The Diamondbacks’ surprise signing of Corbin Burnes further crowded a rotation that had at least six starters in the mix. While there’s been talk of a possible six-man rotation in Arizona since that Burnes deal, manager Torey Lovullo said at D-backs camp this week that team is not considering that at this point (link via Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic).
That leaves the Diamondbacks with seven starters for five spots: Burnes, Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly, Eduardo Rodriguez, Brandon Pfaadt, Jordan Montgomery and Ryne Nelson. The first four are largely locked into place. Burnes and Gallen are Cy Young-caliber arms when healthy. Kelly has been a steady midrotation arm for the Snakes since signing out of the KBO in the 2018-19 offseason. Rodriguez’s first year in Arizona was marred by injury, but he’s signed three more years and has a lengthy track record.
Montgomery’s status in Arizona has been a talking point throughout the winter. The Diamondbacks signed him to a one-year, $25MM contract with a vesting $20MM player option for the 2025 season. The left-hander pitched enough to trigger that option but nowhere near well enough to decline it in favor of a return to the open market. Signing just days before Opening Day last season, Montgomery missed spring training, rushed through an accelerated ramp-up in Triple-A and never appeared to be himself. He pitched 117 innings but was rocked for a 6.23 earned run average with career-worst walk and strikeout rates.
D-backs owner Ken Kendrick called Montgomery’s performance out late in the season, publicly lamenting the role that he’d played in bringing the left-hander to his organization. “I brought it to (the front office’s) attention. I pushed for it,” Kendrick said in September. “They agreed to it. It wasn’t in our game plan. … And looking back, in hindsight, a horrible decision to have invested that money in a guy that performed as poorly as he did.”
Pfaadt, 26, would give the D-backs an upside arm at the back of the staff. The former top prospect hasn’t yet found his stride over a full big league season but has shown glimpses of the potential that made him so well regarded. He looked to have found his stride last year, logging a 3.98 ERA, 23% strikeout rate and 4.9% walk rate through his first 24 starts, but Pfaadt was hit hard in late August and for much of September. He mixed in one late-season gem — seven innings, one run, 12 strikeouts in Milwaukee — but even with that showing still posted an ERA north of 7.00 over his final eight starts. He finished the year at a 4.71 mark but did pile up 181 2/3 innings.
Nelson, who turned 27 in December, made 27 appearances this past season — 25 of them starts — and recorded 150 2/3 innings of 4.24 ERA ball. His 20% strikeout rate and 8.4% swinging-strike rate were below average (well below, with regard to the latter), but Nelson’s 5.4% walk rate was outstanding.
There are other options on the 40-man roster, but they’re likely to be viewed as depth candidates, barring a spring breakout. Yilber Diaz, Cristian Mena, Tommy Henry and Blake Walston are all on the 40-man roster and have all made their big league debuts, but they’d likely only be called upon in the event of multiple injuries — at least with the current roster construction.
Kendrick’s comments on Montgomery led to plenty of speculation about a potential trade of this winter, but no such deal has come to fruition. It’s still possible the D-backs could find a taker for a portion of the contract or swap him out for a comparably priced veteran on an underwater deal (e.g. Rhys Hoskins, Starling Marte), but for now, Montgomery will get a full spring buildup and look to bounce back from a dismal 2024 season.
If the D-backs can find some kind of trade that sheds a portion of the Montgomery money, any savings could be reallocated to other needs. Most notably, they’ve been in the market for a closer throughout the winter but have yet to add an established ninth-inning arm. Arizona’s payroll is projected for a franchise-record $195MM, per RosterResource. It’s not clear whether Kendrick is willing to push things further after already ponying up to sign Burnes (six years, $210MM), acquire Josh Naylor in a trade (one year, $10.9MM) and re-sign Randal Grichuk (one year, $5MM). Barring the signing of a veteran like David Robertson or Kyle Finnegan, the D-backs will look inward and lean on A.J. Puk, Justin Martinez and Kevin Ginkel as their top late-inning arms.
Pfaadt needs to stay in that rotation. I watch him a lot and he’s one or two adjustments away from being a workhorse #3. Those guys don’t grow on trees
So move 20M Monty to a swing man role or trade him with a few million duct taped to him?
So you’re saying they aren’t going to trade Burnes??~
I would keep Monty in the bullpen as a 2nd starter where say pfaadt does 5 innings and Monty does 4
But if Monty does better than pfaadt then they better make sure that Monty still has playing time
Remember when the owner ripped Montgomery. Awkward he’s still there
Yeah, that was pretty classless.
Ad a diehard dbacks fan I say we leave Montgomery on the team unless we can get a good trade. Erod is always hurt and Kelly gets hurt. Sometimes Gallen. Monty came in great shape and deserves another shot. We need a closer! Trade from within the minors or just get Robertson to eat up some tough saves and move Puk to the closer as well.
I wouldn’t consider Kelly injury-prone. He’d made at least 27 starts in every full year of his career until this past season. Gallen really hasn’t ever been hurt either until last season.
