The Rangers are bringing back old friend Jordan Montgomery, according to a report from Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. Montgomery will make $1.25MM on a one-year, MLB deal. The deal also includes performance bonuses. Montgomery is represented by Wasserman. Texas will need to create a 40-man roster spot to accommodate Montgomery once the signing becomes official.
Montgomery, 33, missed the entire 2025 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery last March. He’ll open the season on the 60-day injured list, according to Grant, but the lefty figures to factor into the team’s rotation later this year once he’s finished his rehab process. Grant suggests that could come at some point in the second half, though it’s at least plausible the lefty could return before that if he avoids any setbacks in his rehab. Nathan Eovaldi, Jacob deGrom, MacKenzie Gore, and Jack Leiter all appear to be more or less locked into rotation spots for Texas to open the year, with Jacob Latz and Kumar Rocker among the options to kick off the season in that fifth rotation spot.
As pitching injuries become more and more common around the league, it’s impossible to say what the state of the Rangers rotation will look like once Montgomery is healthy enough to rejoin the staff. If everyone is healthy, Montgomery take over that fifth starter job if Latz and/or Rocker has struggled, or could simply expand the Rangers’ rotation to six men depending on the needs of the club at the time. Of course, both Eovaldi and Gore missed significant time due to injuries last year and deGrom has a lengthy injury history of his own. A fully healthy rotation all year long can’t be assumed, and that could leave Montgomery to serve in a pivotal role for the Rangers by providing reinforcements at some point.
Whenever Montgomery does wind up returning to the big league mound, the quality of his performance will be a source of considerable intrigue. It wasn’t all that long ago that Montgomery was a World Series hero in Texas who hit the open market coming off a stretch of seasons with the Rangers, Cardinals, and Yankees where he looked like a high-end #2 starter. It seemed likely he’d get a free agent contract to match that pedigree, but he lingered on the market during the 2023-24 offseason and became one of the oft-discussed “Boras Four” alongside Blake Snell, Cody Bellinger, and Matt Chapman. All four wound up signing pillow contracts late in the year, and while the other three all went on to have success and sign much larger deals in the years afterwards, the same did not happen for Montgomery.
The lefty’s career has taken a tumble since signing that pillow contract with the Diamondbacks. He struggled badly in 2024 with a 6.23 ERA in 117 innings for the Snakes. He changed his representation and accused Boras of having “butchered” his free agency, while Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick publicly expressed frustration with having signed Montgomery, calling it a “horrible decision.” That acrimonious relationship came to an end at the trade deadline last year, when the Diamondbacks dumped what little remained of Montgomery’s contract on the Brewers in a trade that also sent righty Shelby Miller to Milwaukee. Montgomery, of course, did not pitch for the Brew Crew as he rehabbed and found himself back in free agency this offseason.
Given Montgomery’s disastrous 2024 campaign and lost season in 2025, it would be fair to consider the fact that the Rangers offered him a big league contract a notable vote of confidence in his ability to get back to being an above-average starter, even in spite of the relatively small base salary that the deal comes with. Signing a player like Montgomery who won’t be ready to contribute on Opening Day doesn’t necessarily prevent the Rangers from adding more to their rotation, especially if injuries crop up early in the season. With that being said, however, choosing to add a player like Montgomery rather than someone who could be ready to start games when the season begins could signal that the team is comfortable having Latz or Rocker open the season in the rotation and doesn’t feel much pressure to put additional competition into the mix for that particular camp battle.
For 1.25m why the hell not
Surely the highest ceiling for 1.25 million
Hopefully my main man Monty can stay healthy.
Rangers experience JoMo
Guess he’s not holding out for that 7yr deal from couple offseasons ago when offers of 5 was risky enough for clubs-sometimes when trying to show everyone who’s boss, it bites you.
He made almost 50 million on his last contract. I think he’ll be okay.
He turned down 9 figure offers-yes he’s fine, but left around 60 to 75mil on the table.
cwsO,
Do you *know* he has 9-figure deals offered to him a couple of off-seasons ago? Maybe he never received the long-term offers he was hoping for.
