With less than a week remaining until Opening Day, left-hander Jordan Montgomery stands alone as the clear top free agent remaining on the market. That could change in the coming days, however, as Jim Bowden reported on MLB Network Radio this morning that the southpaw’s camp has two “long-term” offers on the table and that he could sign somewhere as soon as this week. It’s unclear which teams have made an offer to Montgomery at this point, though he’s be connected to the Yankees and Red Sox in recent weeks.
One club it appears is not among the two teams to have made an offer to Montgomery at this point is Philadelphia, though that’s not to say the Phillies don’t have interest in the lefty. According to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, the Phillies are “internally discussing” a pursuit of Montgomery, though he adds that a decision on whether or not to contact Montgomery’s agent, Scott Boras, about a potential deal has not yet been made. Meanwhile, MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki reported recently that the Phillies had previously shown interest in Montgomery on a one-year deal prior to the start of Spring Training last month, though he adds that the club’s interest has “cooled” in the weeks since camp began.
All of that would seem to indicate that Philadelphia is something of an unlikely landing spot for Montgomery, unless the club not only reopens negotiations with the 31-year-old’s camp but also expands their interest beyond a one-year deal into a potential multi-year arrangement. Signing a multi-year pact could certainly make some sense for Montgomery, as the southpaw was ineligible to receive a Qualifying Offer this winter and therefore is likely to see his stock negatively impacted by one in a second trip through free agency.
Of course, as recently discussed by MLBTR’s Darragh McDonald, Montgomery wouldn’t be eligible for a Qualifying Offer this coming winter if he were to sign with a club after Opening Day. Speculatively speaking, that could create a situation where Montgomery remains focused on finding a multi-year deal in the days leading up to Opening Day without considering one-year arrangements until it, and his eligibility for a Qualifying Offer this coming winter, have already passed. Reporting earlier this month suggested that Montgomery was hoping to land a seven-year deal, though it’s unclear if either of the reported offers Montgomery currently has in hand approach that length.
With that being said, a lengthy deal that features a deflated average annual value could make a great deal of sense for a club such as the Yankees that has is approaching or has already surpassed the highest threshold of the luxury tax. Any expenditures over the final $297MM threshold are taxed at a 110% rate. That reality left the Yankees reportedly disinterested in engaging with Montgomery’s fellow top-of-the-market southpaw, Blake Snell, as he pivoted towards prioritizing a short-term deal at a high AAV.
The two-year, $62MM deal Snell signed with the Giants earlier this month came with an AAV just under $30MM, which would have left the Yankees to pay more than $32MM in taxes on top of the lefty’s actual salary had they signed him to that same deal. Speculatively speaking, it’s possible that both sides could benefit as the lefty could get the long-term security he’s reportedly searching for while New York would enjoy a much smaller tax bill on a yearly basis if Montgomery were amenable to a lengthy deal at a much lower annual salary.
Of course, given how close we are to the start of the regular season, it’s fair to wonder just how quickly Montgomery would be ready to enter a club’s rotation even if he were to sign before Opening Day. It’s possible he wouldn’t be too far behind, as Travis Sawchik of theScore reported this morning that Montgomery has ramped up to 75 pitches in preparation for the start of the season. On the other hand, Sawchik acknowledges that Montgomery’s preparation process may not be a perfect analogy for work in Spring Training, which involves facing live, big-league caliber hitting and working with a club’s coaching staff. Given those discrepancies, it would be somewhat surprising if Montgomery were able to start for a club on Opening Day at this point, though it’s at least reasonable to think that his ramp-up process will shorten the time he needs to prepare for the season once signed.
Come Monday morning he needs to be wearing a Phillies jersey. Spend the “stupid money!”
It doesn’t seem like it, but the Phillies FO doesn’t leak much. So that would be a nice surprise.
I don’t think the Yankees can sign him. It’s probably going to be a team out of nowhere, that none of these hogwash reporters have any information on. let’s see what’s up tomorrow. I doubt he’s going to sign with the Sox unless it’s the only offer he has long or short term. The Sox are a last place team so unlikely it’s them.
You could be right about that. Wouldn’t be surprised to see a team like the Tigers or Royals, who are in a division ripe for the pickin, making a splash for Monty.
