The Yankees have agreed to a deal with free-agent left-hander Mike Montgomery, pending a physical, Robert Murray of FanSided tweets. It’s a minor league pact.
This is the second straight minors deal for the 31-year-old Montgomery, who signed with the Mets during the winter. He was unable to earn a roster spot with the club, though, as he yielded six runs (five earned) on 10 hits in 7 1/3 innings of work during spring training. That continued a difficult run for Montgomery, who pitched to an ERA around 5.00 in each of the previous two seasons and threw just 5 1/3 innings last year in Kansas City while dealing with a lat injury.
Recent issues aside, Montgomery has enjoyed a successful career as a swingman since he debuted in 2015. Also a former Mariner and Cub, Montgomery has recorded a solid 3.84 ERA in 541 innings and 183 appearances (70 starts), and he earned the save in Chicago’s historic Game 7 victory over Cleveland in the 2016 World Series. Now, with the Yankees’ bullpen facing injuries to the likes of Zack Britton and Justin Wilson, Montgomery could provide the unit some left-handed depth.
Nice acquisition. Much needed, but I wonder who will fall off the 40 when he gets called up.
He’s nothing but insurance and filling out the AAA staff. Unless he dominates AAA he’s not sniffing the 26 man unless there’s a 60 day injury.
Montgomery would marshall his best abilities on the field.
I bet you’re pattin’ yourself on the back for that one.
Was hoping the Mets kept him instead of Gsellman. Nice pickup for Yanks.
Mets should have retained him for their bullpen (Yikes).
What’s up with pulling Degrom after 6 shutout innings at 77 pitches and turning the game over to that dumpster fire pen?
Solid, no-risk depth signing. Can’t hurt. With Britton down, Wilson out, and chappy missing the first couple games, the bullpen was already feeling extremely thin. They’ve all performed well to this point, but always nice to have a veteran lefty down there in case of emergency.
Uhhm…
Green? Loaisiga? Nelson? Luerge?
Thin as Bartolo Colon’s waistline.
Poor guy can’t get out of New York. And he can’t get into New York either. Glad he has a job. Or not. It’s confusing. Maybe he will stick.
Or maybe he will kick. You’re right. Confusing
A Lot of Montgomery’s on this team
Got the monopoly on Montgomery’s
Montgomery & Montgomery Law Firm
Jordan has a younger brother. A friend of mine went to school with him in SC – maybe he will join also….
Montgomery & Montgomery & Montgomery – For the People (of Bronx,NY)
Fortunately one of them is good.
Mike Montgomery could make the Red Sox rotation. Of course, so can Elizabeth Montgomery.
She could tweak her nose and turn Devers into a third baseman.
Yankees need another top of the order bat in their lineup. Too many three true outcomes guys in their lineup. It will never happen but whit merrifield would be a terrific trade if i was cashman. Deivi garcia, clint frazier, and another piece might get it done. Lemahieu and whit merrifield would be lethal in front of judge stanton and torres. His positional flexibility would greatly enhance the yankees depth as well. Im really surprised contenders have slept on whit. Hes cheap and an absolute stud. I dont believe the royals wont trade him either
Back off! :p
Lol. Garcia and Frazier alone would be too much to give up for Merrifield. And no the Yankees don’t need another bat. I’ll stick with their true three outcome lineup which is perenially among the MLB’s top run scorer.
Typical yankees fan overrating their lineup. U guys cant score when it matters
You can easily look up seasonal team runs totals but I guess it’s easier for you to make strawman arguments.
Typical whiney Yankee hater.
I understand what you’re saying Astros, because it seems that they’re striking out at all the wrong times, or down by one and every single person is trying to homer when we simply need a base hit. I get it, but there’s no guarantee it would work. The Yankees roster construction is suited to their team/stadium/style of play and it’s been effective. I’ll get frustrated every now and again and suggest they need another DJ-type guy or two so they can get on base, or get the guy on base home. But if their lineup just does what it does, it’s killer.
Of course, one can always argue lack of effectiveness when they don’t win a WS, but who’s to say they’d win if they had another line drive guy? I mean, the 100-plus win seasons should speak to their success along with the perennial postseason contention, right?
Nice points clipper. Nice to see a yankee fan talk baseball. Theres no guarantee a merrifield addition would put them over the top. I just feel in that park more guys on base more chances to put teams away. Especially in October
Yeah, I get that. I think overall at times there isn’t enough small-ball, but I guess that’s too old school now or whatever. I’m pretty structured and I’m just used to the prototypical lineup structure of days past, so it’s…… an adjustment for me to see Voigt or Judge hit second. I’m more used to it now, but it took a bit.
Actually, the whole “TTO offenses don’t work in the playoffs” is a myth.
Last postseason was a great example. There was something like 2 games won by a team that was out homered. Of *all* the games.
This all makes sense too, right?
It’s much harder to string together a few base hits off the (typically) better pitching you see in October.
Also: home run rates actually *increase* during the playoffs. (A function of the fact that – generally speaking – elite offenses make it to the playoffs.)