What a strange career. He got paid like the next big thing but never put it together. ERA not bad, just didn’t pan out.
Thank you for your contribution Mr bot
Thank you for your contribution Mr not
Shhhhh lady
6.23 ERA is not bad? A 1.650 WHIP isn’t bad? An 11.5 H/9 and a 6.4 K/9 isn’t bad?
Hopefully, a return to Texas brings him back to form.
He didn’t lol: he laughed silently to himself- like a muffled guffaw or Cheshire cat grin like that cartoon cat mutley
Career 4.0 era dude.
No he didn’t lol he never got a huge deal
$25m is a huge deal
Huge would be $25M over like 7-8 years.
Anyone with a brain should have known this would happen. Monty didn’t get a single swing and miss in his last WS start for the Rangers in 2023. He just has a couple of good years in terms of batted ball luck and tried to parlay it into front line starter money. That’s why nobody else wanted him then
Soft contact meat
Ghost,
How much can anyone extrapolate from a single start?
That’s alot less than I would think figured he would around 5-7 million. Maybe he took a discount.
All time Brewers great Jordan Montgomery
Let’s go.
Did I miss when the Diamondbacks cut bait? I thought he was just put on the 60 day IL last year.
they salary dumped him to milwauke for i dont remember who
For a PTBNL.
PTBNL, and that player still has been decided on.
Oh how the below average have fallen
Just had TOMMY JOHN in March of 2025 and out till mid year or later.
As a diehard dbacks fan I guarantee he does well over there.
Rangers just added a potential #3 starter at the trade deadline…. Great move
It’s low cost enough to definitely take that chance.
Hopefully he’s back from TJ by July
Wait is he paying the Rangers to play
Welcome back JoMo! Let’s get another ring!
OMG I didn’t now know he was available. For that cheap deal why didn’t Cashman go get him. I’d rather have him back ten then Goldy if Yankees are counting every penny. Seems more and more they are becoming cheap.
That is a magnificent bargain if he gets back to throwing like he did in ’23.
I’m dissappointed that it wasn’t Corbin. Thought he had a great season last year and that he was a good fit for the team.
Corbin took a “prove it” deal in ’25 and threw 155 innings for the team. He deserved a raise and the Rangers had the cap space to pay the man.
Im certain he was a good guy to have around, pitching staff was excellent last year. Rangers will miss him this season.
Welcome back, Gumby!
Now for the free barbecue for life we promised you in 2024…
Best staff in the ALWest, just got better
Hmmm… I think the Mariners and Astros have a slight advantage.
Mariners are clearly better, but we’re better than Houston.
Im worried about Jordan. How will he make ends meet on just 1.25 million?
This guy is the least deserving pitcher to sign a deal this spring. Absolute bum.
Found the Diamondbacks fan
At this price, he’s a lottery ticket. A high potential return, but the chances for success (this summer) are low.
At that price, he could have been smart signing for several other clubs ( Yankees, Braves, Phils).
As a former Yankee ,wish him well. Always thought he was a number 3 starter potential. Much like Schmidt now. Ok more of a4th
He should be available about the time Evoldi sees his customary 2-3 week IL stint.
I still hope they resign Patrick Corbin as well…. As CY says – ever nuff pitching…
Feeling a little better about the team but still wished they would have signed Andujar….. Also hope Peterson has a very short leash this year 😝😝
Joc needs to earn his paycheck for sure. I’m positive the team would’ve liked to move on but couldn’t find anyone to take on his salary. If he’s terrible again early maybe they will just cut him loose for the good of the team.
Vote of confidence isn’t paying someone league minimum
Should have taken the $100M offer from TEX originally.
It doesn’t work this way for everyone, but you have to wonder if missing Spring Training in 2024 factored into his horrible results and the arm injury which may have been sustained (or at least got started) during the 2024 season.
He was also coming off a season where he pitched 40 more innings than ever before and went deep into October, reducing his off-season recovery.
He blames Scott Boras. Which, because it is fun, I will do as well. It’s your fault, Scott Boras, for allowing your love of money and personal pride to get in the way of a reasonable contract for Jordan Montgomery.
For the money and the possible return, this might be the best FA signing of the winter!