A's, Arizona Diamondbacks would make good trade partners for this pitcher

Jason Burke | Nov 7, 2024

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. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

The A's are in need of upgrades this winter, and the best shot they have at attaining those upgrades will be through the trade market, given that the team will be playing in a 14,000 seat minor-league facility in 2025 as the team settles in Sacramento for the next few seasons. That move could make it difficult to lure free agents, so the trade market seems like the more sure bet.

That's where the Arizona Diamondbacks come in. They have an owner that didn't hold back when discussing the club's signing of left-hander Jordan Montgomery this past offseason. "Looking back, in hindsight, a horrible decision to invest that money in a guy who performed as poorly as he did. It's our biggest mistake this season from a talent standpoint. And I'm the perpetrator of that."

Montgomery has since exercised his $22.5 million option to remain with the D-Backs for the 2025 season. The question now will be whether or not he sticks with the club. If Arizona is looking to trade him, the Athletics would make quite a bit of sense as a trade partner. Yes, there would have to be some of the salary lopped off to make it more feasible, but that's arguably true for any trade that Arizona would make involving Monty.

Last season Montgomery held a 6.23 ERA across 117 innings and finished with a 1.65 WHIP. It was a pretty bad year. At the same time, how much of that could be attributed to him signing on March 29, after the MLB season had already begun? Blake Snell also got off to a bad start with the San Francisco Giants before ultimately turning things around, and he was coming off his second Cy Young award.

The only metric he truly excelled with was his chase rate of 33.2%, which ranked in the 91st percentile. His 15.6% strikeout rate was a career low, falling well shy of the 21.4% rate he put up the year before.

For the A's, there are reasons to believe that this past season was a fluke, mainly due to the late start, and that he could be back to a version of himself that is closer to his career norm of a 4.03 ERA, though he posted ERAs of 3.83, 3.48, and 3.20 from 2021-23. The track record has been solid.

If the Diamondbacks paid off five or even $10 million of his contract, the A's could be very willing to listen. Plus, given the season that he's coming off and the amount of money that Arizona would be saving, the prospect return wouldn't be too large either. The A's could even send a veteran over like a Seth Brown, someone that could have a role on the team in 2025 and fill a need for them with Joc Pederson gone. Or, if Arizona would prefer someone like Nick Allen, that could also likely be arranged.

With the arrival of Jacob Wilson and Darell Hernaiz, plus Max Muncy waiting in Triple-A, there doesn't appear to be a ton of playing time for Allen moving forward on the A's roster, and he will be out of options heading into next season. Essentially that means that they should trade him this winter, or risk losing him to waivers during the year.

With Montgomery, the A's would add a solid veteran starter, like they attempted to do with Ross Stripling and Alex Wood in 2024, and their rotation would get a second left-hander to join JP Sears. Plus, Monty has a knack for eating innings, which is a huge bonus for this inexperienced roster. If Montgomery were to end up with the Athletics, their rotation would be Monty, Sears, Joey Estes, Mitch Spence, and Osvaldo Bido if we had to make a guess right now., which could be a league-average rotation with some year-to-year improvements. J.T. Ginn, Hogan Harris, and Brady Basso could also be in the mix, with Ken Waldichuk also looming for later in the season.

If the A's are going to improve their roster for the 2025 campaign, adding players like Montgomery could be the way to go, and taking on some a chunk of that salary may be the way to make it happen.