As this incredibly slow offseason has dragged on, much attention has been paid to the free agents who remained unsigned into February and March. There were many players in this group but a lot of attention was paid to the so-called “Boras Four,” which consisted of Cody Bellinger, Matt Chapman, Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery.
The attention was understandable as they were the highest-profile of the guys languishing in the open market. At the start of the offseason, just about every outlet that predicts such things pegged those four to get lengthy nine-figure pacts, including here at MLBTR. But as the winter dragged on towards the spring, many teams claimed to be at their spending limits, either due to uncertainty around TV revenue or competitive balance tax implications.
In recent weeks, three of those four players have pivoted to short-term deals with fairly high average annual values and opt-outs. In each case, the player can pocket a sizeable salary and then return to the open market in the future if they feel the chance of netting a mega pact will be better.
Bellinger returned to the Cubs on a three-year, $80MM deal, in which he can opt out after each of the first two seasons. Chapman got three years and $54MM from the Giants, also with opt-outs after the first two years. Snell will join Chapman in San Francisco after signing a two-year, $62MM deal that will let him opt out after this coming season.
Montgomery’s situation is slightly different than those three in one way. The other three received and rejected a qualifying offer at the end of the 2023 season, meaning they were tied to signing penalties this winter. The penalties vary depending on whether the team is a revenue-sharing recipient or a competitive balance tax payor, but a club has to forfeit one draft pick at minimum, sometimes two picks and also international bonus pool space. Players can only receive one QO in their career, so they won’t have to worry about those penalties in future trips to free agency.
Montgomery is in the opposite situation. He has yet to receive a QO and would not currently require a signing team to forfeit anything. Players are only eligible for a QO if they spend the entirety of the just-completed season with the same club. Since the lefty was traded from the Cardinals to the Rangers in the middle of the 2023 campaign, he wasn’t eligible to get a QO coming into this offseason.
That makes it somewhat complicated for him to consider the short-term, opt-out laden pacts that the other Boras guys settled for. While they all just shed their QOs and will be free from them going forward, Montgomery is currently free but could be in position to be saddled with a QO down the road. As recently as March 8, he was reportedly holding out hope of landing a lengthy seven-year deal. The fact that he remains unsigned suggests that he never got it and it’s hard to see a team making that kind of plunge at this late stage of the offseason.
Since Opening Day is now just over a week away, with most teams starting their seasons on March 28, perhaps it would be wise for him to look for the best short-term deal he can find but wait until after Opening Day to actually sign it. The collective bargaining agreement states that the QO applies to players who become free agents “after having been continuously under reserve (without interruption) to the same Club (either at the Major or Minor League level) since Opening Day of the recently completed championship season” and who have not previously received a QO from any club.
Perhaps waiting would make Montgomery more amenable to a short-term pact with opt-outs, as he wouldn’t have to worry about a qualifying offer, at least after 2024. Hypothetically, if he signed a two-year pact like Snell and decided not to trigger his opt-out, he could be given a QO after the 2025 campaign unless he was traded midseason again.
It’s also possible there would be an on-field logic to the move. Montgomery’s 188 2/3 innings in the regular season were a personal high and then he added another 31 frames in the postseason as he helped the Rangers win the World Series. Players sometimes talk about a “World Series hangover” where they experience a bit of extra fatigue in a season following a deep playoff run, since it shortens the offseason rest period. Delaying his spring ramp-up could perhaps give him some extra rest and avoid any of those hangover effects.
The flip side of this strategy is that a club could perhaps factor a future QO into the price of their contract offer. Starting with whatever dollar value they place on Montgomery as a pitcher, they might be will to add a few million to that if they feel there’s a high chance of him opting out and then netting them a future draft pick. By intentionally waiting until the season starts, Montgomery would presumably be taking that bump out of the picture.
That’s all speculation, to be clear, but it’s known that teams place internal values on draft picks. Mets owner Steve Cohen tweeted a few years ago that picks are worth up to five times their slot value to teams. Last year, picks 68-70 of the draft went to the Cubs, Giants and Braves. Those clubs had given QOs to Willson Contreras, Carlos Rodón and Dansby Swanson, respectively, and received compensation picks when they signed elsewhere. Per MLB.com, those picks each had a slot value a bit over $1MM.
