It was nearly a month ago – November 9, 2017 to be exact – that Dodgers flame-throwing right-hander Brandon Morrow was a guest on MLB Network Radio’s Inside Pitch with show hosts Brad Lidge and Cliff Floyd. During that interview, the 33-year-old Santa Rosa, California native, who was drafted by the Seattle Mariners two spots ahead of Clayton Kershaw in the 2006 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of UC Berkeley, said that he thoroughly enjoyed his one season with the Dodgers in 2017, this in spite of having been signed as a non-roster free agent with an invitation to major league camp and not receiving a call-up to the Dodgers until May 29, 2017.

When Morrow was signed by the Dodgers last winter, he was given an invitation to major league spring training camp. Not only did he later make the team, he went on to post a remarkable 6-0 record and 2.06 ERA in the 45 games in which he appeared for the Dodgers.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

“Things are still quiet, but obviously you’d love to go back to the place where you had success, and the Dodgers are set to be good for a long time and that’s obviously very attractive, to be with a team that’s going to compete. I think that’s very high on my list at 33 years old,” Morrow told his two show hosts at the time. “And to get back to the playoffs and getting so close to try and win one, I think that’s probably going to be the leading factor in my decision … to play with teams with a chance.”

That was exactly 27 days ago and ‘things are still quiet’ – unless of course, you count the seemingly endless rumors that nearly every MLB team not named the Dodgers have been rumored to have a serious interest in acquiring the once-again free agent who posted a remarkable 6-0 record and 2.05 ERA, with an even more remarkable 0.916 WHIP. Morrow also struck out 50 opposing batters while walking only 9 in his 43.2 relief innings pitched; all of this while making a ludicrous $1.25 million. That’s ludicrous as in the deal of the century.

There is zero doubt that Morrow is a legitimate target for every MLB team, including the Dodgers. There is also zero doubt that he absolutely positively will not come cheap and is undoubtedly looking for a multi-year deal … and make no mistake about it, he will get it.

Now granted, a multi-year deal for a guy who will be 34 in July and is about to enter his 12th MLB season could most definitely backfire, especially on a three or four year deal. But even with 11 big league seasons already under his belt, the soft-spoken 6′-3″ / 205-pound right-hander still hits the century mark on the radar gun and does so quite regularly. But the simple truth is that the longer he remains on the free agent market, the more expensive he will be for the Dodgers; a team that he clearly wants to return to.

“All things equal, I’d probably be going back to the Dodgers. But this is a big [decision] I’ve got to make and other clubs are hopefully going to be coming after you and seeing what their pitch is,” Morrow told Lidge and Floyd. “And like I said, there’s just a lot going into it. But yeah, definitely like building that with them and having the success that I did and knowing how the clubhouse is there and the guys on the squad. And how much young talent they have, how good they’re going to be for years to come, and to be able to hopefully be in that for three to four years. Like a lot of other teams like that, it’s definitely an attractive situation.”

Hey Dodgers…

What. Are. You. Waiting. For?