MLB Rumors: Jordan Montgomery's D-Backs Contract 'Stunned' Insiders; 'What Happened?'

The feeling around Major League Baseball is the Arizona Diamondbacks got a steal on their reported deal with Jordan Montgomery.

Per Jon Heyman of the New York Post and MLB Network, Montgomery's contract is for one year and $25 million with a $25 million vesting option for 2025 if he makes 10 starts this season.

Appearing on SportsCenter on Wednesday morning, ESPN's Buster Olney reported the "stunned" response from within MLB was a feeling of "what happened?" with Montgomery:

"What an incredible pickup for the Diamondbacks, getting a lefthanded veteran coming off that career season. People around baseball were stunned at the dollar figures on this with one year guaranteed at $25 million because there had been talk during the wintertime that his camp, his representative Scott Boras, was looking for something in the Aaron Nola range, about $170 million. It is a long way down for the Diamondbacks to get a pitcher at this price. People were texting me last night, 'Can you believe this? What happened?' Think about this, two Boras clients coming off career years, Blake Snell, Cy Young award winner last year in the National League, and Montgomery, combined got about $50 million less than Tyler Glasnow. That makes no sense."

Other than Shohei Ohtani's free agency, the most intriguing storyline in MLB during the offseason was Boras' opportunity to cash in big for his clients. The super-agent represents Montgomery, Blake Snell, Cody Bellinger and Matt Chapman.

MLB Trade Rumors' free-agent predictions list from November had those four players signing contracts worth a combined $764 million. All four players went unsigned until Feb. 28 when Bellinger agreed to a deal to return to the Chicago Cubs.

The total value of the contracts all four players agreed to wound up being worth $221 million.

Montgomery's resume doesn't stand out like Snell's, who has two Cy Young awards, but he's been extremely reliable over the past three seasons. The 31-year-old has a 3.48 ERA over 524.1 innings since the start of 2021. His 94 starts are tied for the sixth-most in MLB during that span.

There seemed to be no shortage of suitors for Montgomery. He was connected to the New York Yankees, New York Mets, Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals at various points during the offseason.

Instead, the Diamondbacks were able to wait out the market and add another quality starter to their rotation. They signed Eduardo Rodriguez to a four-year, $80 million deal in December.

The NL West is shaping up to be extremely competitive in 2024, led by the Los Angeles Dodgers with Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The Diamondbacks are the reigning NL champs; the San Diego Padres added Dylan Cease to their rotation; and the San Francisco Giants upgraded their roster by signing Chapman, Snell, Jorge Soler and Jung Hoo Lee.