhaps the Blue Jays see an area of opportunity to pounce in the starter&#8217;s market. The top end of Toronto&#8217;s starting rotation has been solid the last few years, but their rotation <a href="https://www.mlb.com/stats/team/pitching?split=sp&amp;sortState=asc">collectively owned</a> the 14th-best ERA in baseball in 2024, so there&#8217;s room for improvement.</p>
<p>Perhaps fortifying the back end of the rotation and raising the floor is one way to improve Toronto&#8217;s chances next year?</p>
<p>One veteran starter who comes to mind is <a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mortoch02.shtml">Charlie Morton</a>. 2025 would be his 18th year in the league, but the 41-year-old still has something to offer a team that&#8217;s willing to take a chance on a veteran starter. What if that team were the Toronto Blue Jays?</p>
<p>Let&#8217;s examine whether Morton makes sense for this squad as the Blue Jays aim to improve any way they can in 2025.</p>
<h2>Charlie Morton in 2024</h2>
<p>Ho hum, just another season where Morton does what he does, posting 30 starts for the fourth consecutive season and the sixth consecutive season of 30+ starts (not including 2020). For the past 10 years, his ERA has hovered in the 3.00-5.00 range, and 2024 saw his ERA cross over to 4.19.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Charlie Morton, entering his age 40 season, throwing 96 MPH in his first ST appearance <a href="https://t.co/lS0edvbwwl">pic.twitter.com/lS0edvbwwl</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Gaurav (@gvedak) <a href="https://twitter.com/gvedak/status/1765094049285919055?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 5, 2024</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Morton&#8217;s strikeout rate tumbled down to 23.8%, the lowest of his career since he was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2025. Although his whiffs were down 6.1%, hard contact didn&#8217;t plague the right-hander as badly in 2024, as he kept the ball on the ground.</p>
<p>Despite making all 30 starts, the Braves passed over Morton on their 2024 NLDS playoff roster against the San Diego Padres. Following the Braves playoff exit, there was some chatter about whether Morton might retire, but <a href="https://www.espn.com/mlb/insider/story/_/id/42331709/mlb-offseason-2024-25-passan-predictions-juan-soto-roki-sasaki-corbin-burnes-pete-alonso">Jeff Passan from ESPN</a> says Morton &#8220;intends to pitch next season&#8221;.</p>
<p>At 41 years old, Morton is the second oldest active starting pitcher, second to only Justin Verlander.</p>
<h2>Morton&#8217;s contract</h2>
<p>Morton earned $20 million with the Braves in 2024 after the team picked up his second-year option. He&#8217;s spent the last four seasons in Atlanta, earning his second World Series ring back in 2021 (his first was with the Houston Astros in 2017).</p>
<p><a href="https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/player/_/id/7491/charlie-morton">Spotrac</a> puts Morton&#8217;s market value contract at $17.6 million, compared to other starting pitchers in his echelon like Lucas Giolito and Mitch Keller. Heading into his age 41 season, a one-year deal is likely all that&#8217;s on the table for the New Jersey product.</p>
<h2>Is Morton a fit for the Blue Jays?</h2>
<p>Let&#8217;s just start by getting the age precedent out of the way; the Blue Jays haven&#8217;t had a 41-year-old starting pitcher in their starting rotation since 2016 with R.A. Dickey. Phil Niekro, at age 48 in 1987, was the oldest starting pitcher the Blue Jays have employed. You could argue the Blue Jays already have a veteran right-hander in Chris Bassitt, but it never hurts to have extra starters who could log considerable innings. And the Blue Jays have some wiggle room thanks to Yariel Rodríguez, who could shift from the rotation to the bullpen if needed.</p>
<p>Dating back to 2018, Morton ranks fifth in games started, fifth in total strikeouts and eighth in innings pitched (José Berríos ranks second in games started and third in innings pitched), so you&#8217;re hard-pressed to find a more reliable workhorse who can perform.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Back for an 18th MLB season next year?<a href="https://t.co/7esrZPQLxt">https://t.co/7esrZPQLxt</a> <a href="https://t.co/L146HOhnS3">pic.twitter.com/L146HOhnS3</a></p>
<p>&mdash; MLB Trade Rumors (@mlbtraderumors) <a href="https://twitter.com/mlbtraderumors/status/1856403805451034654?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 12, 2024</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>But at some point, Morton&#8217;s production is going to fall off a cliff, and you don&#8217;t want to be the team that signs a veteran starter one year too late. That&#8217;s the danger of signing a 41-year-old to a guaranteed deal, but there&#8217;s reason to believe Morton still has gas left in the tank.</p>
<p>Even at his age, his curveball is still one of the best in baseball and he&#8217;s made a living over his career by capitalizing on that pitch. And Morton&#8217;s fastball velocity still hovers around 93 MPH, so he can still bring the heat despite having thousands of innings under his belt. Unless a preferred contender comes along and gives him a $19-$20 million deal, Morton will probably have to wait until late into the offseason to find a new home. And if that&#8217;s the case of proverbial musical chairs and the Blue Jays are still left standing looking for a starter, why not take a flier on Morton?</p>
<p>Fifth starters don&#8217;t need to have ace potential, just the ability to give five-plus innings every five days, and Morton has done that for the past seven consecutive seasons (we&#8217;re not counting the 2020 pandemic-shortened season).</p>
<p>If the Blue Jays are hoping to improve their starting rotation this offseason, it sounds like they&#8217;re aiming quite higher than most people expected, but if all those plans don&#8217;t pan out and the reliever market goes bonkers, it makes sense for the Blue Jays to bring Morton aboard on a one-year deal.</p>


The top priorities on the Toronto Blue Jays' offseason shopping list have been apparent for months now, but one of the <a href="https://www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/article/blue-jays-show-clear-interest-in-starting-pitching-as-gm-meetings-wrap/">most surprising developments</a> early in the offseason has been their reported interest in top-tier starting pitchers.

