Jordan Montgomery is signing with an NL West team
Sep 2, 2022; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery (48) pitches against the Chicago Cubs during the first inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
Jordan Montgomery waited until just about the last possible moment, but he has finally agreed to a deal with a new team.
Montgomery will be signing with the Arizona Diamondbacks, giving the NL West yet another top free agent player. The deal calls for Montgomery to be paid $25 million this season and includes a vesting option worth $25 million in 2025.
Vesting player option for second year also is worth $25M, as @JonHeyman said.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) March 27, 2024
The two sides reached the agreement on Tuesday, the last day of spring training. That means Montgomery has signed two days before Opening Day, so all the thinking that he could wait until after Opening Day to avoid having draft pick compensation attached to him next offseason was incorrect.
Arizona reached the World Series last season, and they had some concern about falling behind their division competitors. The Dodgers won the division last season and added Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto over the offseason, to name two players. The Giants added several players (Matt Chapman, JD Davis, Jorge Soler, Jung-hoo Lee and Robbie Ray), plus they signed Blake Snell last week. Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo seemed concerned about his team being left behind in the race, but Arizona has come through with the addition of Montgomery.
It may take some time before Montgomery will be able to help the Diamondbacks’ rotation. The 29-year-old went 10-11 with a 3.20 ERA last season while pitching for both the Cardinals and Rangers. He was an ace in the postseason for Texas and had a 2.90 ERA over 31 postseason innings while helping Texas win the World Series.
