D-backs’ Jordan Montgomery says former agent ‘butchered’ his free agency

The 2024 MLB season has been one to forget for Arizona Diamondbacks left-hander Jordan Montgomery. Apparently, Montgomery would also like to forget about his former agent, Scott Boras.

“I had a Zoom call with [the Boston Red Sox], that’s really all I know,” Montgomery said on Friday when asked about whether he was interested in signing with the Red Sox. “It went good. I don’t know, obviously Boras kind of butchered it, so I’m just trying to move on from the offseason and try to forget it.”

After seeing Montgomery’s remarks, Boras released a statement.

“I saw what Jordan said. I know what it is to be frustrated with this game. As a former player, I feel for him. But I’m also a lawyer with obligations to my clients, including former ones. So I cannot discuss what happened or the decisions Jordan made unless he gives me permission,” Boras said. “If he gives me the green light, I’ll be happy to talk about it. 

“I’ve been doing this for over 35 years. I relay all offers and relevant information to all my clients and act at their direction. They make all decisions. We wish Jordan well.”

Montgomery was one of the top starting pitchers to hit the open market last offseason and looked poised to sign a substantial, long-term deal after helping the Texas Rangers win the World Series. Instead, his market didn’t materialize, and he signed a one-year, $25 million deal with Arizona mere days before the regular season commenced. He changed agents shortly after signing with the Diamondbacks.

Boras is regarded as the most prominent agent in baseball, but some of his clients’ markets have underwhelmed of late. Outside of Montgomery, 2023 National League Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell signed just a two-year deal with the San Francisco Giants roughly one week before the 2024 season and outfielder Cody Bellinger — who had a resurgent 2023 campaign (.307/.356/.525 slash line) — settled for a three-year, $80 million deal to stay with the Chicago Cubs.

Montgomery is having arguably the worst season of his MLB career, boasting a 6.44 ERA, 1.67 WHIP and 67 strikeouts across 95.0 innings (19 starts). He was recently moved to the bullpen. Montgomery missed roughly one month due to a knee injury and didn’t make his first start until April 19. Arizona is 73-56, good for the No. 1 NL wild-card seed and four games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers for first place in the NL West.

The left-hander split the 2023 season between the Rangers and St. Louis Cardinals. In the 11 regular-season starts that he made for Texas, Montgomery posted a 2.79 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 58 strikeouts. He then posted a combined 2.90 ERA across six appearances (five starts) in the postseason.

Montgomery, 31, spent the first five-plus seasons of his MLB career with the New York Yankees, who traded him to the Cardinals in 2022. He was then traded to Texas in 2023.

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