It's easy to look at the current state of the Atlanta Braves and think about who could be helping this team claw back to the top of the NL East or even a wild card spot. Had they paid Max Fried, that would've helped. If Chris Sale, AJ Smith-Shawver, or Reynaldo Lopez were healthy, that'd be a shot in the arm too. But there's one player who Braves executive Alex Anthopoulos seemed happy to let walk who are now making the GM look like he might've whiffed big time with what they're doing in Baltimore: Charlie Morton. And with Bryce Elder's recent struggles driving fans mad, that decision looks even worse.
Now, to be clear, the decision to let the veteran Morton walk in free agency this offseason looked masterful from Anthopoulos to begin the season. Across five starts and seven appearances in March and April, the seasoned right-hander was an abomination that Orioles fans dreaded every outing from. He posted a 9.45 ERA with a 2.175 WHIP, leading to him getting pushed out of the rotation, despite Baltimore not having any real viable options beyond him.
That, however, has changed for Morton as he's showing real signs of bouncing back. In May, he made six appearances with two starts and threw to a 3.98 ERA and 0.984 WHIP. He was fully back in the rotation and, frankly, was better than average. Across five starts, Morton posted a 2.88 ERA with a 1.40 WHIP and an 11.5 strikeout-per-9 rate. Not shockingly, he posted a 3-0 record across the month with those numbers.
And again, with the Braves suffering through each Elder start with no obvious replacement healthy or in the organization, it feels like they could use Morton quite a bit.
Keeping Charlie Morton would've helped the Braves push back into contention
While any hope of Elder regaining his previous All-Star form was lost long ago, the hope was that he could be a serviceable back-end starter. He hasn't been able to even deliver that, unfortunately. Over his last four starts, he has a 9.16 ERA and a 1.929 WHIP. That's even worse over the last two starts, which looks like a 17.18 ERA and a 3.136 WHIP.
The Braves, with their injuries in the rotation, don't have anyone they can feel wholly confident in calling up. Hurston Waldrep is struggling in Triple-A, Ian Anderson is still inconsistent, and the rest of the possibilities are all questionable options at best, whether that's veterans making a comeback or unproven starters.
Anthopoulous deserves at least some amount of grace for not paying Fried the money that the Yankees were willing to, even if he still would've been worth it to the Braves. However, with the obvious depth questions in the rotation that Atlanta is now facing, it's harder to forgive not giving Morton the one-year, $15 million that Baltimore did, or perhaps even less to stay put. Yes, the start to the year was brutal, but he's been exactly what the Orioles wanted and what the Braves currently need of late.
Charlie Morton isn't the only former Brave on the Orioles that Atlanta could use
Anthopoulos' mistakes front and center in Baltimore don't stop with Morton, though. In addition to the rotation woes, the Braves have also struggled to find the right outfield combination amid Michael Harris II's struggles. So it stands to reason that they certainly would love to have Ramon Laureano instead of Stuart Fairchild or Eli White or Alex Verdugo in the outfield mix, right?
Laureano was a solid addition last year for the Braves, playing in 67 games to produce 1.3 bWAR while posting an .832 OPS. Yet, Anthopoulos let him walk and he's been even better at 30 years old for the Orioles. Through 57 games, he's already posted 2.3 bWAR with an .896 OPS as he's mashed 10 home runs and 13 doubles on the year.
Make no mistake, the Braves don't win a World Series without Anthopoulos manning the controls. At the same time, though, there are signs he might've lost his fastball or, at minimum, isn't throwing the perfect game in the front office he once was. If you need any more evidence, just look at Morton and Laureano in Baltimore.