Jordan Montgomery, who was signed by the Arizona Diamondbacks in late March amid a soft free agent market, fired Scott Boras as his agent and signed Wasserman's Joel Wolff and Nick Chanock, sources told ESPN on Thursday.
Montgomery was one of the “Bora Four”, along with Matt Chapman, Cody Bellinger, and Blake Snell, who waited until late in the offseason to sign. All four ended up with deals below previous free agency expectations.
The left-hander completed a one-year, $25 million deal with the Diamondbacks on March 28. It includes a 2025 player vesting option for $20 million, which vests in 10 starts and can escalate to $25 million if he starts 23 games. Montgomery, 31, entered free agency amid expectations that he could receive a multi-year deal worth more than $20 million per season.
There is a strong chance that Montgomery will return to free agency again next winter. His projected contract was in the low nine figures last winter due to a career year in 2023: 10-11 with a 3.20 ERA over 188⅔ innings with the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers. Additionally, he had a sterling postseason (31 innings, 2.90 ERA, 3-1 record) that ended with a World Series championship with the Rangers.
Boras attributed the slow pace of free agency to several factors, including natural fluctuations in the market and uncertainty about teams' revenues from regional sports networks.
“We had a huge difference in the competitiveness and aggressiveness of the owners to win,” Boras said after Montgomery signed with Arizona.
Bellinger re-signed with the Chicago Cubs to a three-year, $80 million deal in late February. Chapman, a four-time Gold Glove third baseman, signed a three-year, $54 million contract with the San Francisco Giants on March 3. Snell, a two-time Cy Young Award winner, signed a two-year, $62 million contract with the Giants on March 19.
Besides the potential opt-outs of Chapman, Bellinger and Snell, Boras still has a strong group of potential free agents for next winter, including New York Yankees outfielder Juan Soto, New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso, and Baltimore Orioles right-hander Corbin Burns. .
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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