<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/free-agent-profile-the-blue-jays-may-be-interested-in-corbin-burnes-the-best-starting-pitcher-on-the-market">Corbin Burnes</a> and <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/free-agent-profile-adding-max-fried-would-provide-stability-to-the-blue-jays-rotation-beyond-the-2025-campaign">Max Fried</a> — two of the top three starting pitchers on the market this winter — are reportedly being pursued by the Blue Jays. Left field, third base, backup catcher and the bullpen are the bigger areas of concern, but perhaps the Blue Jays see an area of opportunity to pounce in the starter's market. The top end of Toronto's starting rotation has been solid the last few years, but their rotation <a href="https://www.mlb.com/stats/team/pitching?split=sp&amp;sortState=asc">collectively owned</a> the 14th-best ERA in baseball in 2024, so there's room for improvement.

Perhaps fortifying the back end of the rotation and raising the floor is one way to improve Toronto's chances next year?

One veteran starter who comes to mind is <a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mortoch02.shtml">Charlie Morton</a>. 2025 would be his 18th year in the league, but the 41-year-old still has something to offer a team that's willing to take a chance on a veteran starter. What if that team were the Toronto Blue Jays?

Let's examine whether Morton makes sense for this squad as the Blue Jays aim to improve any way they can in 2025.
<h2>Charlie Morton in 2024</h2>
Ho hum, just another season where Morton does what he does, posting 30 starts for the fourth consecutive season and the sixth consecutive season of 30+ starts (not including 2020). For the past 10 years, his ERA has hovered in the 3.00-5.00 range, and 2024 saw his ERA cross over to 4.19.

https://twitter.com/gvedak/status/1765094049285919055

Morton's strikeout rate tumbled down to 23.8%, the lowest of his career since he was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2025. Although his whiffs were down 6.1%, hard contact didn't plague the right-hander as badly in 2024, as he kept the ball on the ground.

Despite making all 30 starts, the Braves passed over Morton on their 2024 NLDS playoff roster against the San Diego Padres. Following the Braves playoff exit, there was some chatter about whether Morton might retire, but <a href="https://www.espn.com/mlb/insider/story/_/id/42331709/mlb-offseason-2024-25-passan-predictions-juan-soto-roki-sasaki-corbin-burnes-pete-alonso">Jeff Passan from ESPN</a> says Morton "intends to pitch next season".

At 41 years old, Morton is the second oldest active starting pitcher, second to only Justin Verlander.
<h2>Morton's contract</h2>
Morton earned $20 million with the Braves in 2024 after the team picked up his second-year option. He's spent the last four seasons in Atlanta, earning his second World Series ring back in 2021 (his first was with the Houston Astros in 2017).

<a href="https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/player/_/id/7491/charlie-morton">Spotrac</a> puts Morton's market value contract at $17.6 million, compared to other starting pitchers in his echelon like Lucas Giolito and Mitch Keller. Heading into his age 41 season, a one-year deal is likely all that's on the table for the New Jersey product.
<h2>Is Morton a fit for the Blue Jays?</h2>
Let's just start by getting the age precedent out of the way; the Blue Jays haven't had a 41-year-old starting pitcher in their starting rotation since 2016 with R.A. Dickey. Phil Niekro, at age 48 in 1987, was the oldest starting pitcher the Blue Jays have employed. You could argue the Blue Jays already have a veteran right-hander in Chris Bassitt, but it never hurts to have extra starters who could log considerable innings. And the Blue Jays have some wiggle room thanks to Yariel Rodríguez, who could shift from the rotation to the bullpen if needed.

Dating back to 2018, Morton ranks fifth in games started, fifth in total strikeouts and eighth in innings pitched (José Berríos ranks second in games started and third in innings pitched), so you're hard-pressed to find a more reliable workhorse who can perform.

https://twitter.com/mlbtraderumors/status/1856403805451034654

But at some point, Morton's production is going to fall off a cliff, and you don't want to be the team that signs a veteran starter one year too late. That's the danger of signing a 41-year-old to a guaranteed deal, but there's reason to believe Morton still has gas left in the tank.

Even at his age, his curveball is still one of the best in baseball and he's made a living over his career by capitalizing on that pitch. And Morton's fastball velocity still hovers around 93 MPH, so he can still bring the heat despite having thousands of innings under his belt. Unless a preferred contender comes along and gives him a $19-$20 million deal, Morton will probably have to wait until late into the offseason to find a new home. And if that's the case of proverbial musical chairs and the Blue Jays are still left standing looking for a starter, why not take a flier on Morton?

Fifth starters don't need to have ace potential, just the ability to give five-plus innings every five days, and Morton has done that for the past seven consecutive seasons (we're not counting the 2020 pandemic-shortened season).

If the Blue Jays are hoping to improve their starting rotation this offseason, it sounds like they're aiming quite higher than most people expected, but if all those plans don't pan out and the reliever market goes bonkers, it makes sense for the Blue Jays to bring Morton aboard on a one-year deal.

Recent articles from Ian Hunter

Breaking News