Yankees reported offer to Jordan Montgomery was hilariously awful
Several teams missed out on Jordan Montgomery, including his old team, the New York Yankees. New York had interest, but the veteran chose the Arizona Diamondbacks instead after receiving a terrible offer from his old team.
By Curt Bishop
The New York Yankees are one of several teams that missed the boat by not signing left-hander Jordan Montgomery.
Instead, Montgomery chose the young, upstart Arizona Diamondbacks, helping solidify a dangerous starting rotation that already featured Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly, and Brandon Pfaadt.
Montgomery should be a huge addition for the D-Backs, who recently lost the newly signed Eduardo Rodriguez to a lat strain. There is no clear timetable for Rodriguez's return.
The Yankees were in the mix for the left-hander, however. According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, the Yankees maintained interest, but the left-hander preferred the fit with the D-Backs.
Yankees showed some interest in bringing Montgomery back but he obviously liked this D-Backs deal better
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) March 27, 2024
To make matters worse, the Yankees offer to Montgomery was nothing short of embarrassing. Jim Bowden of The Athletic noted that the offer the Yankees gave him was full of deferrals that would have given him a lower AAV than what he's getting with Arizona.
The #Yankees were in on Montgomery but their offers required heavy deferals of 15-20 plus years which would have made AAV much less than #Diamondbacks offer.
— Jim Bowden⚾️🏈 (@JimBowdenGM) March 27, 2024
Yankees miss out on Jordan Montgomery reunion
This is certainly going to frustrate Yankees fans.
With Gerrit Cole out for a few months, the opportunity was right there for the Yankees to bring Montgomery back. He had spent the first six seasons of his career in Yankee pinstripes before being shipped off to the St. Louis Cardinals in 2022 for Harrison Bader.
All the Yankees needed to do was give him a reasonable offer. But that did not happen.
And so, New York doesn't have a frontline starter in tow for the first two months of the season, barring a bounce-back season from Carlos Rodon.
Montgomery was a fan favorite during his time with the Bronx Bombers, but he blossomed into a top-level starter in St. Louis before being dealt to the Texas Rangers and helping them win their first World Series title last October.
The Yankees certainly could have afforded to sing Montgomery to a similar deal to what Arizona ultimately gave him. It was well within their price range, and all it would have taken was a competitive offer.
Instead, the Yankees lowballed their former left-hander and are one of many teams who missed out on adding a second top-of-the-rotation starting pitcher, similarly to the Cardinals and their hated rivals, the Boston Red Sox.
Montgomery's deal with the defending National League champs is for one year and $25 million. It also includes a $25 million vesting option for 2025.
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