I just see this as a prove it moment for Montgomery, if he has a terrible ST his trade value even goes down farther if there is such a thing. Hazen is in a hard place right now; does he just take a deal for a deal of a contract he really doesn’t want. But if Montgomery comes out guns a blazing in ST, you will have to find a place for him in the rotation or package him in a trade for another piece to the puzzle. Face it the Montgomery acquisition was not a good one with Montgomery having no spring training basically just a bad addition in 2024.
This would certainly indicate that Montgomery is outta there, but waiting on a team that could use him and willing to take a portion of his contract.
In other words, we don’t have enough quality arms like the Dodgers do to go with a 6 or 10 man rotation, so we’ll stick with 5.
I understand having a sour taste after Montgomery’s poor season, but it’s excusable considering the offseason circumstances. It’s a bit short-sighted to give up on him—and not think he can bounce back.
True, but I was just looking at his Game Logs for 2024 and, boy, Montgomery was awful all year long.
Might look different going into 2025 if he was brutal the first half, then picked it up, but he never really did. The best we can point to is his 4.30 FIP from June 11 on, but that included an .841 OPS against. Maybe the 4.12 FIP his last 22 IP? Ugh.
Most teams are going to need 10-12 starting pitchers throughout a season. First off if Pfaadt (I always hear his name in a Boston accent “wicked faat”) isn’t in the rotation the snakes brain trust needs their heads examined. Merrill Kelly and/or Eduardo Rodriguez will spend time on the IL. Montgomery is excellent depth/insurance. Great organizations that compete have SP depth. Depth is a positive, not a negative. Lots of hand wringing over one year sunk cost.
I see Hazen as a store owner with a good supply of starting pitchers, depending on the outcome of ST. I believe there is a deal coming down the road for a closer, Hazen will have to overpay for a closer with years before free agency. I believe he is looking some like Mason Miller, it will be costly.
Oakland has repeatedly said Miller is basically untouchable. Unless Arizona chooses to desperately rip themselves off, I suppose. Probably should just give Robertson 10 mil.
Hope he doesn’t make the mistake of going with 40 yo David Robertson. Robertson would be fine in a strong pen that needs a setup man, but if you’re relying on him to stay healthy all year, that’s pretty dicey.
Montgomery for Sterling Marte.
That seems decent on the surface, but doesn’t Arizona already have a log jam with Gurriel, McCarthy, Smith, Carroll, Thomas, etc, at DH and the OF?
Send Smith or Thomas to the Pirates for a reliever They don’t get much playing time anyway.
Marte already had a small stint in AZ and wasn’t a crowd favorite, or productive
I’m surprised they let Montgomery into the ballpark. That’s not his fault vs comment and stances made. Just buy the man out or trade him.
Nelson’s full year stats don’t tell the full story. He struggled the first half of ’24 but was outstanding for 2-3 months in the second half – not uncommon for a young SP getting his first full-time shot in a rotation. That said, I suspect he will be one of the odd men out given the contract status of Montgomery and Rodriguez, and the fact that Nelson still has an option. Imo, if he stays healthy, Nelson has an opportunity to be a rock solid mid-rotation arm.
Braves are lying in wait for the asking price to drop and/or seeing an increase in duct-taped $s (as mentioned earlier by RunDMC in the earlier comments).
I’m guessing offers for Montgomery have been pretty one-sided to this point given his poor ’24 season, higher salary and the owners comments. The Dbacks will be in a better bargaining position if they await inevitable SP injuries in ST. Eventually, a club built to contend this year will need a SP and come calling.
Kendrick’s comments should have been confined to the front office.
Him saying, “Yeah, that Monty signing was on me. My bad” is admirable. Yapping to the media about it has done nothing but hinder his bright GM’s ability to do his job.
D backs fans…I like the team but sunny get to follow very closely anymore. Would a swap of masataka yoshida for Jordan Montgomery make sense from your end?
*Don’t
Yoshida makes no sense for AZ; there are already 3 LHH OFs that can play CF (and a 4th LHH OF if you count Smith), and all of Carroll, McCarthy, and Thomas bring value in the field and on the bases (sadly, Yoshida hasn’t been too good at doing any of that).
And that’s not even mentioning that Gurriel already has LF locked up (and Grichuk will figure to get some starts in the field as well), and Chase Field has much more ground to cover in LF than Fenway.
Fair enough, no DH availability? I guess still LHH. Figured we could solve issues for both teams
The DBacks prefer to rotate guys through the DH spot to keep them fresh, but Pavin Smith already figures to get the majority of DH PAs against RHP and Randal Grichuk figures to get most of the DH PAs against LHP (with some plans to get Ketel time out of the field).
AZ’s lineup is already very much set, and most of the guys hold their own against same-handed pitchers; any position player improvements would likely be bench upgrades.
A LHH (or SH) that can play almost every position including SS would be a clear upgrade for the bench, but the best type of that player I can find is Willi Castro.
I don’t think the Twins would be too into dealing him before the season starts, considering how many injury risks they have in the IF.
Good Intel. I guess I can hope former Oakland still wants to add money.
Aj puk is their ace
Article doesn’t do justice to how solid Ryne Nelson was down the stretch. He was absolutely dominant and his 2nd half emergence should cement him into the rotation.