Getty Yankees manager Aaron Boone could start the season with a pitching shortage.
If Major League Baseball’s spring free agency has been a game of musical chairs, it would appear that there’s only one chair left. There are, however, multiple teams that might need to sit in that chair. For the Yankees, that’s a big issue.
The chair in question is lefty Jordan Montgomery, an ex-Yankees pitcher who remains a free agent despite a sterling performance through last year’s postseason and a key role in helping the Rangers get to the 2023 World Series championship.
With ace Gerrit Cole out because of an elbow injury, the Yankees are faced with the question of whether to dive deep into the market to bolster manager Aaron Boone’s suddenly shaky rotation or whether to stand pat. The team got relatively good news on Cole in that his injury is nerve-related, won’t require surgery and he is likely to be back in early June.
But it would be risky for the Yankees to start the year without another quality starting arm on the staff. That’s where Montgomery comes in—of all the Yankees’ options, he’s the last best choice. And, according to New York Post insider Jon Heyman, Montgomery and the Yankees are at least having conversations.
Yankees Pitching Options Running Low
Here’s what Heyman wrote on Wednesday: “The Yankees seemed to prefer (Blake) Snell since their analytics folks have the same issues with Montgomery as when they traded him away, namely that he doesn’t throw especially hard, and doesn’t miss enough bats. Plus, true or not, word got out that Montgomery preferred to go elsewhere.
“Anyway, if Montgomery and the Yankees aren’t each other’s first choices, they may have little choice now. Sources say they are back in contact. A gap exists, but at least they’re talking.”
As Heyman noted, the Yankees would have preferred to make a trade with the White Sox for Dylan Cease, but did not want to give up the assets needed, and Cease went to San Diego. They were considering an expensive signing of Cy Young winner Snell, but did not commit to paying the hefty tax needed to land him, and he went to the Giants.
The Rangers filled a hole that might have gone to bringing back Montgomery with the signing of Michael Lorenzen. Montgomery is the last guy standing, and the Yankees could find that teams like the Astros, Cubs and Red Sox are also angling to get him at a bargain price.
Jordan Montgomery’s Price Has Been Too High
But price has been the problem here. Otherwise, Montgomery would be under contract already. The Yankees don’t think the Montgomery they remember, who was 22-20 in 97 starts over six years before he was traded to the Cardinals in 2022, is someone they want to pay big money.
Montgomery, though, has improved since leaving New York. He went 6-3 with a 3.11 ERA for the Cardinals at the end of 2022, and went 10-11 with a 3.20 ERA for the Cards and Rangers last year, before his postseason heroics (3-1, 2.90).
Montgomery cam in expecting the same money as the Phillies’ Aaron Nola, according to Heyman: “Montgomery’s camp compares him to Aaron Nola, who got $172 million over seven years. And while there’s a decent case to be made — Montgomery has actually been better since 2021, and was even better in the postseason — the market loved Nola more.”
The Yankees, nor anyone else, has loved Montgomery all that much. But both sides could be out of other palatable options. At least they’re talking.