Waiting to sign in-season due to concerns around the QO isn’t unprecedented, but this would be different than past instances. Some players who rejected QOs in the past waited until after the draft was completed to sign new contracts, therefore washing away the draft pick penalties. Dallas Keuchel, Craig Kimbrel and Kendrys Morales are some of the players who signed in June, after the draft. Stephen Drew was on a path to a similar fate in 2014 before the Red Sox, his previous club, realized their chances of getting any QO compensation were dwindling and just re-signed him.
Montgomery’s situation is different in that he only needs to wait one day into the season in order to make him ineligible to receive a QO after 2024. Since the QO can negatively impact a free agent’s earning power and the season will have started for all 30 clubs by next Thursday, perhaps he could sit tight a little bit longer.
Why? Because Boras is stubborn and stuck on his old ways.
Greedy
It’s his job to be greedy. The criticism should be that he severely misjudged the market.
“It’s his job to be greedy”..Not to the point of sheer stupidity. I think it’s rather clear that Ian Snell turned down an offer of between $150M-$160M from the NY Yankees, to only later sign for a fraction of that guarantee from the SF Giants. It goes without saying that Boras & Company overplayed their hand and “severely misjudged the market”.
It can also be negotiated in a new deal (that the signing team waived their right to saddle him with the QO. Bottom line is no team has met his price.
Ian Snell?
I’m not his Agent, but I highly suspect that Ian would have signed that.
@MLB he’s guaranteed $62M over the next 2 seasons and has an opt out at his disposal after this season. The deal Yankees offered was at an AAV of $25M over 7 years. There is a strong chance Snell makes more over the next 7 years especially with the way salaries have been rising the backend of that 7 the $25M AAV could be well below market value. You are also assuming he even wanted to play in NY. He was born and raised on west coast so there’s a pretty good chance that he preferred to sign with a team out there.
I’ve gotta say your obsession with Boras is kind of creepy. It’s also kind of laughable as you try and portray it as him being a singular individual at work here. You also try and portray it as he has only these handful of clients and has failed. His company represents 175 MLB players, the only sheer stupidity I ve seen here would be your comments….
@mlb
“Not to the point of sheer stupidity”
That’s not the case with (Blake) Snell, though. Boras may have misread the market, but this is not the Mike Moustakas situation where he passed on a $17.4mm QO only to accept a lowball $5.5mm contract. Snelly’s still getting paid well, even if the years are not what he and Boras probably had in mind.
As for the Yankees’ 6/$150mm offer, he’ll only need 5/$118mm next offseason to break even (or 4/$88mm if he stays with the Giants both years). There’s some risk, but that is probably something Snell and Boras have had conversations about.
Anyway, as the vocal Boras you are, I’ll ask you the same question I still haven’t gotten an answer to: what would another agent have done this offseason that would’ve put Snell in a better position? Snell is a very good pitcher coming off a Cy Young season, but even with his flaws, ANY agent would’ve asked the moon and stars for him.
but he got 31 million per season for the next 2 or 32 for just 1 season, Meaning that he was valued as a 30 plus million dollar pitcher. he has a chance to go back next year or the year after with no draft comp and a 4 year 100 million contract in 2 years is more money than what he turned down from the yankees. The Yankees by the way paid Rodon 162 just last offseason
Used to pitch for the Pirates 14 years ago…..
I couldn’t think of his first name and could only remember an “Ian”. I still can’t remember his first name actually.
Perhaps Mr. Snell did not want to work and live in NY.
@disadvatage – I’d have not waited until the money ran dry. There was competition out there and others got paid. His strategy backfired, they are all in position to prove themselves in order to land that next contract when in their prime this should’ve ‘been’ the contract they’ve worked for.
Boras has lost his way.
@Padam and want qualifies you to say that Boras and the 80 employees working for him have list their way?? You care to list your credentials?
Thanks Mr Boras…I mean Tigers3232..
