https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal?ref_src=twsrc^tfw He is the Fister replacement. Great GB%, nothing to write home about otherwise. Should fill in nicely at the back of the rotation. This doesn't change anything in regards to the pursuit of a cost controlled ace. Keuchel McCullers McHugh Musgrove Morton Fiers Is what we have currently.
I like this pickup. This is the sort of thing that Billy Beane would do, a lot of upside with Morton if he returns to what he was doing pre-injury from 2013-15 and little downside. Big question on how he returns from the torn hamstring, though; depending on how he returns, he could be anywhere from our no. 2 to the long man.
This protects our rotation's floor, but doesn't make us much better. He also hasn't been able to start a full year..ever. But it's not an insignificant amount of money, so we obviously have plans for him beyond see what you can get. I think he and Fiers will effectively go into the season as the projected tandem 5th starter, with Martes and Paulino waiting in the wings. We could still add an ace, but to me this move suggests that Musgrove or McCullers have a good chance of being involved in said deal. If this is our only rotation move I'm gonna be pretty disappointed, because the top end of our rotation has a ton of question marks heading into the season.
Got hurt early last year ... On April 23, 2016, Morton suffered a hamstring injury running to first base in a game against the Milwaukee Brewers, and was placed on the disabled list the next day. On April 27, the Phillies announced Morton would miss the rest of the 2016 season with a torn hamstring
Would be great if he could stay healthy. I think he's the new Feldman moreso than the replacement for Fister. Keuchal, McCullers, and Musgrove all have a history of injuries, I think he's a long relief kinda guy who will fill in for our injured starters and will likely make 15-20 starts throughout the year given our guys can't seem to stay healthy.
This leads me to believe Luhnow is close to a deal for a #1/#2 type starter. Morton adds depth since Fiers and /or Musgrove are probably going to be involved in any deal for a SP. Along with some of our top porospects of course. I can see Strom salivating over Morton's spin and ground ball rate as we speak.
Keuchel doesn't have a history of injuries. He's missed a few starts, but nothing really ever serious. He's been on the disabled list between his minor and major league career once, in 2011. Simple fact is, no rotation goes a full year without injuries. Of course the preference is that you have a guy that can be in the minors (Musgrove?) or in the pen (Devenski?) that can come in.
He's been in the league for 9 years, drafted in 02, and I barely heard of 'em. He looks way below average. At least Fister was average. Not impressed. I'd rather run out an unknown potential than this guy. He's a bit wild too with WP and HBP, something we seem to struggle with currently.
Just my opinion, but I really want to see Musgrove and Devenski get the back end starts. Both have shown too much promise to limit them. I don't mind the signing because it's not a huge commitment, but I'm concerned if the idea is we are going to package up our young pitchers into one asset.....if they do, it better be for someone with a last name of Sale or Trout.
This move improves the pitching. Not an impressive signing, but it goes in line with adding veteran pitching and depth. I too think this to be a preemptive move for the back of the end rotation, indicating a trade of some of the Astros young pitchers.
I remember him from back when we were in the NL Central. Fister was below average (ERA+ of 85) for us. Fister was done. For the better part of the last 6 years, Morton has been a mostly average pitcher (3.97 ERA, 94 ERA+, 3.82 FIP). He is very similar to the kind of player Feldman was. Mediocre and frequently dinged up, but a guy I'm happy to have at a low cost. The question is can he stay even relatively healthy (25+ starts in the rotation).
Unless he's traded for a proven frontline guy I don't see any way Musgrove doesn't start the year in the rotation. I think he's clearly one of the top 4 we have penciled in because he showed himself to be capable already, with high upside potential. Devo is another story. The Astros clearly don't trust his changeup to survive multiple viewings, or else he would be in the rotation already. And plus you would be moving him out of a role that provided great value.
Musgrove, Paulino, Martes, Whitley. The odds suggest that they're not all going to be front-line starters. They may not even all end up as bona-fied major leaguers. I do hope they end up picking the "right" ones to hang on to, but at the same time maximizing the potential they currently have in terms of trade-ability. Also, to be honest, I'm pretty sure I could put a bunch of head-shots here of random baseball players, and most would not be able to pick out which one Charlie Morton is.... then again, that's why Luhnow is good at specifically this sort of move.
To get a ToR arm, the other team is going to want Musgrove, Martes, Paulino, etc. in hopes that one will turn into a ToR arm. Morton is insurance in case we acquire a ToR. Worst case, Morton is the new Feldman. Best case, Morton is in the rotation along with Verlander.