I’m inclined to agree with you 178. Steinbrenner appears to have his wallet under lock and key now. he does not go all in anymore, despite what he claims there’s a reason why they have not won since the year 2009, when they did go all in and got everything they needed to win.
@609 Tigers are pretty deep with starting pitchers. Signing Monty doesn’t make much sense for them. KC would make sense though, I believe Alec Marsh is currently projected as 5th starter. Monty would definitely help solidify that rotation.
From the Red Sox end, it wouldn’t make sense to sign him. From Montgomery’s end, it doesn’t matter where the Red Sox are projected in the standings for ’24. The money is still green. Standings and outlooks change every year. Next year could well be different.
If any team makes sense for a multi yr deal I’d say it’s BOS. They likely aren’t winning in 2024 so a short term deal makes little sense. On a longterm deal it adds one more piece they can start building around.
I’m not to familiar with the look of BOS farm system so I don’t know if there’s any talent nearing MLB level. If there is locking up Monty for a few yrs could be a good thing. Kind of like when Tigers signed Pudge, Rogers, and Magglio. They picked up some veterans to bolster roster around the prospects flooding the roster. It changed the whole trajectory of the franchise.
DR – The Yankees at $305M have the highest CBT payroll in the league and are one of only 3 MLB teams to be over $300M. All 27 other teams are at least $36M less than the Yankees.
So I really don’t understand why you are saying the Yanks aren’t all-in. Every team has a spending limit, even Cohen’s Mets.
Trading for one year of Soto is the epitome of an all-in move.
Children find it very easy to spend other people’s money.
Twins make even more sense. Maybe 3 year contract plus incentives, with 3rd year player opt out. He’s still young enough to get another multiyear contract. MN has a young, talented, winning team, and they even let you keep your facial hair. They still need a strong SP to replace Gray, no matter how much they spin Ryan/Ober/Paddock, and the Polanco deal got them no rotation help, just another guy destined for the scalpel.
No. Not going to the twin cities. Their wallet is sewed up with Kevlar sutures. They are hit probably the hardest of any team revenue wise due to the deal with diamond.
Could guarantee he’s traded to a contender at the deadline though.
The Yankees made significant offers to Yamamoto and Snell despite the luxury tax penalties. As such, I do not agree with the idea that Steinbrenner somehow has “his wallet under lock and key.” It seems like the team operates under the values that they placed on target players. Nothing wrong with that type of approach, IMHO.
I agree- I think it’s going to be a well run team that doesn’t leak. Baltimore, Philly, or Seattle come to mind.
@Finlander I agree MIN would be a good fit. I just don’t see it happening. Like I said they seem reluctant to spend and they seem hxll bent on seeing if the 3 at the back end can hack it.
Signing with the Sox is more about his location close to home, not the team winning. Its obvious, though, that money is the biggest factor here.
@Chaim I think you re right it’s definitely $. But with him I don’t think he’s trying to squeeze every last dollar. He’s looking for security with a longer deal.
Agreed, long term is a factor
Considering walker is hurting and useless when healthy, or perhaps von purple Hayes is comfortable with Sanchez and Turnbull plus closer by committee.
How much money do you think the Phillies need to spend? They are already the 4th highest payroll is baseball.
The Phillies have done pretty well in the playoffs particularly the last two seasons. I think they deserve at least a little credit.
In the last few years, they’ve hit on most of the FA signings too. Nicky C and Taijuan Walker seem to be the only big misses.
I went to look at the Phillies signing and ya you’re right. I remember having my doubts about the Phillies because they didn’t do so well at building the team from the farm but they sure knocked it out of the park with free agency.
Nicky C and Taijuan Walker seem to be the only big misses.
========================
Schwarber has a 2-year 2.6 bWAR.
Turner has a 3.4 WAR with 10 years left. It’s unfair for folks to call out the Bogaerts contract when he has out-performed Turner, SSS and all.
@JoeBrady
Schwarber’s bWAR is extremely misleading because of his horrific defense. He’s a DH and has been used as such once the Phillies shored up their outfield and got healthy again. He’ll be a DH going forward. He consistently is one of the league leaders in HRs. I’m not saying the contract is great, but I can’t call it a miss. Schwarber is just a very strange player.
