Rays free agent rumors: Will Charlie Morton select his next team today?

Things could finally be coming together for the Rays at the 2018 Winter Meetings in Las Vegas: Rays free agent target Charlie Morton is said to be nearing his decision for 2019!

... or maybe not.

The title “World Series hero” certainly catches the eye. Morton pitched 10.1 innings across two games in 2017, including the final four innings of Game 7. He also started Game 7 of the ALCS, where he partnered with Lance McCullers for a similar win.

More recently, Morton only made it 2.1 innings in his only ALCS appearance in 2018, allowing five base runners and three runs in what was called an Instant Classic. The record books have Morton as a footnote in that series.

Of more worth, however, is his performance over the full season, which JT highlighted last week:

Morton was coming off a season that was ended early in 2016 with the Philadelphia Phillies. After just 17.1 innings a torn hamstring ended his season in April. The Astros were rewarded for their faith in Morton as he compiled 313.2 innings of 3.36 ERA, 3.53 FIP, 3.49 xFIP baseball. He struck out 27.7% of batters and walked 8.7% of batters, putting up 6.3 fWAR and 5.8 rWAR.

It was the rare free agent contract that worked out extremely well.

That deal was for two years and $14 million, and Morton should be able to double the money moving forward, with many suitors likely believing his near-100 mph heat is here to stay for his age 35-36 seasons.