After helping the Texas Rangers win their first World Series in franchise history, Jordan Montgomery's journey through free agency has been longer than expected. While Blake Snell signed with the San Francisco Giants and Michael Lorenzen inked a deal with the Rangers, Montgomery remained on the market. Now, the left-handed ace has finally found his next home.
Montgomery has agreed to terms for a contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks, pending a physical. The one-year deal is worth $25 million this year and includes a vesting player option for 2025.
New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox fans, among others, weren't too pleased with the news. Heading into the offseason, most of the chatter surrounding free agency had to do with the "Boras Four." With Blake Snell, Cody Bellinger, and Matt Chapman being scooped off the market, Montgomery was the only one left available. Along with the Yankees and Red Sox, the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies were linked to the southpaw as well.
The Yankees expected to have Gerrit Cole at the top of their rotation, but an injury to the reigning American League Cy Young winner left an opening for the Yankees to reunite with Montgomery. The Yankees selected Montgomery in the fourth round of the 2014 amatuer draft but traded him to the St. Louis Cardinals in 2022. After learning about Montgomery's deal with Arizona, Yankees fans were reminded that they should never have parted ways with their pitcher to begin with.
The Mets expected to have Kodai Senga as their ace after an outstanding rookie season, but he was diagnosed with a shoulder strain shortly after spring training began. Senga should resume throwing soon, but they could've used Montgomery as well.
Meanwhile, Red Sox fans were just hoping to see some signs of life during a dormant free agency. "The Great Depression of Red Sox baseball rages on," one user posted on X, formerly Twitter.
Best memes and tweets from Yankees, Red Sox fans after missing on Jordan Montgomery
Red Sox traded Mookie Betts in the year 2020, with the promise it would make the organization better in the long run, and ultimately make sense.
ā Bastards of Boston Baseball (@Bastards_Boston) March 27, 2024
Four years laterā¦.
Pitching prospects are scant.
Targeting top free agents is strictly forbidden.
And the Great Depression of Red⦠https://t.co/yPrn9tBXsF
A message from John Henry to Red Sox fans after not signing Jordan Montgomery pic.twitter.com/u5AbOqjzj5
ā Boston Sports Gordo (@BOSSportsGordo) March 27, 2024
Seeing a lot of āWhy didnāt the #Yankees do this?ā Regarding Jordan Montgomery.
ā James O'Connell (@OConnellNYDN) March 27, 2024
Montgomery wouldāve costed $50M for one season ā and he reportedly didnāt want to return. Easy to see why it didnāt happen.
The real question is what the fāk are the Red Sox doing?
1 year $25 million for Jordan Montgomery
ā ZT (@NY_EvilEmpire) March 27, 2024
Hal Steinbrenner: āIāll passā pic.twitter.com/KntKDYrxSW
The Yankees shouldāve never traded Jordan Montgomery in the first place, and thatās the truth
ā NYY Recaps (@NYYRecapsDerek) March 27, 2024
While Yankees had been open-minded to the idea of bringing back Jordan Montgomery in recent days, multiple Yankees and friends w/ JM that I talked to didnāt think there was a chance it would happen considering the $, the luxury tax and how he felt about how he was used w/ them https://t.co/KmG9K8s4RO
ā Brendan Kuty š§āāļø (@BrendanKutyNJ) March 27, 2024
The Jordan Montgomery reunion dream is officially dead.https://t.co/eeClu8L5ut
ā Nolan Writin' (@NolanWritinFS) March 27, 2024
Jordan Montgomery got signed for 1 year and $25 million.
ā Joe Randazzo ššš (@LibrarianJoe_) March 27, 2024
No qualifying offer. No bearing on Juan Sotoās free agency next year unless that vesting option kicks in, I guess.
To quote @realboshek ā Hal doesnāt care.
The Red Sox spent all that time bargaining with Boras and ended up giving more total guaranteed money to Lucas Giolito than Jordan Montgomery got
ā Nae 𧬠(@NaeNaeTakes) March 27, 2024
Not like heās an ace or anything but Jordan Montgomery was literally standing outside of Fenway like this for months and we let him walk to Arizona pic.twitter.com/3iopxLuOVX
ā Tom Wall (@TheGreatWall25) March 27, 2024
The Red Sox are paying $40 million per year to Trevor Story and Masataka Yoshida but drew the line at $25 million for Jordan Montgomery btw
ā Hoodie Maybin (@HoodieMaybin) March 27, 2024
The St. Louis Cardinals traded Montgomery to the Rangers at the trade deadline last year. He threw 188 2/3 innings with a 3.20 ERA overall in 2023. He managed a 2.90 ERA in 31 postseason innings across five starts and one relief appearance.
Montgomery has been durable since a Tommy John surgery in 2018. He will be 31 years old during the 2024 season.