@Salary – Pretty well in the playoffs isn’t enough though. If you’re spending stupid money, you want to win. How long is the window open for this current team? If you’re going to go all in, you gotta go all in.
I don’t agree with your definition of winning. In 2022 they won a pennant. In 2023, they won against the Braves, again, in dramatic fashion.
It might not be the world series you want but when you measure the success of all MLB teams, I would say the Phillies are among the teams accomplishing the most within the last two seasons.
What if they already went all in? You eventually get to the max and have to stop.
@stymee. I find that statement to be practical. However, it blows my mind at how often fans will call on their team to spend more no matter how much they already have.
stymee – Exactly. It’s like when you max out credit cards, the spending has to stop sometime. The Mets and Padres have learned this lesson, and eventually the Dodgers will too.
Salary – Agreed!
And on the flip side, it blows my mind how some will criticize Red Sox fans for complaining about their team’s cheapness, when the 3rd-highest revenue team in MLB has only the 13th-highest payroll at well below the first CBT threshold and they refuse to spend enough to improve on a consecutive last place team.
It’s like the poor attacking the middle class while giving the rich a free pass.
Until they win it all…keep spending.
They need to spend enough to justify Nola and wheeler not wasting there prime arms and the ridiculous philosophy of closer by committee.
The stupid money quote was from what? 3 years ago? Let it go
Not only that, it was from a previous regime.
Jon Heyman called him the best owner in baseball last week.
This is a lot of words to say there is no news.
Two “long-term” offers on the table as reported by Jim Bowden is certainly a new development.
Jim Bowden and the Easter Bunny.
I think if he had two long term offers on the table he would have already accepted one of them.
depends on the offer 5years 100 million with 90 million deferred is a long term deal but is that what he wants?
Lou – He’s not gonna accept a longterm offer of less than $20M/per no matter how long the contract.
I really think it will be either minimum $150M on a longterm, or it will be a short term deal.
At this point, does it matter? The question is he willing to accept it. Everyone knows he’s not getting what he wants.
I don’t see him accepting a short term or opt out deal until Opening Day passes. That takes QO off table for next offseason, further complicating another contract for him.
Bowden today tweeted to “not sleep on the Dbacks” in the Montgomery sweepstakes. I can’t imagine them going for more than a big one-year deal, but they do have one rotation injury now with ERod and their top two starters facing free agency in a year or two ….
Bowden would have signed Montgomery for $200 million in November.
Unless the D-backs are completely down on their internal options they are going to ride out E-Rod’s injury. I think they’re somewhat down on Cecconi given they aren’t committing to him as a starter in Reno.
At a minimum they were willing to ride with one of Nelson, Jarvis, Henry as the 5th starter (looking like Nelson now) before E-Rod got hurt.
So it’ll be the Astros who are “not actively” pursuing SPs.
5 year $125 from the Astros who are not looking
“Oh look! I found $100MM+ underneath my couch cushions. Would ya look at that. Opportunities sure do present themselves.” – Jim Crane
“Ain’t my money.” – Dana Brown
I was thinking almost the same Mr T. Figure 6-150 gets him. Very well could be the d-backs or stros. Still expect Houston to pick up Clevinger though.
I think Monty needs to be counseled by Kathryn Harrold
He needs to see the light after the silliness that Boras pulled here with him
I’m not sure why the Kathryn Harrold as she is both a therapist in real life and an actress who played one on The Rockford Files. I had such a crush on her when she played the blind therapist on TV…
She knows everything, that is why
Concur on (younger) Katherine Harrold. Had the same crush.
She still looks good for her early 70s
A few years ago, I didn’t really know who she was but I watched Steve McQueens last movie the Hunter and that got my attention
Monty seems to be the unfortunate casualty of this offseason. It was set to be unique before it started with uncertainty of TV deals. Then the big prizes were Ohtani, Yamamoto, and Nola. Nola was taken off board immediately. Dodgers swoop in take the other two. From there teams strted gobbling up the huge glut of bargain pitchers with varying track records of success at MLB level. Players such as Lugo, Wacha, Maeda, Flaherty, Lynn, ERod, Gio, Manaea, Stroman, Severino, Gibson, Paxton, Flexen, etc..
