Arizona Diamondbacks Owner Owns Up to Overpaying Starting Pitcher Jordan Montgomery

Jordan Montgomery, who has a $22.5 million player option for the 2025 season, got put on blast by Arizona Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick for underperforming this year.

Sep 17, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery (52) leaves the mound in the fifth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

The Arizona Diamondbacks fell just one win short of returning to the playoffs in 2024, rendering last offseason's splurge on starting pitching a failure.

The reigning National League pennant winners opened the winter by signing Eduardo Rodriguez to a four-year, $80 million contract. Arizona then added Jordan Montgomery on a two-year, $47.5 million deal during Spring Training, only a few months removed from his World Series run with the Texas Rangers.

Rodriguez went on to post a 5.04 ERA and 0.2 WAR across 10 starts, missing the first four months of the season with a shoulder injury. Montgomery, on the other hand, went 8-7 with a 6.23 ERA and -1.4 WAR in 25 appearances, getting demoted to the bullpen along the way.

Diamondbacks managing general partner Ken Kendrick went on The Burns & Gambo Show on Tuesday to discuss what went wrong for his team down the stretch this fall, and he didn't pull any punches when he was asked about Montgomery.

"Let me say it the best way I can say it: If anyone wants to blame anyone for Jordan Montgomery being a Diamondback, you're talking to the guy that should be blamed," Kendrick said. "I brought it to their attention, I pushed for it, they agreed to it, it wasn't in our game plan – you know when he was signed, right at the end of Spring Training. And looking back, in hindsight, a horrible decision to have invested that money in a guy that performed as poorly as he did. It's our biggest mistake this season from a talent standpoint, and I'm the perpetrator of that."

"If anyone wants to blame anyone for Jordan Montgomery being a Diamondback, you're talking to the guy that should be blamed."

D-backs managing general partner Ken Kendrick on the signing of Montgomery in the offseason.

Full interview: https://t.co/c9zHhCcebT pic.twitter.com/4wfNmwihSX

— The Burns & Gambo Show (@BurnsAndGambo) October 1, 2024

Montgomery's contract included a conditional player option, and that option vested since he cleared 10 starts in 2024. As a result, Montgomery can now opt to either re-enter free agency or remain in Arizona and collect $22.5 million.

Given that the 31-year-old southpaw is coming off the worst season of his career, it would be a bold move for him to pass up a guaranteed eight-figure payday. At the same time, Montgomery's own owner just put him on blast, effectively calling him overpaid and a bad investment.

Kendrick accepting that amount of responsibility for a personnel decision is the kind of thing that sports fans everywhere would love to see more of, but Montgomery's contract situation surely complicates this specific scenario.

Montgomery dropped Scott Boras as his agent in April, hiring Wasserman's Joel Wolfe and Nick Chanock to take his place. If Kendrick is indeed trying to push Montgomery out of town, it would be up to Wolfe and Chanock to find their client a new home and a new contract.

Prior to 2024, Montgomery was 38-34 with a 3.68 ERA, 1.209 WHIP, 8.4 strikeouts per nine innings and a 12.6 WAR in his seven-year MLB career.

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