AZ makes it harder to sign FA's

[fordman84]

D-backs owner: Montgomery a 'horrible' signing

Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick blames himself for the "horrible decision" to sign left-hander Jordan Montgomery, who went 8-7 with a 6.23 ERA in his first season in Arizona.

www.espn.com

Is there really a need for the owner to say what everyone already knows? It is apparently already difficult to get players to sign there, knowing that if you don't play well the owner will bash you publicly isn't going to help.

 

[Bender]

He must trade notes with David Tepper.

Or is it a savvy move to try and persuade Montgomery not to opt in... 4D Chess, too bad this is baseball.

 

[fordman84]

He must trade notes with David Tepper.

Or is it a savvy move to try and persuade Montgomery not to opt in... 4D Chess, too bad this is baseball.

I'm assuming there is little chance Monty opts to return to that place, I'm sure if the owner is talking trash about him then everyone is. Sure glad Texas didn't give him that big contract he wanted, Chris Young does it again. Wouldn't mind bringing him in as the 6th starter or long relief guy, clearly does well in Texas.

 

[Illustrious Potentate]

I saw that. What a stupid thing for a GM to say.

I think Montgomery is gonna have a big bounce back next season. Hope it’s with another team

It’s sour grapes, trying to make Montgomery the scapegoat for missing the playoffs after winning the pennant last season.

Yeah, he had a rough season, Dbacks also had a winning record in his starts in spite of his bad season. Dbacks also stumbled out of the gate, and then cooled down in for the last stretch. They got shut out on just two hits against the Padres 7th starter and emptied bench in game 161.

Won 89 games and that wasn’t good enough with 3 wild cards. That’s bad luck, and it’s gonna be very rare for an 89 win team to miss the playoffs all together now, but it happened

Inexcusable for a GM to throw a player under the bus

 

[Illustrious Potentate]

I'm assuming there is little chance Monty opts to return to that place, I'm sure if the owner is talking trash about him then everyone is. Sure glad Texas didn't give him that big contract he wanted, Chris Young does it again. Wouldn't mind bringing him in as the 6th starter or long relief guy, clearly does well in Texas.

He’s 100% opting in.

No way he hits the FA market after the worst season of his career when he has a player’s option

 

[navamind]

It's not just Montgomery. If Carroll had a season more in line with his great 2023 campaign, they may have made it. If Kelly and Rodriguez were healthier and make more starts they likely make it (they combined for like 23). They were relying on a lot of starter innings from younger, inexperienced pitchers.

owner douchebaggery aside, I do think there's a lot to like about their future. they had a very deep lineup and I feel like most of that is sustainable (except maybe Marte's numbers, but pre-2024 Marte is still great; Pederson's numbers make sense when you consider his platoon splits, he destroys righties but can't hit lefties)

 

[fordman84]

He’s 100% opting in.

No way he hits the FA market after the worst season of his career when he has a player’s option

That would make sense, but I wonder if he would instead ask for a new 1 or 2 year deal at a lower number plus a trade in return for not opting in. He could still leverage that opt in to get what he wants. And I've heard it rumored that Texas would welcome him back at a reduced number than his contracted rate. Let's AZ get a bag of balls for him and be done with that contract. Or they can be hardasses and have him opt in and have to cut him.