Just bad timing for Monty, while a very solid SP he’s not Ohtani or Nola and lacks ceiling and youth of Yamamoto. After that teams had a ton of options to sign pitchers with something to prove for much cheaper. Meanwhile Monty a multi year deal is more important to Monty than most as he ll still b eligible for a QO.
He is pretty good, but. 7 year deal…. great Googly Moogly
I agree 7 years seems like alot for Monty. While he’s solid he’s just not that exciting or dominant that a team is salvating at locking him up. Couple that with the overflow of value pitchers I mentioned and it was just horrible timing for Monty to hit the market.
Some of those value pitchers will likely have a resurgence and up their value in next year’s free agency. Which further pushes Monty to seek a longterm deal.
Montgomery shouldn’t have stayed with the same agent as Snell. It’s hurt his options.
one – It’s collusion, pure and simple. Boras advised all his top free agents to hold out, because they do impact each other’s market.
Snell’s acceptance of shockingly less reduced Monty’s bargaining power, just like Belli’s reduced Chapman’s.
I’d be suspicious of the “two longterm offers” claim. Without the teams being named, it could easily be Boras trying to create the impression of competition. And what exactly defines “longterm”? 4 years?
Doubtful it’s collusion. That requires teams to be communicating with each other to keep the offers down. It’s most likely Boras’s tactics backfiring on him. At worst it’s nothing more than group think and there’s nothing wrong with that.
It’s not collusion, Joe, GM I’ve just wised up to the foolhardiness of most long-term contracts
Boras misjudged the market. Middle tier free agents who waited misjudged the market. Markets are liquid. I don’t understand the finger-pointing at agents and players.
Joe, Fever is likely talking about the double-standard how players can get together but owners can’t. Here, despite likely signing an understanding agreement that identifies how The Boras Corporation represents multiple players, this time such a strategy hurt some players big-time.
Dewey “collusion” is a very specific thing. The word gets improperly used so much that most people don’t know the actual meaning of it.
It’s one moving object striking violently against another. Me and I know this.
The collusion is from the Boras end.
I’ve yet to hear Boras to use the term to describe his clients’ situations.
@Stymeed who are you proposing Boras is “colluding” with?? If anything it would be a conflict of interest which is something entirely different. But as I pointed out to Fever, Snell having another agent doesn’t change what his game his or his value. And ultimately when he signs that impacts the market the same regardless of who ones agent is.
Joe – Ughh ….. I know everyone associates “collusion” with teams only, but I meant player collusion in regard to the Boras Five in response to One’s belief that Monty having the same agent as Snell hurt him financially.
Boras orchestrated the holding out of all five players, thinking he could gain leverage by cornering the market after all the other free agents signed. He intentionally waited for the other free agents to sign first.
Boras advised Monty to not lower his demands, because doing so would have lowered Snell’s market as well.
That’s why the official MLB definition of collusion is a joke. It’s against the rules for teams to work in unison with other teams, and players to work in unison with other players, but it’s okay for players to work in unison through their shared agent? Ridiculous.
And don’t think for one minute that Ohtani and Yamamoto didn’t collude to become teammates, just like LeBron and his Miami teammates years ago.
Dewey – Thank you!
Yeah the Top Five remaining free agents all Boras clients, not a coincidence.
MLB – I like numbers, because they constitute proof:
FOUR of the Top 7 free agents are all Boras, and all went unsigned into ST. All of them obviously “Top Tier”.
JDM was ranked #20 so you can classify him as mid-tier if you want.
Besides those five, guess how many other Top 50 free agents are Boras clients?
Just two …. neither one ranked in the Top 25.
Hoskins at #26 signed January 23rd and Manaea at #35 signed January 12th.
So if you think Boras had a lot of other free agents that all signed earlier, think again.
@fever
Easy on the tin foil hat conspiracies. I think that self interest is far going to outpace group think to somehow artificially depress the market. RSN uncertainty mixed with a high ask for years on the contract as done a lot more to keep Monty on the bench than back room secret meetings.
Maybe the Mets will be one of the 2 teams with a long term offer.
