Cubs linked to veteran pitcher Jordan Montgomery |
By now, most fans are sick and tired of the rumors and want some offseason action to happen. With the Winter Meetings set to begin on Sunday, the action is close, but until then the rumor mill will have to do. While most of the attention still surrounds Shohei Otani and Yoshinbu Yamamoto, several other big-name free agents will improve the Cubs next season, and many of them are pitchers.
One pitcher that hasn't been talked about enough, but should be is World Series champion Jordan Montgomery who is emerging as a surprise suitor for the Cubs. While this rumor may not get the juices flowing as much as some other pitchers would, Montgomery is a very reliable pitcher and has been vastly underrated for the past few years. MLB Insider Jeff Passan had this to say about the Cubs and Montgomery. Left-hander Jordan Montgomery might not have to wait for Yamamoto to choose a team or the trade market to get moving. Coming off a bravura performance for the World Series-winning Texas Rangers, he finds himself in a sweet spot: His performance certainly warrants a nine-figure deal, but not one so rich that he needs to draft off Yamamoto (which teams believe National League Cy Young winner Blake Snell will do). The Rangers want to re-sign him. He could be a strike-first option for Boston if it’s feeling squishy about Yamamoto. It's the same for the Cubs, particularly if the top end of the market doesn’t pan out. While this may be the first time I hear the Cubs being linked to Montgomery, given how the market is playing out this season and how it has played out the past few years, it makes sense as a realistic fallback plan or plan 1-A. The 31-year-old lefty is on the wrong side of 30 and is nearing the end of his best days. However, given what he has done the past few seasons, there is a lot of life left in that arm, even if it only gives you great stuff for two more seasons. Initially a New York Yankees farmhand, Montgomery has been around awhile, making his debut back in 2017. After an up-and-down 2018, Montgomery had Tommy John later that season before returning to the mound in 2019. Not at 100%, Montgomery used the 2020 COVID season to get his feet back under him and has now gone on to pitch three excellent seasons. While he pitched well enough during his time with the Yankees, he always felt like the odd man out in their rotation; thus, he was traded to the Cardinals in favor of Harrison Bader. Naturally, just four games into his brief Cardinals career, Montgomery threw his first complete-game shutout against the Cubs at Wrigley Field, because of course. Montgomery then shut out the Cubs later that season as the Cubs had no answers for him. He would finish the 2022 season with a 3.48 ERA after posting an ERA just north of 3.80 the year before. 2023 was a vastly different story, and it may go down as the best season in Montgomery's career thus far. Despite the Cardinals enduring their first losing season in two decades, Montgomery was the lone bright spot as he emerged as the Ace of their staff. That forced the Cardinals hand come the deadline as they chose to move him to Texas where he continued his dominating run. During his 11-game regular-season stretch with Texas, Montgomery was lights out as he posted a (2.79 ERA) heading into the postseason. He probably posted his off-season earnings substantially in the postseason, making five starts (6 games) with a 2.90 ERA and a 3.7% walk rate. That is elite stuff for any pitcher, but for someone to do that late in his career could be good for the Cubs. Armed with a 93 MPH sinker that can touch 95 at times, Montgomery is going to continue to be one of the league leaders in ground ball rates as batters beat his pitches into the ground. He pairs that with a regular four-seamer in the 94 MPH range, as his ability to locate and hit his spots helps limit the hard contact of him. Like most lefties, Montgomery also features a devastating breaking ball as his 80 MPH curve became a real weapon late in the season. With Justin Steele already in the rotation and Jordan Wicks as another option, adding Montgomery would give the Cubs three lefties for the season. Signing Montgomery won't come cheap, but considering what other pitchers on the market will get, he would be a bargain if he could continue his recent run. MLB executives expect Montgomery to land a contract somewhere in the five or six-year range and anywhere between 120 and 140 million dollars. That is a big commitment to someone his age, but it is a similar contract to what the Cubs gave Jon Lester, who was approaching the age of 30. Expect more rumors to pick up as the Winter Meetings begin; eventually, some will turn into signings.