Is anyone really surprised that no team was willing to pony up 7/200M for Snell? He was amazing last season and the one season in Tampa (5 years ago) where he netted the Cy Young but the seasons in between were not ace quality seasons; far from it. He only averaged 130 innings per year in those seasons with an ERA In the 4.00’s. The lack of consistency and durability scared a lot of teams away. If he’s able to bounce back this year with another great season then he might be able to find a 4-5 year deal next year but I never expected him to get anything close to what he was asking for.
Someone like Aaron Nola has been much more consistent year over year so the Phillies rewarded him for that. Snell is not in that same category of consistency.
@padam
“I’d have not waited until the money ran dry”
First, this strategy contains the benefit of hindsight. If you had a better vision of how this offseason would play out than one of the best agents in the sport, I’d recommend a career change.
Second, even if you struck while the iron was hot, it’s not as though teams were handing out massive contracts for pitchers (outside Nola and Yamamoto, the latter of whom was a pretty special case). So how would you have responded when teams declined your offer? The only choices I can come up with would have been to settle for the lower offer, take fewer years and hopefully a higher AAV, or hold out for a better offer. Even in Snell’s case, he still got paid a lot of money, even if the years were not what he would’ve hoped for.
So I’ll also ask you the same question I asked @mlb in my original response: What would another agent have done this offseason that would’ve put Snell in a better position?
It’s not his job to be greedy at all. It’s his job to get his client a contract that the client benefits from personally and professionally.
Except in a short term deal there’s nothing to protect him from let’s say TJS or a drop in performance. He’s coming off a CY Young that’s not easily duplicated. The potential is there the stability is not. Most pegged a lot of these guys to get close to there annual salaries they signed for but for multiple guaranteed years. The only thing Snell is guaranteed is two years. I hope he pitches up to it and cashes in but you can bet it wasn’t his preference
Not to the point of sheer stupidity.
====================
As I said on my house purchases, your job is to get the most you can from me. But you can’t do that unless you get me inside the house first.
@seth
Boras and Snell will probably be fine. It is true that a 2-year contract limits protection, but I am beyond certain that Boras and Snell assessed that risk, which is why Snell is wearing black and orange, and not pinstripes.
Likewise, I am sure Boras and his team have done assessments on Snell’s value as well as the upcoming offseasons. He doesn’t need to keep winning Cy Youngs to be valuable. The Padres traded 2 top-30 prospects for him, the Giants are paying him $32mm this year, and he has an excellent track record (even with all of his flaws, he has a career 3.20 ERA and 11 K/9, and the 2 Cy Youngs point to his ace-level ceiling).
Wasn’t that Steve Blass?
@disadvantage: “I’ll ask you the same question I still haven’t got an answer to”…I talk to a lot of people on these pages and have no idea who you are or what you’re referring to. But, obviously I made quite an impression on you.
@mlb
How does me asking you a question and not receiving an answer have anything to do with you making an impression on me?
Why isn’t Monty or the player to blame as well? Boras isn’t holding a gun to his head. He can always switch representation at any time if that’s the case.
-“Ian Snell turned down an offer of between $150M-$160M from the…”
-proceeds to blame the Agent.
Blake Snell declined that offer, period, end of story. I have never understood the hate for Boras. He’s a slimy, greedy attorney (aren’t they all?)… we get it. He’s just doing his job for the players. The players control their destiny. The players control which deal they sign. The players decide where they want to play. It’s baffling to suggest Boras manipulates his clients into holding out, asking for 7 years, not signing in December, etc. Y’all be y’all, but sometimes y’all are weird.
*stood up clapping* PREACH!
Thanks Jimbo. Cute dog, looks like my girlfriend’s Labradoodle!
that same 150 offer was 12 million less over the same term that the same team handed out to Carlos Rodon just last offseason. I can fully understand Snell wanting to at the very least match that offer. It’s not crazy for a 2 time cy young winner thinking that he is probably more valuable than Carlos Rodon
Thx. She’s a mini golden doodle 12 lbs. She’s a kook
I posted this yesterday:
youtu.be/gz2s57zKxj8?si=Ksiu6jdWZR1Co-ap
At the 18:40 min. mark, Cashman talks about Blake Snell. The media largely ignored this interview and continued to run with the Yankees’ contract offer to Snell narrative. Can’t really blame them bc the front office has been rather tight-lipped with leaks this offseason.