@Fever Would having a different agent made Snell more valuable or change what his deficiencies are?? Even with another agent if Snell signs first that impacts Monty’s value. That is in no way collusion. And who exactly are you implying that Boras Corporation is colluding with??
@Fever Pitch Guy That would only make sense if Boras represented every single free agent. I don’t think his clients are contractually-bound to only use him either. Even then, his players whom have signed thus far are receiving a far less guarantee than expected. This is one conspiracy theory which doesn’t have legs.
Tigers – I appreciate that you understand I meant player collusion through Boras.
Without question Snell would have gotten a much bigger guaranteed contract earlier in the offseason if he didn’t have Boras as an agent.
I don’t see how anyone cannot understand Boras is the reason the Top 5 remaining free agents heading into ST were all his clients. Not with his history of negotiating.
Boras thought he would have leverage by cornering the market heading into February..
The question isn’t whether a different agent would have made Snell more valuable or a better player. The question is would he have taken much bigger earlier offers if Boras wasn’t his agent. Obviously no way to prove, but without question he likely would have taken at least the $150M offered by the Yankees.
MLB – It’s not a conspiracy, it’s a fact there were 5 top free agents remaining heading into ST and all of them were Boras clients.
He cornered the market by persuading his clients to hold out for max dollars.
I understand that legally he did nothing wrong, he didn’t break any rules. MLB can’t restrict agents to a certain number of players, I get it.
All I’m doing is pointing out the hypocrisy of the same person negotiating on behalf of all five top free agents, including two lefty starting pitchers competing against each other for a contract.
How exactly would a different agent have led to Snell getting a much bigger guaranteed contract? He still has the same warts regardless of who is representing him. And he very well might end up making much more over the next 6 yrs than the $150M Yankees offered. He’s already chipped away $31 or 62M depending if he ots out. He also has ability to pick when he hits FA market again to an extent.
As for colluding through an agent, that could happen even with separate agents. It could also happen without going through agent(s) at all.
I’m not a fan or foe of Boras. I do however find it odd people are critical of someone for being the best at what they do. I just don’t see another agent changing the way this offseason played out. The dark cloud of TV deals was overhead either way. Chapman is still a glove first aging 3B, Snell is still unpredictable yr in yr out and walks alot of batters while not going deep into games, teams were going to be reluctant to sign Belli with the roler coaster that start of his career has been.
The only perplexing one here is Monty. However he was not even a top 5 arm going into FA(Ohtani, Yamamoto, Nola, Snell, Gray). He was sandwiched between those to 5 arms and a ton of guys with a history of MLB success at some point who could be had for cheap. Just a bad time for him to hit the market falling just under the top tier and a ton of bargains just behind him. Unlike the others he can be tagged with a qualifying offer as well. So unless a team comes with a multi yr deal he very well is probably best suited waiting til after opening day starts.
Snell’s acceptance of shockingly less reduced Monty’s bargaining power, just like Belli’s reduced Chapman’s.
————————-
The problem with having 5 guys hold out at the same time is that one or more of them is likely to crack. Once one of them signs short, that is one customer off the board, and a new precedent.
Joe – That’s exactly what I’m saying! Because Boras controlled all 5, he therefore controlled the market. There were no other competing agents.
He basically told all the teams “I own every remaining free agent, pay my price or go without”.
But it backfired, the teams didn’t cave ….. Belli caved for short money because his heart was truly with the Cubs, which caused Chapman to cave for short money.
Also looks like the unemployed players sitting behind the guys holding out haven’t appreciated the delay. Got to be frustrating. Especially when the hold outs eventually sign for numbers they could have had months ago.
Scottie screwed his guys this off-season. Bellinger probably could have gotten a six year deal if he took a Harper like AAV. He ended up running back to Chicago as any other landing spot on a short term deal was a much larger risk of a regression. They have a decent lineup and smaller field that suits his game.
Put – Boras has screwed his clients in the past too.
Maybe I’ll analyze free agent trackers from prior years, but the fact Boras represented only 7 of this year’s Top 50 tells us he’s not as popular as he used to be.
And the fact some teams such as the Dodgers refuse to sign his clients doesn’t help him either.
Hopefully, one of those teams are the Cards!
