Jordan Montgomery gets sweetest revenge possible against Diamondbacks owner after he was publicly shamed

Jordan Montgomery followed the best season of his MLB career, one which saw him set career-highs in wins, ERA, and innings pitched and win a World Series with the Texas Rangers, with the worst season of his MLB career.

Montgomery was one of several Scott Boras clients who signed extremely late in the offseason. Eventually, he wound up inking a one-year deal worth $25 million to join the Arizona Diamondbacks. That deal looked like a great one at the time for Arizona, as Montgomery would be a key piece to help them get over the hump in the World Series. Unfortunately, the southpaw posted a 6.23 ERA in 25 appearances and 21 starts for Arizona for a Diamondbacks team that narrowly missed out on a postseason berth.

As if this season didn't go poorly enough for Montgomery, he was publicly embarrassed by Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick after the year wrapped up.

"And looking back, in hindsight, a horrible decision to have invested that money in a guy who performed as poorly as he did," Kendrick said on The Burns and Gambo Show. "It's our biggest mistake this season from a talent standpoint, and I'm the perpetrator of that."

Was Kendrick wrong? Of course not. The Montgomery signing was a disaster by all accounts. Still, did he have to be that honest? It felt as if Kendrick was being as honest as he was in an effort to dissuade Montgomery from exercising his $22.5 million player option. If Kendrick was indeed doing that it did not work, as Montgomery exercised his option to remain in Arizona for the 2025 campaign, according to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com.

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Jordan Montgomery accepting player option is best revenge against Diamondbacks owner

Does Montgomery want to play on a team for an owner who called him out as bluntly as Kendrick did? Probably not, but $22.5 million is $22.5 million. Chances are, Montgomery wasn't getting anything close to that after the season he just had. Plus, he puts the Diamondbacks in an uncomfortable position here. Do the Diamondbacks want to keep Montgomery around after Kendrick just called him their "biggest mistake?"

Unfortunately for Arizona, Montgomery's decision to exercise his option puts them in a tough spot. Trading him is an option, but what realistically can they get for him? Plus, they'd presumably have to eat a large chunk of his contract just to have other teams show any interest. Releasing Montgomery is an option as well, but do they want to take the risk that Montgomery turns it around elsewhere?

Montgomery knows he had a brutal season, but having the owner talk publicly about how bad he was can't feel good. Now, accepting that option and forcing that owner who shamed him to pay him $22.5 million more than he'd like to feels like the best possible revenge. If the Diamondbacks choose to get rid of him after the fact, that just makes it even better.