It was great to be reminded of what a gracious, good and generous man Brian Cashman is.
That was a good watch that I hadn’t seen, thanks YBC! That was about as smooth as I’ve ever seen Cash, maybe a big credit to Jomboy’s laid back approach. I’m a big GIF responder too! Good luck to your Yanks sir
That’s a fair point. Boras’ tactics are so well-known even us fans have then down. If they’re not working for you, go find someone whose tactics will
@Plugnplay This has nothing to do with Boras. It’s the player making all the decisions. The player can hire outside evaluators to estimate what they’re likely to get in FA, and many do. Boras must report every offer to the player, which the player then decides on,.
The worst thing about the baseball offseason is fans attributing players’ decisions to Boras. He’s a tool, only. A tool of a player who doesn’t understand or who overestimates his market, maybe, but still a tool.
In all senses of the word.
—-The second worst thing about the offseason is all the idiocy surrounding the QO pick forfeit. On average that pick is worth $7 million. Teams pay no more attention to it than they do whether to sign this or that backup MI or 5th OFers. Publicly it’s just a talking point, or an excuse to be cheap.
$7m? That doesn’t keep any team from signing anyone—especially not a premium free agent.
At this point that seems inevitable
“The so-called Boras Four”? Was that not a coined term originating here on MLB trade rumors articles lol?….I’m sure someone will correct me, but it’s the only place I’ve seen it haha
I’ve seen that same reference on The Athletics and some writers do mention MLBTR so not sure who originated it first.
Mr. Montgomery will be taking whatever Boston offers, Mrs Montgomery, excuse me, Docta Montgomery has spoken. Ahahaha!
The Cardinals, who btw Montgomery played for and by all accounts things went well, didn’t hesitate giving up a draft pick to sign Sonny Gray.
The pick isn’t the problem it’s unreasonable demands by the agent.
All 4 of these players were guys that had very inconsistent careers. Little less so with Chapman but he’s a 3b and they usually age poorly. It was a perfect storm for Boras to talk glass half full about his guys and teams telling him to get lost.
except that Montgomery doesn’t have draft comp attached to him and his and Grays markets were not the same. One is 34 and one is 31
But Montgomery hasn’t been a pillar of health.
And Gray hasn’t been a pillar of either health or consistency and again he’s 3 years older
kcmark2 hours ago
But Montgomery hasn’t been a pillar of health.
============================
I thought Monty was the healthiest pitcher in baseball.
The Cardinals messed up by signing Lynn and Gibson so early tbh
The Lynn and Gibson signings were dumb I agree. But waiting until April to sign Montgomery would also be dumb. Boras screwed everyone over here.
Don’t disagree with you. Meant it more along the lines of instead of jumping the gun so early for those two they could have waited a little bit (not this late though) and pounced on a much better pitcher. I do really like the Gray deal though
I agree they should have waited at least a bit. Those were some of the quickest signings of the offsesson and both were big time overpay.
Montgomery instead of those 2 and the Cardinals are a contender instead of a pretender. But oh well.
It seems very odd out of all of them he wasn’t signed. My only theory is he thought Boston was going to come in with the money or meet half way on the years. Boston works because Montgomery’s wife is doing her residency there. Boras had a good relationship with the Red Sox.
It is the only thing that makes sense unless he really things someone is going to come in with a long term contract.
“It seems very odd” When it was obvious that 7 year deals were simply not out there for Monty, his agency was slow to pivot to alternatives and by the time they did teams had already spent their alloted budgets.
It may be the total money, not the years.
Boston may have been willing to go to 7/162m, but not 7/210 (if that was the ask).
Free agency has always been a case of musical chairs and somebody always ends up without a seat when the music stops
That’s not remotely true.
If Boras gets off of cloud nine and realizes that Montgomery is not worth a 7 year deal at 30 million per
@Sin65 Again, Boras makes none of these decisions.
