Some 49 hours earlier than their first common season recreation, the Arizona Diamondbacks introduced up the home lights to finish the 2023-24 Sizzling Range League. Jordan Montgomery is headed west on a one-year contract with a vesting choice.
The 31-year-old Montgomery had been a well-regarded high-volume starter, however the 2023 postseason introduced him to the verge of stardom. The Texas Rangers traded for Montgomery on the deadline, and with Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer battling accidents, it was the massive South Carolinian who emerged because the group’s ace. He gained three video games within the postseason, together with Recreation 7 of the ALCS in a multi-inning aid look on two days’ relaxation, and was one of many World Sequence champion’s breakout stars.
That championship, after all, got here on the expense of Arizona, his new group. The Diamondbacks, having come so near profitable all of it, had already introduced in reinforcements by buying and selling for third baseman Eugenio Suárez and signing outfielder Joc Pederson and lefty starter Eduardo Rodriguez. Final October, this was a group with an improvised rotation; with Montgomery, Rodriguez (as soon as he returns from his season-opening IL stint), Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly, a full 12 months of a maturing Brandon Pfaadt, and a wholesome Tommy Henry, it’s among the many greatest within the sport.
Montgomery may even be reunited together with his faculty teammate, first baseman Christian Walker. The 2 performed for a School World Sequence title collectively in 2012, although Montgomery was too younger to be a member of the 2010 Gamecocks group that beat Kelly’s Arizona State Solar Devils in Omaha. Suffice it to say, this signing is effervescent with narrative portent.
Montgomery will make $25 million in 2024, and if he pitches something resembling a traditional workload, he’ll have an equal participant choice for 2025. If Montgomery makes 10 begins, that participant choice pays out at $20 million, with a further $2.5 million to be earned at each 18 and 23 begins, bringing the utmost worth of the contract to $50 million over two years.
Montgomery’s one-plus-one deal provides his agent, Scott Boras, a hat trick of his prized shoppers asking for a mulligan on their free company expertise. Blake Snell took a one-year take care of an choice to signal with the Giants; Snell’s new teammate Matt Chapman has a contract that would stretch so long as 4 seasons, however from which he can choose out after one. By holding out and attempting to play the market aggressively, Boras managed to land all three of his prize shoppers with contracts Ted from Scrubs may’ve negotiated.
It’s a humbling defeat for essentially the most highly effective agent in American sports activities, particularly as he gears up for subsequent offseason, wherein he’ll attempt to make Juan Soto the highest-paid participant in baseball historical past.
The timing of Montgomery’s signing is fascinating as properly; in contrast to Snell and Chapman, Montgomery was not saddled with a qualifying supply this previous offseason. By advantage of not having been with the Rangers all 12 months, he was ineligible to be prolonged one. As a result of a participant can solely obtain one qualifying supply in his profession, Snell and Chapman will likely be within the clear the following time they change into free brokers. Montgomery, theoretically, may nonetheless be tagged.
If Arizona prompts Montgomery for Opening Day, the Diamondbacks may stick a qualifying supply on him after this season. However Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic cited a supply saying that Montgomery will begin the season on a minor league project so he can get into recreation form. That may rely as not spending the complete season on the foremost league roster, leaving Montgomery free to depart with out receiving a qualifying supply.
Montgomery may need burnished his popularity with that stellar displaying final October — although he’s been wonderful within the playoffs in lower-visibility roles, courting again to his days as an beginner — however he would’ve been an extremely invaluable addition for Arizona even earlier than that.
Since 2020, he’s twentieth in pitcher WAR; the truth that he’s one spot behind deGrom on that leaderboard raises apparent questions on whether or not that makes him a capital-A Ace on a per-inning foundation. (Montgomery has thrown greater than twice as many innings as deGrom over the previous 4 seasons.) However pitchers who can throw Montgomery’s quantity are uncommon now, and so they’ll solely change into extra so within the coming years.
Montgomery has began 104 video games over the previous 4 seasons, which is the ninth-highest complete in baseball. Solely 19 pitchers have began 100 or extra. That record consists of two pitchers who’re at present rehabbing torn UCLs (Lucas Giolito and Sandy Alcantara), two others who’ll begin the season on the IL (Gerrit Cole and Taijuan Walker), the 40-year-old Charlie Morton, and three pitchers who aren’t adequate to belief in a playoff rotation (Kyle Gibson, Jordan Lyles, and Patrick Corbin).
That leaves Montgomery in a bunch of 11. Eight of these (Dylan Stop, Aaron Nola, Kevin Gausman, Luis Castillo, Logan Webb, Corbin Burnes, Zack Wheeler, and Gallen) are both Cy Younger winners or make frequent appearances on Cy Younger voting ballots. The opposite two, aside from Montgomery, are Chris Bassitt and José BerrÃos: no. 2 or no. 3 starters who’d improve virtually any rotation in baseball.
So if the query is whether or not Montgomery is extra like a Nola or Webb, or if he’s extra like a Bassitt (and maybe I’m being uncharitable to Bassitt or overly charitable to among the pitchers within the first group), a one-year, $25 million contract is an absolute steal in both case.
And one way or the other, the Diamondbacks have been ready so as to add all this veteran assist to their pennant-winning group, splash $25 million on an opportunistic signing throughout Holy Week, and nonetheless have virtually $22 million to go earlier than they hit the bottom aggressive stability tax threshold.
Earlier this week, I wrote concerning the delicate distinction between utilizing structural leverage to signal good gamers to team-friendly offers, versus simply locking up whoever’s round as a result of they’re low-cost. By way of precise 2024 wage, Montgomery is now Arizona’s highest-paid participant, clearly. However Madison Bumgarner is tied for second place.
The Diamondbacks have restricted their pre-free company extensions to their stars: Corbin Carroll and Ketel Marte. Marte gained’t make greater than $16.6 million in any 12 months of his contract, and Carroll gained’t hit that quantity till 2029; each are massively overperforming their offers. And after taking a shower on Bumgarner, GM Mike Hazen has skillfully navigated essentially the most treacherous sort of baseball transaction: The mid-tier free agent signing. So many GMs have gotten fired by overspending on replaceable gamers, however Hazen has restricted Arizona’s outlays to shorter-term offers at affordable salaries, all whereas concentrating on stable contributors.
Lastly, the Diamondbacks have taken the cash they’ve saved and reinvested it within the roster. They weren’t in on the most important free brokers — Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Nola — however when the Mariners have been keen to present Suárez away to anybody who’d pay his wage, Hazen was there. And when Montgomery entered the ultimate week of March and not using a contract, Hazen had money in hand and was capable of level to a roster that ought to get again to the playoffs.
The Diamondbacks have their fair proportion of issues organizationally, however most of them are above the baseball ops degree. With the foremost league group, the D-backs have gotten a very good factor going, which allowed them to draw Montgomery and make it even higher.
