4:01 pm: If Montgomery cracks the big league team, he’ll earn a salary of $1.1MM, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post.
1:56 pm: Left-handed pitcher Mike Montgomery is signing a minor league deal with the Mets, per Robert Murray of FanSided. The deal is pending a physical and presumably comes with an invitation to big league camp.
Montgomery and the Mets also connected on a minor league deal a year ago, but he never cracked the roster. He opted out and ended up signing another minor league deal with the Yankees, which he also opted out of, before heading to Korea. He made 11 starts for the Samsung Lions, putting up an ERA of 5.37.
The southpaw spent the previous six seasons in the majors, appearing in 183 games from 2015 to 2020, making 70 starts and logging 541 innings with the Mariners, Cubs and Royals. His career ERA is 3.84, though it hovered around 5.00 in 2019 and 2020. His career strikeout rate is 18%, along with a walk rate of 8.8%. The highlight of that period, however, was Montgomery recording the final out of the 2016 World Series for the Cubs.
Now 32, Montgomery has worked both out of the rotation and bullpen in his career, meaning he could function as depth in either capacity for the Mets. The rotation is strong on paper but comes with loads of uncertainty. Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer, Chris Bassitt and Carlos Carrasco figure to be the front four, though they all dealt with injuries last year to varying degrees. Taijuan Walker underwent knee surgery in January and may not be ready for Opening Day. If any of that core five need to miss time, the club could also turn to Tylor Megill, David Peterson, Jordan Yamamoto, Sean Reid-Foley or Yennsy Diaz, who are all on the 40-man roster.
The path to a job in the bullpen is much more open, however, as the club doesn’t really have a lefty on the roster projected to be part of the relief corps. Alex Claudio was signed to a minor league deal in January and would likely be Montgomery’s chief competition in that respect. The Mets could continue this wild offseason with another addition, though there aren’t many high profile lefties remaining on the free agent market, with Andrew Chafin and Tony Watson perhaps being the most notable.
Super.
Depth.
If the Angels did this they would be called dumpster divers, losers, f—- Artie etc.
That’s because the Angels would be signing Montgomery to be their 4th starter.
I think they’ll sign Chafin. It would continue their run of signing former A’s.
I think if they wanted Chafin or Watson, it would have happened already
I hope they sign Chafin as well, no more retreads to the minors after Montgomery.
Hide the rosin bags.
To be fair, Monty was a good swingman for the Cubs and that last out in 2016 created the most pure joy in the USA since when? World War II ending?
The USA? Or Chicago?
The USA. WGN created many Cubs fans across the country.
The victory celebration is considered to be one of the top ten largest gatherings of humanity in history.
Haha! Beat me to that comment!
Montgomery was never great as a starter, but he was a pretty effective reliever in the past. Mets are short on LHP relievers… can’t hurt.
Players should have the right to declare themselves “optionable” so they can go up and down during the season
You get one call-up then you have to go through waivers. If Montgomery could go up and down all season he’d get more opportunities
Once you run out of options you should have the power to declare yourself optionable
Isn’t that what DFA is for? If no teams claim him, then he can be outrighted to the minors (only once, a second time grants him free agency if he doesn’t want to be outrighted again), traded, or released.
Yeah but you have to clear waivers and if you get claimed you’re headed to another organization. During that time you’re in ‘limbo’
This way you’re with the same organization the entire year. The DFA process makes it much less probable that you’ll get called up
Montgomery can go up and down all year and settle in with the AAA team
Plus this would be the players choice. If he thinks he can stick to another team’s 40-man he doesn’t declare himself optionable
It is much more likely Montgomery would be added to a 40-man if he was optionable
A lot of careers come to an end because players run out of options
Remember the one time last year Mike Montgomery got suspended 20 games for throwing a rosin bag at an umpire in the KBO?
Yea and got into a tantrum with his own manager.
I like it.
Glad the Mets never pulled off this trade, deGrom for Montgomery, Happ, and Russell.
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/24132748/what-take-cubs-pull-degrom-blockbuster
Russell out of MLB., Montgomery Trying too get back into MLB, and Happ a career .241 hitter for arguably the Greatest pitcher in the game today …..
Funniest line in the article “”Two of those three could start to get it done,” one National League scout said.” …….