Might as well wait for the Orioles sale to be approved too. Ya never know.
teams have had enough of boras’ BS
7 year deal for 32 yr old? he’s a solid SP with a ring. thats 4-5 years MAX.
unless you’re generational star like ohtani, players will have to get used to settling for contracts. how many teams have been burned by bloated contracts? players break a fingernail these days and miss half the season. also alot of tms have decided to forego signing FAs altogether, and only focusing on developing homegrown talent & then signing them to extensions immediately. sucks for montgomery tho, he helped texas to their first WS championship ever and cant even get a job
also i blame manfred and “new” mlb
teams dont need to go the extra mile like they used to
arizona won a pennant with 80 wins last year
why should anyone commit a big contract to a solid guy like montgomery? teams are only willing to commit a year or 2 even for the reigning cy young winner. and if you dont like it, take your business elsewhere. keep signing 1 year deals the rest of your life. welcome to the new & improved manfred baseball
Dude the Diamondbacks spent a lot this offseason. They gave Eduardo Rodriguez 4 years 80 million or so. That could have been Montogmery but Boras wanted more.
Johnny the players signed off on the expanded playoffs in the CBA. It’s just as much on them.
I’d say half the players signed off just bec they needed to get back to work and they were forced to compromise & expanded playoffs was inevitable so might as well. The other half were probly pressured by the first half. Some of them likely thought expanded playoffs means more chances for them to win and thus earn better contracts. Instead nobody even watched the WS last yr, and the WS hero is unemployed. Players got stiffed. Manfred and greedy owners won. Fans lose. The sport loses. And now owners crying they cant afford stars anymore bec of tv deals lol. Even the worst tms make tons of $. They earn tons. They receive tons. They share tons.
Is it 2029 yet???
2029 has little to do with anything important. Dan Halem isn’t going anywhere and it wouldn’t be surprising if he’s named the next commissioner. He’s the one taking the players to the cleaners in the CBAs, not Manfred.
If 2 years $62M is being taken to the clearers, then sign me up.
We’re talking about the CBAs when the owners were getting luxury taxes implemented and the players were worried about salad chefs.
.
The signing once season starts seems like another excuse to add more buyers, but he may not be ready until May. I think that late start may have reduced buyers.
I remember when the Cardinals signed Greg Holland on the first day of the season another Boras client. He sucked he wasn’t ready had an ERA of nearly 8 before being dealt.
The Cardinals have done very little business with Boras since then.
That’s why I’m slightly concerned for the Giants with Snell. If they have to wait until the second or third time through the rotation so be it, but don’t rush him and have him be bad for the whole season.
Snell had a poor start to last year and that had nothing to do with spring training and all that. But then he was incredibly good the rest of the way. Padres would have been tough to play if they had made the playoffs last year.
I highly doubt that it will take that long for Monty to be ready. Boras runs multiple training camps across the country.
Training camps are only so good. His arm strength may be up there to throw the number of pitches he’d be expected to throw but not pitching to actual major league competition will likely have his refinement on his pitches and his control severely lacking.
I agree. Throwing to college players isn’t the same as pros.
At this point the timing of any Montgomery signing is controlled by when Monty & Boras are resigned to take the L and sign the short term opt-out laden deal.
This strategy to wait for the season to start has never been successful for a big time free agent. He will get a prorated one year deal if this slogs on further.
Except as the article states by waiting he sheds the concern of being stuck with a QO if he signs a one year opt out deal. If he signs before the season starts even if he opts out after 2024 he could be stuck with a QO. At this point waiting another week makes sense for him.
Dude ain’t Steve Carlton
The ultimate left handed compliment.
He wanted 7 years. I suspect if he’d been willing to take 4 years he would have signed already. Its common to amortize a contract over a longer period to reduce AAV but at his age and track record, thats not going to be 7 years, more like 4 or so. This wasn’t just about RSN cheapness it was an ttempt to grossly push the envelope on contract length for players like him and it failed. Ditto for Snell.
* RSN related cheapness
If your Corbin Burnes do you consider leaving boras???