It would be nice if the Cards were aggressive. Maybe even cracked the top ten in payroll to legitimately compete for a World Series. Unfortunately that isn’t the way they do it anymore. Instead it is try to sneak in and barely win a bad division and then maybe get lucky. They could really use him too, that rotation is weak.
Cards, Sox, Angels, Padres Mariners, and Twins all should be in on Monte!
The offer may have the condition he won’t accept until the season is open, as cheap as that is.
I know he’s been durable but signing a guy for big money then rushing his preparation sounds like a bad idea.
Halos – I’m with you. To say he could possibly start opening day sounds absurd to me. He would probably pitch only 3-4 innings and get raked.
These guys pitch simulated games. It is not as though their arms are rendered unmoveable til they sign. Missing Spring Training is also far different than missing NFL training camp where working with a position group and learning playback is vital. Baseball does not involve complex integrated plays that all have to work I’m sync. The biggest down side I’d say would be a pitcher and catcher not working together and becoming familiar with each other’s style.
They covered this on one of their podcasts…majority of the pitvhers who signed late had pretty bad years.
1984 – Yes they certainly did.
BTW I like your handle.
Yes… Baseball players are notorious creatures of habit so when their routines heading into the season are thrown off, it tends to impact some more than most would think.
I think its a surprise team that will sign him
Like the mexico city diablo de los rojas
It would have to be a team friendly deal for the Phillies to sign him. They are 3 yrs in as being over the Lux Tax threshold and already owe around 15 million, ad the 25 mil a year Monty wants and that would trigger a 50% surcharge on that salary add. I wouldnt do that
Hope he doesn’t sign with any team for a one year.
He deserves better.
Im a Yankee fan and I think he was done dirty here. That DUMB trade for Bader really pissed me off.
You never give away starting pitching for nothing.
Good Luck Monty! You deserve a sweet deal.
I agree with you sterling,always thought that was a foolish move by Cashman. And just as bad, he disses him on the way out.
Sterling, say what you want. I personally also did not like the trade then but Bader was the Yankees’ best playoff performer. Can’t say it was for nothing.
Dewey I can’t remember a worse offense season and I sat through the 89’ season. At least we had Sax. Ha!
When Bader wasn’t hurt he was an awesome defender and he was one of the better offensive players last year but, that doesn’t say much. I wish him luck on the Mets.
The Yankees didn’t win the WS and Bader is an injury prone 4th OF so it was for nothing. You don’t need to trade a middle of the rotation starter to get a player like that.
I’d love to see a lady minute swoop in by the Rangers, Tigers or Twins; but I suspect he’ll end up in Boston
I’d love to see the commentaters on hear make a concerned effort to proof reed there jibberish before posting it. Btw, for those of you wundering, a lady minute is appoxinmently an our longer then a NY minute. Ahahaha!
commentators, not commentaters
here, not hear
concerted, not concerned
proofread, not proof reed
wondering, not wundering
approximately, not appoxinmently
hour, not our
But do go on about proof reeding.
I hope your post was an attempt to be funny, but I fear it wasn’t.
At pt boy. What a MAROON!! Ahahahahaha!!!
Tigers have just sent 2 starters who are capable to Toledo. Not going to be them.
Yeah I can’t see why Tigers would want Monty with their depth at SP. Royals I think could use him. MIN seems adverse to spending this offseason and front of rotation is locked up with Lopez and Ryan. They seem set on seeing if Ober, Paddock, and Varland can hold their rotation spots.
The only one with money is the motor city.
Division is wide open for the taking too. I’d even favor them if they made the deal. Guards ended up with six minor leaguers to fill the squad. Twins are broke and regressed. KC and Chicago would be lucky to win 75.
A handful of teams I can think of – adding Montgomery dramatically boosts their playoff chances. On paper.
Mets or Boston, 7 years 105 million
Much too cheap. 6/150 is more like it or 7/170 is my guess.
If any team were willing to offer him 7/170 he would have signed months ago. No one is offering that now.
Mass – Not a chance. If it’s truly a longterm deal, it will be at least $150M/6yrs.
No chance hes getting 6/150 imo
Good Luck Monty in getting a good deal. Just another example how inept the Yankee ownership and FO has become. A new GM would have resigned Monty! Another example, that Hal did not learn anything under his father.
