Yankees Should Be in Trade Mix for Available World Series Hero Starter

Should the New York Yankees reunite with a former starter that they traded away in a deadline deal a few years ago?

Sep 22, 2024; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery (52) pitches in the first inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field. / Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

With the New York Yankees set to open up the season on Thursday, all eyes will be on how the starting rotation looks in 2025. 

After a great winter, the spring was anything but kind to the Yankees. The team was ravaged by injuries and the outlook for 2025 is all of a sudden looking a bit cloudy. 

With injuries dominating the conversation in New York, the starting rotation was the unit that really took a brunt of the issues. 

Currently, three of the five projected starters for the Yankees will begin the year on the injured list. The three pitchers have various timelines to return, with Gerrit Cole being out for the year, Luis Gil until the summer, and Clarke Schmidt hopefully not missing an extended period of time. 

New York will now have Marcus Stroman, Will Warren, and Carlos Carrasco in the rotation on Opening Day, which nobody could have seen coming. 

While the Yankees are fortunate that both Warren and Carrasco have pitched well in spring training, it’s hard to have much confidence in either going into the year. 

With that being said, keeping an eye on the trade market is something that general manager Brian Cashman will have to do. 

One player who could make a lot of sense if the rotation struggles is former Yankees southpaw Jordan Montgomery. 

Due to the former World Series hero having an awful campaign in 2024 for the Arizona Diamondbacks, the team seems willing to move him with their rotation seemingly set. 

However, with him set to make $25 million this year, that won’t be an easy task. Arizona is going to have to eat a significant amount of that contract if they want to trade him, but they don’t appear to be willing to do so just yet. 

Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic recently reported that the Diamondbacks are looking for a potential trade partner to take on more than half of Montgomery’s salary for 2025, which would be $13 million.

While it was a dreadful campaign for the left-hander in 2024, he does provide some serious bounce-back potential after having a 6.73 ERA. 

In 2023, he totaled a 3.20 ERA with the St. Louis Cardinals and the Texas Rangers. Furthermore, the Yankees are very familiar with the southpaw from his time in New York, which was fairly successful. 

The price is likely going to be key for any potential Montgomery deal this year. New York seems hesitant to spend on anyone beyond what it has already spent, and taking back over as much as the report indicates that the Diamondbacks would want them to seems unlikely. 

However, if the rotation really struggles, the southpaw is a pitcher who has had recent success with the Yankees and is a logical fit. 

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