Less than 24 hours after the Arizona Diamondbacks were eliminated from postseason contention, owner Ken Kendrick sounded off on the signing of Jordan Montgomery, calling it “our biggest mistake this season.”
Kendrick said it was his idea to pursue Montgomery, who agreed to a one-year, $25 million contract to join the team with a 2025 player option worth $22.5 million, and that he should be blamed for how it turned out. Montgomery finished with a career-high 6.23 ERA during a campaign in which the expensive starting pitcher was moved to the bullpen in late August.
“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. “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.”
In response to Kendrick’s comments, Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen said the decision to acquire Montgomery was the result of a collaborative process that did not produce the desired results. But Hazen wasn’t nearly as aggressive in writing off Montgomery’s future with the franchise. The southpaw who played a key role in the Texas Rangers’ World Series run a season ago, with a 2.79 ERA in 11 starts after being dealt by the St. Louis Cardinals at the trade deadline, could opt into a second year with the Diamondbacks.
“Ideas come from everywhere, and I am ultimately responsible to say no to a lot of things, or yes to a lot of things,” Hazen said.
“We kick around a lot of things, and ultimately it’s my job to make decisions for this organization. … That was a group process and I understand why we made that decision at the time and I believe that Jordan Montgomery’s going to have a better year next year.”
When Montgomery landed in Arizona, his contract fell well short of the five-year, $105 million deal that was projected by The Athletic’s Tim Britton. By August, months after the deal was done and soon following Montgomery’s transition to a reliever role, he directed blame to former agent Scott Boras, whose clientele includes many of MLB’s impending free agents this offseason.
Montgomery’s poor performance this season has likely lowered his stock considerably and could affect the offers he gets if he were to opt out of his contract with the Diamondbacks.
“Obviously, Boras kind of butchered it, so I’m just trying to move on from the offseason and try to forget it,” Montgomery told the Boston Herald.
Required reading
- Arizona Diamondbacks bounced from postseason contention on their day off
- The Diamondbacks reenergized their fan base. But will they give them another October run?
- MLB’s 10 biggest disappointments of the 2024 season
(Photo: Christian Petersen / Getty Images)
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Noah Furtado is a student intern covering MLB for The Athletic. Noah will graduate from Arizona State University in the Fall of 2024. He has previously interned at the Star Tribune and the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, with freelance experience at the Los Angeles Times and the San Francisco Chronicle. Noah is an alumnus of the Sports Journalism Institute, and originates from Kaneohe, HI. Follow Noah on Twitter @_noahfurtado
