Getty The Red Sox need an ace and Jordan Montgomery makes the most sense.
The Red Sox need a top-shelf starting pitcher. And there is one out there for the taking. Yet, as MLB opens 2024 Spring Training, Boston still has not made a move for Jordan Montgomery, the 31-year-old lefty who is coming off a 10-11 season but went 3-1 with a 2.90 ERA in six games for the Rangers in their push to win their World Series championship last fall.
The move makes almost perfect sense. Red Sox insider Jon Tomase, earlier in the week, called it an, “obvious lifeline” to rescue what has been a disastrous offseason for the team.
On Twitter/X on Thursday, “Inside the Monster” podcast host Steve Perrault, a longtime Red Sox analyst, wrote, “It’s wild because it would be fully legal for the Red Sox to just sign Jordan Montgomery. No jail time or anything. They can legally sign the exact guy they need right now.”
If the plan in Boston had been to let the market on Montgomery completely dry up and swoop in with a cut-rate offer late in the game, it’s mostly worked, especially as the Rangers appear unwilling to bring Montgomery back. But there was a monkey wrench thrown into the works on Thursday as word from MLB.com came that the Phillies would be interested in adding Montgomery, if they could do so on a short-term deal.
The latest Jordan Montgomery update from @ToddZolecki.
Jordan Montgomery Might Have to Take Short Deal
That’s the problem for the Red Sox, who are projected, yet again, to be the worst team in the A.L. East, though perhaps not by too long a margin. They need an ace, though. Montgomery could be the guy, except that the Red Sox’s iffy status in the projected standings makes them a less-attractive proposition for him.
Montgomery was reported to be seeking a contract bigger than the seven-year, $172 million deal that Aaron Nola got from the Phillies. That ship has sailed, obviously.
Spotrac places his value at $18.4 million per year, and sees him worthy of a six-year deal worth $110.4 million. If the Red Sox were to come in with a contract in that range, they could still keep their salary level below last year’s (one of this season’s goals) and finally have something resembling an ace.
But the Red Sox are not giving out a six-year deal for Montgomery. In fact, it looks like no one will. If Montgomery is in a position where he needs to accept a two-year deal, though, he is going to go to someplace he is more likely to win. Like Philadelphia, for example.
The only way for the Red Sox to draw Montgomery to Boston, really, is to overpay him—at least a four-year deal, perhaps. But given the current state of things with Fenway ownership, even that might be too big of an ask.
Red Sox Pitching Lacking a True Ace
It’s not hard to see things the Red Sox’s way on that. Six years is a big commitment for a pitcher who has posted solid analytics but who has not established himself as a surefire workhorse and winner. He is 38-34 with 140 starts to his credit, and even at 31, he still has a lot of innings left in his arm. But paying Montgomery means you’re gambling that he can take what he did late last season and project it over the next six seasons.
As it stands, though, the Red Sox are effectively tanking their season without adding another starter. They do not have a lefty in the rotation and their current “ace,” Lucas Giolito, led baseball with 41 home runs allowed last season for three teams. He was 11-9 with a 4.90 ERA the previous season.
They’ll take a gamble that Nick Pivetta can regain his edge as a starter, and after that, they’ll rely on mostly untested young starters like Kutter Crawford and Bryan Bello. You’re not going to compete in the A.L. East with that crew, not without a true No. 1.
That could be Montgomery. He is running out of options. The Red Sox are, too.