Just because it hasn’t led to a World Series doesn’t mean it’s not a viable strategy. Look. In the end the single best thing a batter can do in his AB is to hit a home run.
Now we can argue the aesthetics of it which is a different matter. But the effectiveness can not.
Yes sir. I think the biggest problem for the Yankees that leads to this thought process at times (at least my struggle in the past) stems from the fact that their offense goes completely anemic in big games. It’s very atypical, but when considering that the best rotations make the postseason, and the best pitchers pitch the biggest games…. well, you know.
You know, you’ve made a great case in point in the past with the Yankees Ducky – they’re victims of their own success. They’ve had some really young, but successful, teams go to the playoffs and they’ve won. They’ve been incredibly close to going all the way each year. In fact, change the pitchers and the offense is sufficient, so, it’s a double edge sword. The offense is their strength, their flagship, if you will. It’s so easy to pick on that, but in reality, if JAHapp, or whomever else, permits a couple runs less, Yankees win another game or two – they end up in the WS.
I don’t know, probably too analytical….
I prefer to hunt waterfowl over…well, water.
It’s spring goose season right now.
See, I prefer to be on a river, watching the sun rise or set, do a little walleye fishing on the side.
I like boats & kayaks.
As such, I rarely get shut out.
But: a huge day for me is 6-8 geese.
Guys that hunt crop fields oftentimes get shut out. More often than not, actually. & I find those places to be ugly & rather boring.
But: those are the guys that will bag 50-100(!) honkers in a single day.
Aesthetically, they can have it.
But: if my job was to bring back as many geese as I could…well, I’m not stupid. Soybean fields it would be. That’s just way more efficient.
I see TTO Vs Small Ball as the exact same thing. If I was tasked with building an MLB offense I’d stuff it with TTO guys.
It’s ugly. It’s like if the ultimate evolution of football was actually “3 yards & a cloud of dust”.
But as the game is currently played only a fool wouldn’t take advantage of it.
Yeah, I see that especially in today’s game. I think it’s tough getting used to new….. analytics, lineups, openers (yuck), and more.
But, as you astutely noted below, TTO guys usually have high OBPs. One thing I’ll never forget, especially as I see all the stat-head arguments on here: Barry Bonds, one of the best natural hitters in baseball, and you saw what he did when unnatural, said that the ONLY stay he ever was concerned with was OBP. Why? He posited that if OBP is right, everything else will be as well. OBP is the heartbeat for everything else offense, and you’re doing it right if the OBP is right.
I thought that was a really interesting take from a dude who knows something about something.
Have you ever read Ted Williams book on hitting, @Clip? Remember, Williams was the first player that was ever shifted on. Way back in the day.
But his approach was exactly that of a modern day TTO guy. Take your walks…wait for *your* pitch, & when you get it don’t get cheated.
Same thing as we see today!
This all makes sense too, as – of course – in the end it’s the red sox fault, uh?
Ban shifting & we’ll see a return to the game more in line with the version we grew to love.
Bet.
No, that’s another one I have to read. Actually, I want to have my some read it too. Joe D said Ted Williams was the best hitter he ever saw (Ted reciprocated by saying Joe was the best player he ever saw).
You in favor of banning shifts?
@YC Let teams align their defense how they want. Pull hitters down in the minors need to learn how to hit linedrives to oppo field (no small feat) for XBHs. I’d too like to see more complete hitters rather than TTO.
Takes maybe an hour to read, serious.
I’m trying to figure out a way to reward contact hitting & not just fly balls.
So…I think so?
KC is approaching this season in a horrible way…imagine, trying to win as many games as you can for the fanbase, and maybe building a winning culture along the way. How HORRIBLE!!!!
I don’t think Whit is going anywhere.
He might not. But do you think a 32 year old merrifield is a prime performer on the next royals contender? I dont think so. Sell him while his trade value is its highest.
Since they have both Montgomery’s, the Yankees are now Octo-Montgomery…
Not arguing ducky. But one more obp guy in that yankees lineup might make it unstoppable. MIGHT!
But high OBP’s are a hallmark of TTO guys.
These aren’t the old “grip it & rip it” dudes from yesteryear. These guys get on base.
What you’re arguing for is a high batting average guy. That’s different. & I would say superfluous.
That doesn’t help run prevention. This team’s kryptonite has always been shutdown starting pitching. Having Cole partially addresses that. Offense is not the problem.
Man… I’ve had a hard enough time not mixing up Jordan and Mike Montgomery over the last several years without them playing for the same damn team… HAHA
Wait, it’s not the same guy? Mike isn’t Jordan’s middle name?
Ducky, you get to read that Sanchez article on 314? If so, what did you think?
Keep meaning to, @Clip.
We started building in earnest today.
So I’ll slowly start losing my life over the next month & then it’ll be consumed by building projects until September. Usually, I’m kind of excited for it. But last year was a bit draining.
What I am getting at is, I will have lots of things I “should” read but I won’t get around to very many of them.
He has to be right physically and mechanically to be an ok starter. Sucks out of the pen. Not a typical lefty. A fly ball pitcher. Won’t strike out many. Washed out with the Royals when they were terrible. A fifth starter if there is no other.
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