On the morning of PirateFest (and with Morton scheduled to appear as one of the featured players), the Pirates sent him off to Philadelphia for minor league pitcher David Whitehead.
No sugarcoating this one: Whitehead isn’t much of a prospect, and this was a clear salary dump. Morton was set to make $8 million in 2016, plus a team option for 2017 for $9.5M (with a $1M buyout). That’s not bank-breaking money, and it seemed reasonable when Morton signed an extension after a good season a few years ago, but after a rough finish to 2015, it doesn’t look so good anymore.