Jordan Montgomery signs with Arizona
- Thread starter RedOctober3829
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I saw the rumors from Bowden that the D-backs and O's had offers out there, but surprised it happened.
The market has irrevocably shifted away from good-not-great 30+ year old pitchers.
The market has irrevocably shifted away from good-not-great 30+ year old pitchers.
For all we know, we had an offer out there in a similar range. I doubt it, but it's possible
It's hard for me to think Montgomery's value was going to be higher than it was this off-season. He has been a good-but-not-great pitcher for his entire career, and he was coming into a market with limited pitching options and coming off a strong season where he was a postseason hero. Feels like Boras totally misplayed this one.
Terms from the other thread: 1 year, $25M with an option that vests if he makes 10 starts...
For what his numbers were, punctuated by a WS win and no draft compensation, this is absurdly low. For a guy who's had almost no rumors about interested teams and offers leaking out I have to wonder if his medicals are so bad that almost every other team passed on him worrying that he would somehow take out other players around him when his arm finally exploded.
For what his numbers were, punctuated by a WS win and no draft compensation, this is absurdly low. For a guy who's had almost no rumors about interested teams and offers leaking out I have to wonder if his medicals are so bad that almost every other team passed on him worrying that he would somehow take out other players around him when his arm finally exploded.
This deal is an absolute joke and should have been beaten by the Sox. I haven't watched an inning of spring training so far and I honestly have no desire to now. The Sox decided the team wasn't worth investing in, so I suppose I will too.
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At least one or two of Boras' clients are going to opt out and hit the market again next winter. It will be interesting to see if they hit the market again with him as their agent.
The bottom line is that on the surface there's no reason the Sox couldn't have beaten this offer. If we had all learned that this team signed Monty for $75M over 3 years, everyone would've been ecstatic. This offer doesn't even give a cushion of "opting in" to a deal if he has a bad year or is hurt.
If it comes out that the Sox had an actual offer on the table that was higher, then great, he never really wanted to come here. But until that info is our there then that is just speculation that is deflecting responsibility from Red Sox ownership who has set short term profit above competition.
If it comes out that the Sox had an actual offer on the table that was higher, then great, he never really wanted to come here. But until that info is our there then that is just speculation that is deflecting responsibility from Red Sox ownership who has set short term profit above competition.
Somewhat better structure for Arizona than the Giolito deal. Limited upside long term still, but they are at least currently a playoff contender and this makes them better.
Obviously the player option more like than not will vest, 10 starts isn’t a lot. But at least it protects them against an early season arm blow-out.
Hopefully the Red Sox are taking notes.
Obviously the player option more like than not will vest, 10 starts isn’t a lot. But at least it protects them against an early season arm blow-out.
Hopefully the Red Sox are taking notes.
Now this is a good post. Boras easily could have gotten E-Rod money for Montgomery at a minimum this winter but he wildly overplayed his hand and here we are.
I'm going to assume for now that the Sox had either an offer for a longer period of time at a lower value that wasn't appealing to him because it would let him hit the market again soon enough (i.e., something like 5/80), or they weren't really in on him at all.
That said, while I agree with most people that the Sox should have probably beat this offer, I'm just some guy who didn't do the math. Let's make sure he earns the money we didn't give him before being so upset about it.
That said, while I agree with most people that the Sox should have probably beat this offer, I'm just some guy who didn't do the math. Let's make sure he earns the money we didn't give him before being so upset about it.
This is a horrific deal for Montgomery and seems like borderline agent malpractice. Boras went thru his whole bag of tricks….now it’s the Mets, the Yankees, the Astros, a mystery team, he’s now considering Glasnow type deals, etc etc and the whole league called him on his BS.
You have to wonder if the Soto/Burnes/Bregman group has quietly been making some calls too.
The market for hitters is so vastly different, I don't think you will see Soto or Bregman left at the altar in this way. Burnes... tbd.
Whoa, whoa, whoa...he wishes he got Glasnow deals for these guys. Both these guys didn't even come close to what Glasnow got combined.
View: https://twitter.com/Buster_ESPN/status/1772799583770337486?s=20
Who's to say that they didn't? People forget, Boston isn't exactly a primo destination any more. Particularly for a one-year deal, I could easily see him passing on a 1/$30m+ deal with Boston to sign with the reigning NL pennant winner and hope to bolster his profile for next offseason.
Bellinger and Chapman ended up miles away from their projections/early winter offers as well.
If he has a bad year or is hurt but still makes at least 10 starts then he gets at least 20 million in 2025. There's basically no scenario where he's bad enough that he doesn't make 10 starts, so unless he misses nearly the entire season to injury he absolutely has that cushion.
Maybe they did; if they did I suspect that will come out. This seems more like a T. Hernandez situation, where the Sox interest was at a lower price point, IMO.
Again, unless his medicals look really bad. That option makes it look like 2 months of pitching might be a problem.
It's a player option per MLBTR. So that reads to me as a $20MM insurance policy (assuming he doesn't get hurt immediately).
Xander Bogaerts says hi.
Boras didn't have a great offseason but this is his strategy. Works more often than not.
It could be the medicals. It could also be a concern that without a proper spring training, his conditioning is suspect. Not that he wasn't keeping himself in shape over the winter, but that he might rush himself and cause an injury that costs him even more time. He's already 4-6 weeks behind everyone else. I can see a scenario where he's trying to close that gap only to overdo something and pull a muscle or strain something that puts him even further behind.
And if his medicals look that bad then you claiming the Sox should have easily topped that offer makes no sense.
No, if his medicals look really bad it would explain why his contract looks so limited and requires him to throw 2 months of starts to even get the extra year pillow option, and why this looks to be about as good as he could do. It’s a hypothesis. JWH and the Sox could afford this contract, or to beat it to get what project to be above average innings that they need; it’s a different issue (and if JM turns out to be healthy, then it’s the salient point).
There might be another factor here for Monty...his wife. I think I recall someone herein noting that she is finishing her dermatology training in Boston this year (It would be June, probably). And I think I recall (but could not find the clarification on this) that she will be moving somewhere South, or south west. And I think that location is already determined. So he may be looking at a long-distance marriage for a while regardless. He might have preferred a team slightly closer to where she will be, plus after the craziness of this off season for him, having the ability to try again in a year or so getting closer to where she is may be part of his decision. Don't know, but just speculating.
In June she's headed to Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN (2.5 hour flight to Boston, 4 hour flight to Phoenix).
https://web.musc.edu/about/news-center/2023/05/16/home-run-dermatologist
There's lots of reasons JM would prefer to go somewhere else other than Boston, as well as lots of reasons that JM does not seem to fit the archetype of a pitcher that the Breslow pitching group is looking for & would extend themselves for. But don't think the residency was a factor in this one.
Heyman with some anonymous shit-stirring about how Monty didn't want to go to Boston because he wants to win. Probably not worth lending credence to Heyman.
Mlbn cuts to the Monty presser and his first words are "Sometimes things don't work out the way we plan it. I'm not the one creating the plan, just trying to go along with it."
He says he's happy to be there but he does not in fact appear happy to be there.
He says he's happy to be there but he does not in fact appear happy to be there.
He watched the money spent early on in the offseason and then watched the market completely collapse. He’s still rich for life - but that’s gotta be deflating.