Diamondbacks Reportedly Tried to Interest Cubs in Jordan Montgomery-Cody Bellinger Swap
Both Jordan Montgomery and the Diamondbacks appear to be regretting the deal they worked out last year, and Arizona is reportedly “shopping him everywhere” following a very rough 2024 season. Montgomery was one of Scott Boras’s big four clients looking for monster deals last season, but he held out so long that all he could get was a one-year deal for $25 million with a vesting option for this year. Montgomery triggered a $22.5 million option by reaching 18 starts, so he took it rather than testing the market after putting up a 6.23 ERA.
“If anyone wants to blame anyone for Jordan Montgomery being a Diamondback, you’re talking to the guy that should be blamed,” D-backs owner Ken Kendrick told The Burns & Gambo Show on October 1. “Because I brought it to (the front office’s) attention. I pushed for it. They agreed to it. It wasn’t in our game plan.
”And looking back, in hindsight, a horrible decision to have invested that money in a guy that performed as poorly as he did. It’s our biggest mistake this season from a talent standpoint. And I’m the perpetrator of that.”
Oof.
That earlier note about Montgomery’s availability came from Bob Nightengale, who added that the Diamondbacks “tried to get the Cubs interested in a swap for (Cody) Bellinger.” Such a deal would make sense in terms of salary since the two players aren’t terribly far apart there, but Montgomery is a lefty who’s coming off a bad season and doesn’t give the Cubs anything they don’t already have. If they’re adding another southpaw to a rotation that already has three of them, it had better be Garrett Crochet with his big fastball and reverse splits.
Nightengale believes Bellinger will definitely be moved, but there are other interested parties and it sounds like this Montgomery thing doesn’t have legs. The rumors will pick up steam this week during the Winter Meetings and I won’t be surprised to hear that Bellinger is being moved. Then again, I won’t be surprised if all we get is smoke.