Sad, but true. That has been evident for quite a while. There is a reason why the Yankees have not won, since 2009 the last time they were truly all in.
Doc I’d say they were all in in 2014 as well but it just didn’t work out. They had a good foundation in 2017 but failed to do anything with it. Other than that, I fully agree.
I have no problem with that viewpoint
@DR have you considered that despite trying they are just not the 2009 team which still had the core four, ARod, and Cano.
That team had 3 generational talents in Jeter, ARod, and Mo. Two of them being talent they developed and brought up. Just not something that’s easily replicated.
As they like to say, around here, two things can be true at the same time. They did have all the players you mentioned, but they also were willing to go out and get the additional pieces that they needed in order to win in that year. They got Sabathia and they did not stop there as they would have in recent cash Man years. They also added Burnette, another top-notch player at the time, and they did not stop there other,they also added mark Texeira.
It was said at the time they want to do everything they could to break in the new stadium ,and for the old man, who everyone knew was on the way out
29 other teams didn’t sign him to his ask either. Must be Cashman.
This article says practically nothing new. I guess the writers have to keep writing something even if it just regurgitation.
Just speculating what Monty defines as a “long term deal” I would think 5 years or more; – – some of those could be team or mutual opt outs with decent guaranteed money. Also quite possibly early opt out opportunities but not until 2 years pass maybe
Speculating on the 2 potential long term teams BOS and ? based on need.
Almost every team still in the race for a short term higher AAV deal
High probability short term deal teams still involved
PHI, StL HOU, SF, LAA. NYY, BAL, LAD
I say let him sit out and go play in the KBO, Independent league or Japan. I’m tired of these guys milking every last penny.
My baseball sources have NYY in on JM and Yanks trading/DFA Nestor Cortes.
You need new sources, sir.
Nightengale says the Phillies are thinking about Montgomery? Well, you can cross them off the list. Clueless Bobby strikes again.
Okay, maybe I’m a little too hard on Bobby. He did say in that column that the Mets lost $200 million last year. Sounds about right to me. Might be a little low, in fact. I love it when Cohen loses his shirt, his pants, his underwear, etc.
It’s conceivable that the Mets lost money but Nightengale stating specifically that it was $200MM with no cited sources makes me skeptical of his reportings. I don’t think the Mets opened up their books to him.
It’s “conceivable” that the Mets lost money? Uh, yes. Just like it’s conceivable that the sun rises in the east.
With that ridiculous payroll plus gazillions in dead money to long-gone players plus a lousy team that turned off the fans, the Mets likely lost at least $200 million last year. Couldn’t happen to a nicer owner.
The Mets were 11th in baseball in average home game attendance. And it was blip of their 2022 attendance. Not a Steve Cohen fan, eh?
*off
Thanks for helping to make my point. The Mets were well down the list in attendance despite playing in by far the biggest MLB market. Just one more indicator of how bad they sucked and how much money Cohen threw away.
To be fair, the Mets have been in the middle of the pack for a long while since their previous owners. I can get behind a new owner who will “waste” money to attempt to reverse the tides. I’m not a Mets fan but Cohen is much more interesting than say a John Fisher or a Bob Nutting from an entertainment standpoint.
@Casey no way the Mets lost $200M. And whatever losses they did have will be fully utilized as writeoffs and benefit Cohen in some fashion. That’s the thing people often fail to account for with the ultra rich, they have multiple holdings and a loss is not truly a loss it just offsets taxable earnings elsewhere.
Examples of such are Bezos and Musk. They often have no income just borrow against their with for capital yet have no income to pay taxes on. Losses are not necessarily losses unless you are looking at every one of their holdings and how they impact one and other.
If memory serves me correctly, Cohen himself characterised the financial hit he was taking as “significant”. Last years mid season reveal all presser. I think he was even willing to give the reporter who asked the question a more accurate number post press conference. I’m guessing significant is a big number for Cohen.
Another interesting listen for me was Samson, ex Marlins POBO. He recently estimated that 20 of the 30 teams would be running a negative ebitda.
Of course he’s gonna claim it as significant. It by all means has or will be fully utilized and then some on his taxes.
