After a surprise surge to the World Series last year, the Arizona Diamondbacks will be watching this season’s playoffs from home.
The team has fallen short of expectations after spending more than $161 million in offseason signings, the seventh-most of any Major League Baseball club.
They signed starter Eduardo Rodriguez to a four-year, $80 million contract. Gave outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. a three-year, $42 million deal. And added designated hitter Joc Pederson on a single-year, $12.5 million contract.
But after the disappointing end to the season, managing general partner Ken Kendrick honed in on one blockbuster signing that he regrets most.
“If anyone wants to blame anyone for Jordan Montgomery being a Diamondback, you’re talking to the guy that should be blamed because I brought it to their attention,” Kendrick told “The Burns & Gambo Show.” “In hindsight, a horrible decision to have invested that money in a guy that performed as poorly as he did. It’s our biggest mistake this season from a talent standpoint, and I’m the perpetrator of that.”
The Diamondbacks signed Montgomery to a one-year, $25 million deal that included a 2025 vesting option based on the number of starts he made. Struggling to a 6.23 ERA across 21 starts for the Diamondbacks, he reached a $22.5 million player option for 2025, but after Kendrick’s criticisms, it’s an open question whether or not he will opt for a return.
Montgomery has a 4.03 ERA across eight big-league seasons. In 2023, he played a key role in the Texas Rangers’ World Series championship after joining the team in a midseason trade with the St. Louis Cardinals.
Given his poor performance in his age-31 season, though, he might have a hard time finding a long-term deal or additional short-term money elsewhere. Perhaps the best he and the Diamondbacks can hope for is a bounceback to his career averages in 2025. Montgomery seems unlikely to test the market again this winter.
“He’d be a fool to re-enter free agency after his disastrous season, so expect him to return to the Diamondbacks unless they trade him this offseason,” Jim Bowden wrote for The Athletic.
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