The Boston Red Sox were rejected on their four-year offer to a star free agent pitcher last offseason, but that loss turned out to be a massive win for Boston.
After 2023 World Series champion Jordan Montgomery turned down the Red Sox offer, he was picked up by the Arizona Diamondbacks on a one-year deal that Arizona has almost certainly come to regret.
Montgomery has underperformed this season to the degree that The Athletic’s Jim Bowden labeled the 31-year-lefty the No. 2 biggest disappointment of the entire season in a piece published Friday.
“Jordan Montgomery was expected to get a lucrative free-agent contract last offseason, but after he turned down a four-year deal from the Red Sox, his market dipped dramatically and he ended up signing a one-year, $25 million contract with the Diamondbacks that included a vesting player option for a second year if he made 10 starts,” Bowden said.
“He managed to do that, but not much else. Montgomery reported to the D-Backs out of shape, didn’t make his first start until April 19 and ultimately wasn’t even a shell of the pitcher he’d been the past three seasons, posting a 6.23 ERA in 21 starts and four relief appearances. He’d be a fool to re-enter free agency after this disastrous season, so expect him to return to the Diamondbacks unless they trade him this offseason.”
The Red Sox dodged a bullet when Montgomery walked away from their deal.
Now, Boston’s chief baseball officer Craig Breslow is tasked with creating new offers for pitchers that can benefit the club, a task that is far and away the most vital of the Red Sox’s offseason.
