The Arizona Diamondbacks’ season ended Monday, providing the chance for some self reflection. Staff proprietor Ken Kendrick did not like what he noticed.
Throughout an interview with The Burns & Gambo Show, Kendrick took full accountability for what he referred to as the staff’s greatest mistake of final offseason: the Jordan Montgomery contract. He stated he pushed his entrance workplace to signal the left-hander, which he referred to as a “horrible determination” in hindsight:
“Let me say it one of the simplest ways I can say it. If anybody desires guilty anybody for Jordan Montgomery being a Diamondback, you’re speaking to the man that ought to be blamed, as a result of I introduced it to their consideration. I pushed for it. They agreed to it.
“It wasn’t in our recreation plan. You understand when he was signed, proper on the finish of spring coaching, and searching again, in hindsight, a horrible determination, to have invested that cash in a man that carried out as poorly as he did. It is our greatest mistake this season from a expertise standpoint, and I’m the perpetrator of that.”
Kendrick is not being overly dramatic there. Montgomery actually was that dangerous.
After a career-best season through which he grew to become a postseason hero for the World Collection champion Texas Rangers, Montgomery and his agent, Scott Boras, held out for a nine-figure deal. They ended up waiting until March 27 to sign a one-year, $25 million deal with Arizona in any case different suitors handed. Montgomery fired Boras a few weeks later.
That catastrophe offseason led right into a catastrophe season, even when it appeared like a pleasant match on the time. The D-Backs may attest to Montgomery’s expertise after going through him within the World Collection, however that is not the man they received. His 6.23 ERA was the worst mark in MLB this season amongst pitchers with at the least 100 innings. He was demoted to the bullpen in August.
The D-backs completed the season with an 89-73 report, shedding a playoff spot by tiebreakers to the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets. Had they gained yet another recreation, they’d be enjoying within the postseason.
By Baseball Reference’s calculation of Wins Above Substitute, Montgomery was price -1.4 wins this season.
Including to the catastrophe: Montgomery’s time with the D-backs most likely is not achieved. Due to contract incentives, his deal incorporates a $22.5 million participant choice for subsequent season, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, which Montgomery is prone to train.
Kendrick’s willingness to blast a participant who will probably be beneath contract with the staff subsequent season could be a sign that the D-backs can be on the lookout for any strategy to transfer him off the books.
