Alex Anthopoulos has made a living as the Braves general manager by acquiring ultra-talented players that are being undervalued for one reason or another.
Sometimes, it’s due to the player’s injury history, like we saw last season when the Braves acquired Chris Sale, who will soon be named the Cy Young award winner for the National League. In other instances, it’s because Anthopoulos sees something in a player that other general managers aren’t even considering. As we saw with Reynaldo Lopez, who the Braves gave an opportunity to start games again, and he delivered by recording a 1.99 ERA over 25 starts.
But many times, Alex Anthopolous just prefers to gamble on players with track records of success coming off down years, especially if the gamble doesn’t require a long-term commitment. That’s the case with Jordan Montgomery entering this offseason, who just opted into his contract with the Diamondbacks for next year, which is scheduled to pay him $22.5 million.
Mongomery’s decision comes just a month after owner Ken Kendrick had some harsh criticisms for the 31-year-old hurler following the Diamondbacks elimination on the final day of the regular season.
“If anyone wants to blame anyone for Jordan Montgomery being a Diamondback, you’re talking to the guy that should be blamed,” Kendrick told Arizona Sports 98.7 on Monday, via Noah Furtado of The Athletic. “I brought it to their attention, I pushed for it. They agreed to it. It wasn’t in our game plan. … Looking back, in hindsight, a horrible decision to have invested that money in a guy who performed as poorly as he did. It’s our biggest mistake this season from a talent standpoint.”
That’s not the ideal working relationship teams are generally trying to build within an organization, but I’m not even sure you’d get much of an argument from Montgomery. He was absolutely dreadful this year, pitching to the tune of a 6.23 ERA over 117.0 innings.
What the future holds for Jordan Montgomery is unknown. The Diamondbacks could hope that with a full and healthy offseason, he could bounce back and be the guy they thought they were signing last offseason. Or Arizona could dangle him on the trade market and try to rid of as much of his salary as possible.
Both will be on the table this offseason, and Jim Bowden of The Athletic is predicting the Braves get involved, trading two minor-league pitchers to the Diamondbacks for Jordan Montgomery, who will replace Max Fried in 2025.
“After exercising his $22.5 million player option, Jordan Montgomery is traded by the Diamondbacks to the Braves for two minor-league pitchers, with Arizona agreeing to pay half of his salary,” Bowden writes.
The Braves don’t have a clear and obvious need for a starting pitcher, whether Max Fried departs in free agency or not. Spencer Strider is set to return from a torn UCL, and Charlie Morton is also mulling over playing another season. Those two, combined with Chris Sale, Reynaldo Lopez, and Spencer Schwellenbach, would be as stout as any rotation in baseball.
However, the Braves have suffered critical injuries to starting pitchers ahead of each of the last three postseasons. If Charlie Morton opts to retire, they could be in the market for another high-profile arm, and Jordan Montgomery is exactly the type of player Alex Anthopoulos prefers to target. He’ll be 32-years-old next season, and until last season, he’d been one of the most consistent left-handed starting pitchers in baseball. On top of that, Montgomery’s contract is especially appealing, given it’s a one-year deal. If it works, it could be another steal for Alex Anthopoulos. If it doesn’t, it won’t hamstring the organization for years to come.
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Photo: Kevin Abele/Icon Sportswire
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