With the New York Mets missing out on Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the organization will focus on acquiring other free agent pitchers to bolster their starting rotation.
There are still several names available in the free agent market. One of the top starters available, is Jordan Montgomery and here is why the Mets should go after him.
Montgomery is one of the best starters in the free agent market. After Blake Snell, he is the best available.
Montgomery may not be an ace-like starter like Yamamoto or Snell. But Montgomery has put together a solid pitching career.
In seven seasons in the major leagues, Montgomery has gone 38-34 with a 3.68 ERA. In 2023 with the St. Louis Cardinals and the Texas Rangers, Montgomery went 10-11 with a 3.20 ERA, 166 Ks and a 1.19 WHIP.
Then in October, Montgomery proved that he’s a big game pitcher, helping the Rangers win their first World Series. In the playoffs, he went 3-1 with a 2.90 ERA. His best work came in the American League Championship Series vs the defending champion Houston Astros. In three appearances, including two starts, Montgomery went 2-0 and gave up only 2 runs in 13 total innings in the ALCS. He pitched in relief in Game 7 and gave up no runs in 3.1 innings, helping the Rangers get past their division rival Astros.
Montgomery also has experience pitching in New York, pitching for the New York Yankees for five and a half seasons.
So along with his proven pitching, Montgomery will come out cheaper than either Yamamoto or eventually Snell as well. Montgomery will fit in nicely with Kodai Senga and Jose Quintana at the top of the Mets rotation.
We hear that the Mets are planning to go with Plan B in their pitching search, and looking at free agent pitchers that may be a little lower tier in terms of contract expectations. Montgomery may cost a little more but it shouldn’t be way much and he is already a proven pitcher still in his prime at 31 years old.
Montgomery is a quality LHP with no draft pick compensation attached to him. Over the past three years he’s posted 10.2 fWAR. He’s not going to be cheap.
MLBTR projected 6/$150, an AAV of $25 million. That feels like the right ballpark. I would have said five years but with as many teams that were in the YY sweepstakes, it wouldn’t surprise me if he gets an extra year or two.
He is the perfect fit for the Mets. He has pitched in NY. Won games at the highest level and no compensation pick with his signing. Also he is left handed.
If they are able to get him they should do so, not just wait until next year to put all their eggs in one basket.
It is hard to figure out the dollars these days as all of the salaries have gotten a bit out of hand. That being said, even though they were on short term deals, the $43 million plus that we were paying both Verlander and Scherzer, was out of sight. But to start the 2023 season many baseball experts believed the Mets had a rotation second to none. We all saw how that played out. We need front line pitching and Montgomery fits the bill. Only in America can a guy have a nice, but not great season, and make $20 million plus a year for a half dozen years. Then we need to hope we get the Quintana who is not injured because he finished the season strong after finally getting on the field. Mix in Senga and we’d have three reliable starters. Then the rest is just going to be a surprise as to what we get. Megill, Lucchesi, Butto, and a mid year appearance by Peterson don’t exactly jump out as a strong back end of the rotation.
The bottom line is everyone costs more which is why ticket prices, parking fees and concessions keep going up. Can’t imagine what Alonso will want but we can’t afford to lose him, and we need to sign Alvarez to a Braveslike friendly multi-year contract now while we can. He’s so young he will get to be a free agent down the line and cash in twice.
Montgomery’s 4.3 fWAR tied for the 12th-best mark in the majors last year.
His 32 starts tied for 10th-best in the majors.
His 3.20 ERA ranked 8th-best in the majors.
He was every bit as good as Senga last year and any team in baseball would be very happy to have him. I just think that’s way better than “nice.”
The 31-year-old Montgomery was always my first choice, before even Yamamoto. He is consistent, a good work horse that could stabilize a rotation. At 6/$150m it would be a fair price. More years would not be wise though . They should have pressed to sign him before the Yamamoto sweepstakes occurred. Now, Montgomery has the leverage and all teams that need a good starting pitcher are bidding for him. I think the Mets missed an opportunity to sign Montgomery or Rodriguez (4/$80m) earlier. They could have still got into the Yamamoto sweepstakes and tried to sign him also.
Agree. At his age, I’d like a maximum of five years, but there will be competition.
I certainly wouldn’t be upset if we got him. But even though I desperately wanted Yamamoto, I argued it might be better to use the same amount of month (probably less now) to sign both Montgomery and Snell. Now I’d settle for Giolito and Imanaga and feel satisfied. Might just be Giolito at this point.
The Mets need to get moving before all the best remaining options are gone. We are not that far off from being a solid contender – that should be the selling point.