Charlie Morton is returning to where his career started.
The Atlanta Braves and the veteran right-hander agreed to a one-year, $15-million deal, the team announced Tuesday.
Atlanta drafted Morton in 2002. He pitched for the Braves for one season in 2008 before they traded him to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
After a mostly unsuccessful seven-year run with the Pirates and a one-year stop with the Philadelphia Phillies, Morton revitalized his career with the Houston Astros during two dominant campaigns in 2017 and 2018.
Morton then joined the Tampa Bay Rays in free agency to be closer to his family in Florida. He authored an 18-8 record with a 3.33 ERA and 2.92 FIP in two seasons with Tampa Bay and finished third in American League Cy Young voting in 2019.
The Rays declined his $15-million option for the 2021 season at the end of October.
Morton contemplated retirement upon the conclusion of this past campaign but said he would be interested in playing for a team close to Florida.
Atlanta also signed left-hander Drew Smyly to a one-year contract on Nov. 16.
"We had an extremely short list of guys we would consider, basically two-to-three. And obviously we got two," Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos said, according to The Athletic's David O'Brien. "These were the two guys that were at the top of our list, Charlie and Drew."