Yupp
Jordan Montgomery isn’t worth the asking price.
Boros is trying to get him paid a 1, but as much as l like him. He is a 2 or three, so teams will pay but not over pay. A 1 will average around 7years as opposed to 5 years.
He’s a 3 honestly, a 2 at times.
Montgomery had the 9th highest bWAR in all of baseball last year. Now sure, over the last three years combined, that wasn’t true, so you either believe he’s taken a step up to the ace he was last year or he’s going to be the #2 guy he was in 2021-22. Not a lot of #3 starters anymore throwing 175+ innings a year with sub 3.5 ERA’s. Charlie Morton is close. Logan Gilbert is also close.
Boras needs to go….His tactics are not good for anyone, let alone his players…
I believe we are going to see this type of market repeat for Boras clients (and others) in the future, with an obvious exception for cases like Soto.
It’ll be interesting to see how Boras adjusts to the market when his applicable clients opt-out after the season. Shorter deals for higher AAV? There is going to be a better free agent class than this past one in the offseason.
If I remember correctly something similar happened a few years ago for Boras and the next year his guys were signed a lot earlier.
Maybe he will sign halfway through the season. I still think the Redsox will scoop him up.
Would four years for 120 do it?
silly
I assume it would for Monty, but I think it depends on an independent variable we have no way to discern at this time: Monty’s trust level with Boras’ advice. I don’t think Boras would encourage Monty to take it though. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.
I’m not sure which contenders would offer that with the associated CBT penalties. A non-contender isn’t going to allocate that that a big of portion of their payroll to one pitcher. My guess is a two-year and an opt-out or a five-year plus vesting option with heavy deferrals.
That’s just insane for a #3.
not a chance in heck he gets that from tightwad John Henry
@notagain27 Yes. Monty’s a #1 starter at this point, maybe a 1B if you slice it this way or that. A team doesn’t have to deal with his age 35 and older seasons on a 4 year deal.
He’s a postseason stud, he just put up a year that wouldn’t have been out of place in Seaver’s resume. The AAV might feel a little high but his projects are better than both Scherzer and Verlander at 3/130m.
He would have been signed by now.
One good postseason doesn’t make him a postseason stud.
If any team were willing to offer that he would’ve signed by now. That’s vastly overpaying for what Monty brings.
Ordinary situation for Montgomery.
Last (high profile) man standing, season has already started, teams setting their rotations, agent under fire from all directions and dealing with distractions. Probably not the FA scenario he had mapped out.
I think SF would make an excellent destination for Monty. They are also one of the few teams that have the payroll and potential willingness to negotiate an amenable contract with him. Would also make for a really interesting season for SF, despite being in the extremely talent-rich West Div.
His wife is in Boston though. He wants to be close to her.
I think that ship might have sailed. His agent sold that spot to Snell. So awkward.
Are players not able to stipulate in their free agent contracts that their team will not use the QO?
@CK no players can not negotiate on use of qualifying offer. However it can only be offered to each player once in their careers.
2/50 with a player option might do it
I’m thinking at this stage its 2/40something for Montgomery
If this is the Price is Right, I’ll go 2/40.1m and almost eliminate Senioredittor. Haha!
I’m torn. I’m all for players getting a bigger share. It’s either them or the billionaire owners who don’t even have to set foot on the field. However, it’s no secret how often that leads to teams getting relatively burned compared to existing market rates. Look at the other non-power LHP to hit the market expecting a big payday, only to wait into the season, Dallas Keuchel. I want to see players make the bucks, but then I have to admit his deal was a flop.
We’re at a weird point where it’s almost like you have to just mentally tell yourself a degree of inefficiency is required for the players’ progress. My best guess is it’s going to have to rely on the CBAs to set new curves each time.
It’s kind of amazing that Boras is still Montgomery’s agent, no?
Not really. To get paid, any new agent would need to find a team that Boras hasn’t already engaged. I imagine that list sits at close to zero.
Engaging teams isn’t the problem. Unreasonable contract demands are the problem.
It is for a new agent taking on Montgomery and wanting to get paid for it. If Boras has spoken to a team already, he has claim on any deal done with them under the new agent.
