Jordan Montgomery, fresh off his October heroics with the Texas Rangers, appeared positioned for a free-agent payday. The lefty drew comparisons to former Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell. The Athletic’s Tim Britton projected a five-year, $105 million deal for Montgomery.
It didn’t work out that way.
And months later, Montgomery isn’t pulling punches about who he believes is to blame: his former agent Scott Boras.
“Obviously Boras kind of butchered it, so I’m just trying to move on from the offseason and try to forget it,” Montgomery told the Boston Herald.
The comment was blunt though not entirely surprising. Montgomery dumped the super agent earlier this year and hired Joel Wolfe and Nick Chanok of Wasserman less than a month after signing with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Montgomery settled for a one-year, $25 million deal on March 26, two days before Opening Day. He has a 2025 player option for $25 million that he could decline. Of course, if he does so, Montgomery would re-enter a free-agent market that will be shaped by his ex-agent. That’s because Boras clients are among the top impending free agents, meaning that their deals will likely have trickle-down effects for the rest of the market.
The 31-year-old starter’s performance this season could also hurt his chances of scoring a bigger payday if he decides to opt-out. Montgomery has a 6.44 ERA and 1.67 WHIP for Arizona with the lowest strikeout rate of his career. After two successful starts in late April to start his Diamondbacks tenure — four earned runs allowed over 13 innings — Montgomery’s ERA has been higher than six in each of the past four months.
Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said Friday that Montgomery would begin pitching out of the bullpen, as starter Ryne Nelson had earned the final spot in Arizona’s rotation.
Montgomery finished the 2023 season with a 3.20 ERA over 32 starts with the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas and went 3-1 with a 2.90 ERA in 31 postseason innings for the Rangers, who won the World Series against the Diamondbacks in five games.
GO DEEPER
Rosenthal: Why the D-Backs were better positioned than the Rangers to sign Jordan Montgomery
(Photo: Christian Petersen / Getty Images)
