The Arizona Diamondbacks’ season ended Monday, offering the opportunity for some self reflection. Team owner Ken Kendrick didn’t like what he saw.
During an interview with The Burns & Gambo Show, Kendrick took full responsibility for what he called the team’s biggest mistake of last offseason: the Jordan Montgomery contract. He said he pushed his front office to sign the left-hander, which he called a “horrible decision:”
“Let me say it the best way I can say it. If anyone wants to blame anyone for Jordan Montgomery being a Diamondback, you’re talking to the guy that should be blamed, because I brought it to their attention. I pushed for it. They agreed to it.
“It wasn’t in our game plan. You know when he was signed, right at the end of spring training, and looking back, in hindsight, a horrible decision, to have invested that money in a guy that performed as poorly as he did. It’s our biggest mistake this season from a talent standpoint, and I’m the perpetrator of that.”
Kendrick isn’t being overly dramatic there. Montgomery really was that bad.
After a career-best season in which he became a postseason hero for the World Series 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, after all other suitors went elsewhere. Montgomery fired Boras a few weeks later.
That disaster offseason led into a disaster season, even if it seemed like a nice fit at the time. The D-Backs could attest to Montgomery’s talent after facing him in the World Series, but that’s not the guy they got. Montgomery’s 6.23 ERA was the worst mark in MLB this season among pitchers with at least 100 innings. He was demoted to the bullpen in August.
The D-Backs finished the season with a record of 89-73, losing a playoff spot through tiebreakers to the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets. They would be playing in the postseason with one more win.
By Baseball Reference’s calculation of Wins Above Replacement, Montgomery was worth -1.4 wins.
And adding to the disaster: Montgomery’s time with the D-Backs probably isn’t done. Because of contract incentives, his deal now contains a $22.5 million player option for next season according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, which he is sure to exercise.
Kendrick’s willingness to blast a player who will still likely be under contract with the team next season might be an indication the D-Backs will be looking for any way to move him off the books.