Don’t misinterpret this either, this is not me being in support of Cohen or any other Billionaire. The point is deeming one single entity of there’s as having a loss in a vacuum does not explain reality of the big picture of their finances. I actually think it’s an absolute joke the tax loopholes out there for guys like them. It makes me sick that all of us common folk pay income tax yet a guy like Jeff Bezos pays ZERO. Yet he can afford yachts and extravaganzas we couldn’t even dream of but has no income….
Sure. No sympathy for him here. I just think they all run their respective operations as single entities. I don’t think differences in personal fortune matter that much. Generally speaking, they spend what their teams
revenue allows them to spend.
Yes legally they are all single entities. Income and losses though can be used across entities through ownership and income when it benefits. Now for legal culpability those bridges are torn down and the entity becomes an island. The point is though that a loss isn’t truly a loss its just mitigating tax burden elsewhere.
They need him now
How much is this guy trying to get. ? He’s worth maybe 22 a year and that’s a stretch. 3 or 4 years max.
Anything over 4 years he is getting less than 20 million per season
The Cards are probably one of the two teams on the table. Their offer is most likely pretty low, but they try to underbid others with the caveat that St.Louis should get a discount. Because? They are the Cardinals. Yes it is inane. Not everybody is like Gray, especially a Boras client.
Using the Yankees to get more from Boston
3/$75M is the number with the Phillies, Jordan. That’s the only fit that makes sense. No one else really needs him, which is why he’s still on the market.
There’s definitely a game of chicken happening here. If he has two long term offers in hand and either are good he’ll accept one this week. Otherwise waiting till after Opening Day to get a higher value one year deal makes more sense to him since it’d negate a future Qualifying Offer. That said, there’s zero guarantee he’ll get the dollar value he seeks either way.
Is it me or is it really weird that regular season games have been played but the regular season hasn’t started?
Yeah it’s odd, not unprecedented, but still odd. It’s odder that official rules like QO time don’t conform to the early games.
For comparison Mitch Keller got a ~15m AAV extension through ’28 from the Pirates. Jordan has been generally better over a longer period of time.
17m – 23m seems like the AAV range that is reasonable depending on the length and perks
As a pirate guy I’d throw 6y/120m out there to see if there is legit interest but wouldn’t expect anything to come of it.
Pirates need one more quality starter that gives them a good chance to have one of the better rotations in the NL in 2025 if not sooner
The Pirates are definitely back in the kitchen with the apron on, but they’re not quite ready to cook yet.
The Orioles have plenty of 40 man space. They’d be able to give him a month to get ready. Pretty good fit.
And they have the money. Get him now while you can, without having to part with a top minor leaguer or two at the trade deadline.
Watch the Angels sign him after not getting Snell. Pomeranz just got released today. Phillies/Yanks/Astros seems likely though
Cubs….Their rotation is pedestrian at best.
Steele being the exception, otherwise a bunch of 5 inning guys.
Cubs loaded with lefty starters and are right at the tax. Timing wrong too. If PCA was ready they might have pivoted from Bellinger to Montgomery. No way he goes to Chicago.
Look for a deal for a expiring contract veteran starter at the deadline if they (Cubs) are in the hunt with the seller
paying the rest of the salary and getting good prospects in return.
My guess of the two teams are, Blue Jays & Twins.
At this point, you will not see the full Monty now at any rate.
This – I agree 100%. A normal ST is so important, it would be difficult for him to have a good start to the season …. similar to the 2019 Sox staff.
Boston makes no sense. They will not compete this year and are most likely another 2 or 3 away from competing. Wasted money. It would need to be a very friendly team deal.
DBH – I had been saying all along the one game I was planning to attend at Fenway was the 20th reunion game. Now that they moved it to the home opener because ticket sales were so poor, I am torn. Last year on the same date it was 41 degrees in the afternoon.
Maybe I’ll go to the HOF ceremony at Fenway instead, that’s in May.
Buy a hat and mittens, bro! Go to the game. It is a once in a life time thing.
What does Borass think
The guy is massively overrated. Buyer beware.
Based on what metrics and analysis?
Bucs, let’s go BC!
If the Phillies sign Montgomery, the Dodgers are the fourth best team in baseball.
I feel like they should sign him or Bauer