Take a stand and sit out the entire year! Show all of society how rough it is to be a pro athlete.
I’m convinced he has a deal in place with the O’s but it can’t be announced until the ownership change becomes official.
Recent negotiations with FA’s would indicate that mutiple teams have had decent offers on the table for Monty at their own terms. Teams have learned not to “bid against themselves” by upping their offers everytime Boras calls and says he has a BBD from someone else. “let him take it” is the come back. When no signing is announced the Team knows it was a Boras bluff. The most recent example is the Red Sox putting a fair and decent offer for Dave Martinez on the table, then waiting through the shell game until he and his agent came around.
Have rung this bell a few times, BUT here we go again.
Just because these “four” were the Best Available in ’24 does not mean they are a franchise changing “four” and deserve ’23 topping money.
Snell with an obvious checkered career w/ major ups and downs, Chapman w/ his output offensively, Bellinger and his own set of injured or not type output and Montgomery -well maybe the most deserving of the four…?
Boras does his thing year in and year out, BUT does acquiesce to his clients wishes. Maybe this year was his own personal “perfect storm”
Not a fan of him by any stretch, but he hasn’t gotten this far by being a one trick pony…
Look – overall at the off season and plenty of non-Boras clients have gotten the shaft as well. ’24 looks to be a year where the middle class MLB’ers got the squeeze.
This sets up another &^%$# type he said / he said suit…. Sad.
Might be prudent to sign after season starts to help w/negotiations. Inevitably stud Ps are gonna start getn hurt around league. Plus he could use the extra rest as selling point … he’s fresh. Can’t believe 1 of mid tier teams haven’t swooped in and scored on discount price for proven playoff gamer in peaking years. Dodgers should sign em just to piss everybody off. Imagine the chatter on this site, every good story needs a villain, it would be wild. ALL IN !!!
My thought on Montgomery is maybe part of the problem might be Montgomery himself. He was healthy when the Yankees who are desperate to win another championship trade him for basically nothing. That means he was so unsufferable that Yankees got rid of him. He pitch 160 ERA+ for eleven starts and suddenly he is an ace.
I just think 4/80 was his market. I wonder what Texas offered him if they did? If they didn’t that is telling.
There was nothing wrong with him when the yanks traded him. That’s been manufactured to justify a ridiculous trade.
That is my point. They traded him while healthy, pitching okay, for basically nothing. That is telling about him as a person.
The Bader for Montgomery trade was only bad with hindsight. Yankees got Montas he instantly got hurt. Then Bader got hurt. And Montgomery has pitched better than ever since leaving the Yankees.
Monty was likely gassed up by Boras. Thinking he was worth 7 years and 9 figures. He’s not. Never was and might never be. He was stellar in the WS but his 188 inning between NYY, SL, & TR were below average. Monty was kinda a bunk pitcher for NYY. So they traded him. He wasn’t anywhere close to lights out for SL so they traded him. And the rangers are likely thinking they got lucky catching lighting in a bottle and didn’t even make an offer to Monty. This all adds up to a seeming general consensus that he’s a not worth anything near what he’s asking.
Every team (ESPECIALLY NYY & SL) likely looked at Monty during the WS and said- where was this guy when he was in our uniform?!?!?
So long story short John Henry realllly isnt cheap just smart. Not wanting to give snell or montgomery 7 years is being business savvy
My take is his attention and resources have been divested into expanding his FSG and will circle back to the RS in a few years.
Well the season started so…
If the QO is a problem why are him and JD the only big names left? Neither of them have a QO attached now
He’s playing this wrong just like Snell did.
Players are asking for TOO much money from the owners.
Owners are asking for TOO much money from the public.
And the public is asking too much money from ?????
That’s the problem. The public isn’t demanding the restoration of 1955’s tax rates on the rich.
I am totally surprised that CHRIS ILLICH, doesn’t demand the A’s move to Juneau or demand an expansion team be anchored in Alaska.
The Tigers need someplace to trade Baez to.
There should be some recourse for underperformance.
Damn scooby doo since its already started who knew…
I heard Barrow is nice this time of year.
