Last offseason, the Arizona Diamondbacks committed a lot of money to left-handed pitcher Jordan Montgomery, bringing him in on a one-year, $25 million contract with a $22.5 million player option in 2025.
At the time, that contract seemed like a steal. Montgomery had just tossed 188 2/3 innings of 3.20 ERA baseball split between time with the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers in 2023.
But to call Montgomery’s development from 2023 to 2024 a regression would be an understatement. The southpaw completely plummeted down to the earth in the worst way possible. His ERA was up from a 3.20 to a 6.23. He gave up more hits, more home runs, more walks, and fewer strikeouts per nine innings in 2024 compared to 2023. It was a complete disaster.
Coming off this horrible campaign, the veteran lefty accepted his player option to return to Arizona for 2025. But Arizona doesn’t want him back, so it’s actively shopping him this winter with a trade expected to come to fruition.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that the Diamondbacks are actively looking to shop Montgomery. It’s likely viewed as an “addition by subtraction” move in Arizona’s mind, so the return likely won’t be something to call home about.
“The Diamondbacks want to move him and will eat some of his $22.5 million salary to do so,” Passan wrote. “He’s near the top of the list of players likeliest to get dealt after a rough 2024, and he’ll head to his new team with plenty to prove as another go-around at free agency beckons.”
With Montgomery expected to be moved for next to nothing, a few teams that could take a shot on him are the New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, and Atlanta Braves.
All three of these teams have successfully developed pitchers, with the Mets and Braves being involved in turning pitcher’s careers around (Chris Sale for Atlanta, Sean Manaea, Luis Severino for New York).
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