Highest Paid Atlanta Braves Players in 2024: #3 Charlie Morton - $20 million
Despite being the third-highest-paid player on the Atlanta Braves, Charlie Morton still presents a heck of a value for a pitcher with his resume and track record. Take a look at Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer. Those two are in the same age group as Morton and have all been among the best in the game over the past few years. Morton makes half of what they make.
You could argue that Charlie Morton was the best pitcher in the rotation last season. He had the best ERA of any starting pitcher with over 100 innings pitched.
Despite advancing in years, Morton has maintained a high strikeout rate, posting a 10.1 SO9 rate in 2023. Since joining the Braves in 2021, Morton's 10.43 strikeouts per nine innings is the fifth-most in all of baseball among qualified pitchers. During that time he has gone 37-24 with a 3.77 ERA and has the seventh most total strikeouts with 604 Ks in 521 innings pitched. Let us not forget his performance in the World Series with a broken leg.
Highest Paid Atlanta Braves Players in 2024: #2 Austin Riley- $21 million
it's almost hard to recall the early struggles Austin Riley faced at this point. He came out of the gates banging in 2019 but then his propensity to swing and miss at breaking balls was exploited to the worst levels. In 2020, we had conversations about whether Johan Camargo was the better option over Riley.
Since then, Riley has earned two Silver Sluggers, two All-MLB teams, finished at least seventh in MVP voting three years running, and earned two All-Star selections. There's no debating it, he's been one of the best hitters in baseball since 2021. He's also played at least 159 games in each of the past three seasons.
Over the past three years, only five hitters have more homers than Riley. During that time, he ranks 12th in RBI with 297. That's more than Paul Goldschmidt, Shohei Ohtani, and Freddie Freeman have in that same time. His .525 slugging percentage is 10th best over the past three seasons and he has a .287 average to complement it.
On top of the incredible offensive prowess, Riley has worked hard with the glove to make it one of the best. Of his 19 career defensive runs saved, 15 have come in the past two years. Don't overlook Austin Riley as a legitimate MVP candidate in 2024. He enters the season as the second-highest-paid player on the roster.