Overrated
All this because nobody is going 7 years 25M AAV. players, agents, and MLBPA make the Rockefellers, Rothchilds, and Soros look like humble down to earth philanthropist. Greed and avarice is a heck of a drug.
The most sense for him would be to sign a two-year deal with an opt-out with Boston on the second day of the regular season. That way he can stay with his fiancee during her residency at least for the start of it while preserving his future earning potential.
Greed has nothing to do with it. You can be as greedy as you want but if you’re not getting offers you can accept what’s the point.? as with everything in life, it boils down to supply and demand. As far as Snell – he really wanted to be on the West Coast specifically northern California or Seattle and he only got one offer he could deal with from San Francisco. What’s wrong with that? He held out because he wanted to play for Seattle or San Francisco. That’s the offer he received. That’s the offer he accepted. If they were others on the table we will never know.
Fact is, the dude isn’t worth the ask. His numbers just don’t support what his counsel is selling.
Well we don’t entirely know all the details. He may be very open to signing a 4-5 year deal at a decent market value but perhaps teams aren’t interested in paying up for any pitchers that don’t strike out a batter an inning. Which to me is absurd. But yeah, not 7 years. Not 30 mil for 5 either. I think he’s possibly worth a good 120 mil for a team that can afford it. I could see someone saying 75 mil or so tho.
My heart bleeds for them..
Well, the season has already started, sooooo, this isn’t really news.
I am fine with the Jordan M situation. I think his free agency is important for other players. Occasionally there are gonna be players like this that aren’t clear aces and don’t have the K stuff but are very good and I’d like teams to show they value those guys as much as they should (especially considering there is arguably less injury risk than a flamethrower). The game needs more pitchers like this to succeed for the sake of minor leaguers who don’t K a ton and for the sake of youth players coming up.
Greedy, probably, but how many over priced players didn’t show up and earn their money? The list is really long. Is one World Series title, worth 4-5-6 years of 30+ million dollar contracts?
Baseball is a business.
One year wonder. Contact pitcher. Yankees, St. Louis and Texas said nah. They know something.
There’s something distinctly pleasurable about muting every commenter who earnestly describes Montgomery, his 121 ERA+ over the last three years, and his 2.63 postseason ERA, as a “#3 starter.”
Didn’t the season start today?
In Korea yes. Next game is this morning at 3:05 am! I believe it’s Yamamoto vs Musgrove.
Yes. My point was maybe he can now sign with any team without worrying about being slapped with a QO since the MLB season has commenced. I just, however, re-read the passage above noting that it relates to the team he signs with.
I think the QO is attached til May/june.
So an April 1st deal with the Angels is inevitable? Make it so… (NL up 3-0 on Boras 4 game …)
As this incredibly slow offseason has dragged on,
====================
Actually, almost everyone is signed..
It’s like saying The Bronx is very slow, simply because I am slow.
Also, it’s incredibly obvious why the off season was slow. Tv rights and revenue. Most mid market teams got stung big time while the teams that have spent own their own networks. The red Sox are the one exception there.
Go sign for the A’s for an easy 5mil, boot up with wood and stripling, go prove yourself and try that trade. Easy work, right?
This works for the RS. Monty can wait a few months, and if the RS are still in it, they can sign him for the 2nd half.
The Mets will sign Jordan Montgomery to a 4-year contract worth $120 million prior to Opening Day.
Don’t bet on that
okay, i am confused how Jordan Mont. is considered a Bora’s 4. Why is everyone overreacting about him considering a mid to average skill in Stl and a slightly above average in Texas. I, as a Cards fan, never heard this much “hype” about him in Saint Louis. This is quite much a joke.
Agree..montgomery is a fine #3 or 4 starter but aside from post trade deadline last year has never shown much beyond that which is why no team will give him what he wants and if boras filled his head with this then they both deserve tge criticism
Seven years? Ha Ha.
He’s nuts…..
No QO attached and there he sits still. Makes every other point invalid
Bottom line: owners are starting to see all the lousy
long term contracts, and don’t want to get stung.
The season has started haha