Texas Rangers fans want left-handed starter Jordan Montgomery back. It’s like the Texas Rangers’ front management wants Montgomery back. Heck, even Hurtado Barbecue wants Montgomery back, to the extent where they’re offering him free barbecue for life to return to Arlington. But Montgomery remains unsigned. The 30-year-old free agent should have plenty of suitors during his short stay with the Rangers, where he become one of their best starts and helped seal down multiple critical playoff wins, including Game 7 of the American League Championship Series in relief of Nathan Eovaldi. Well, the time is coming for Montgomery, along with other free agents like Blake Snell and Shota Imanaga, to get agreements done. Pitchers and catchers report in five weeks and teams prefer to have their complete complement of players on the roster, if possible. So, where will Monty end up? On Sunday, USA Today insider Bob Nightengale shared his 10 predictions for the rest of Spring Training. This contained the destinations for several free agents. One was Montgomery.
Montgomery’s 2023 season turned out to be his finest overall season, even though he ended 10-11 overall. He had a 3.20 ERA, struck out 166 and walked 48. Those numbers got better with the Rangers, where he finished 4-2 with a 2.79 ERA. In the postseason, he got even better. Montgomery was 3-1 with a 2.90 ERA. That was the perfect launching pad to secure a contract with a lot of zeroes at the end. Many anticipate he’ll earn a deal north of $100 million.
But will he wind up back in Texas? Nightengale thinks so: The Texas Rangers, who have been wary of spending with the uncertainty of their TV contract, will re-sign Jordan Montgomery. Simply, he’s too valuable not to come back for an encore.
Nightengale also noted that while the Yankees are interested in him, Montgomery’s preference is to stay with Texas. That would be wonderful news for Texas, as three pitchers — Max Scherzer, Jacob deGrom and new signee Tyler Mahle — are anticipated to miss time in 2024 due to severe injuries. Montgomery would join Nathan Eovaldi, Dane Dunning, Andrew Heaney and Jon Gray in a potential Opening Day rotation, with Cody Bradford as a back-fill.
