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Diamondbacks Continue To Look For Bullpen Help, Right-Handed Hitting

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The Diamondbacks’ two biggest offseason moves took place in late December, as the team surprisingly landed Corbin Burnes on a six-year, $210MM deal and acquired Josh Naylor in a trade with the Guardians.  Those headline-grabbing transactions, however, only reinforced an already-deep rotation and filled a hole at first base that was left open when Christian Walker signed with the Astros.

As such, two of the Snakes’ chief offseason goals remain unaddressed, as president of baseball operations Mike Hazen told the Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro that the D’Backs are still looking to add a high-leverage arm to the bullpen and a right-handed hitter to help balance out the lineup.  Adding the left-handed hitting Naylor in for the right-handed hitting Walker tilted Arizona’s lineup a bit further to the left side, and the Diamondbacks have been linked to such free agent relievers and trade targets as Devin Williams, Ryan Helsley, and Kirby Yates over the course of the offseason.

Interestingly, Hazen implied that the D’Backs could address these needs in free agency, saying “I still am in a position to add to the team, yes” when asked if more payroll space was available.  The unexpected Burnes signing sent the Diamondbacks’ payroll beyond the $193MM mark (as per RosterResource’s estimates), which is easily the highest payroll in franchise history.  This spending increase comes on the heels of another payroll surge, as Arizona’s Opening Day payroll went from $116.1MM in 2023 to $163.3MM last season.

It is probably safe to assume that Hazen’s remaining payroll flexibility is fairly limited, as he noted that “I don’t have that ability to just go, you know, take care of it with one swipe of the pen.  So those are probably the complicating factors relative to what we’re trying to get done, but there’s still opportunity.”  This could make trades the more likely path to further roster upgrades, though Hazen said that rival teams have been asking for too much in return.

Still, Hazen said that the D’Backs might be willing to use its rotation depth for trade-chip purposes, noting “that could be in some of the areas where your reliever trade comes in.”  Arizona’s starting pitchers had been drawing trade interest even before Burnes joined the roster, and one arm has already been dealt, as Slade Cecconi was sent to Cleveland as part of the Naylor deal.

This being said, Hazen is reluctant to move too much pitching, whether from the more established veterans in the rotation to younger arms slated for Triple-A or the bullpen.  Injuries concerns are omnipresent, since “as you know in starting pitching, it could be as much as missing a couple of bullpens somewhere in camp,” Hazen said.  “And that sometimes takes the potential ability for somebody to make the team on Opening Day impossible, and that happens pretty frequently.”

The Diamondbacks are therefore fine taking all seven of their starting pitching candidates into the start of Spring Training, Hazen said, but Piecoro notes that Jordan Montgomery is still available in trade talks.  Arizona’s efforts to move Montgomery have been a well-documented subplot of the team’s offseason, but there hasn’t been much public buzz around specific teams interested in the left-hander’s services.  Granted, that isn’t a shock given Montgomery’s $22.5MM salary in 2025 and his injury-hampered 6.23 ERA over 117 innings in 2024.

Williams was traded from the Brewers to the Yankees, Yates is seemingly close to a deal with the Dodgers, and the Cardinals (somewhat curiously) aren’t planning to trade Helsley, even though the closer is a free agent next winter and hasn’t had any extension talks with the St. Louis front office.  The D’Backs also had some interest in re-signing old friend Paul Sewald, but Arizona’s ex-closer signed with the Guardians earlier this week.  Among the remaining members of the free agent bullpen market, Carlos Estevez, Kenley Jansen, David Robertson, and Craig Kimbrel are among the more notable pitchers with closing experience, plus any number of relievers might be available in trade talks.

Arizona had arguably the league’s top offense last season, but even with Naylor replacing Walker, the D’Backs are missing a couple of key contributors.  Joc Pederson signed with the Rangers, though Randal Grichuk is still a free agent, and a reunion with the outfielder would directly address the Diamondbacks’ need for a righty bat.  Grichuk’s ability to play the outfield also makes him a fit, as Hazen said the team isn’t looking specifically for a right-handed hitting DH option.  Pavin Smith figures to take Pederson’s spot as the left-handed hitting side of the DH platoon, but Hazen wants to keep the designated hitter position relatively open in order to give multiple players possible rest days.

Diamondbacks Sign Josh Winder To Minor League Contract

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The D-Backs signed righty Josh Winder to a minor league deal with an invitation to MLB Spring Training. The deal was announced by the team’s Triple-A affiliate in Reno.

Winder moves to the second organization of his career. He was a seventh-round pick by the Twins back in 2018. The 6’5″ hurler pitched very well up through Double-A. He was selected to the Futures Game in 2021 and ranked as the #6 prospect in a solid Minnesota farm system on Baseball America’s organizational report the following winter. At the time, some prospect evaluators felt he had a mid-rotation ceiling.

That hasn’t materialized at the major league level. Winder started 11 of 15 games as a rookie in 2022. He posted a 4.70 ERA across 67 innings. Minnesota moved him to the bullpen the next year. Winder tossed 34 2/3 MLB innings across 19 relief appearances. He pitched 18 times in Triple-A. Winder struggled at both stops and fell further down the depth chart going into 2024. He only made four MLB appearances last season, allowing four runs (three earned) over nine innings. He surrendered a 6.15 earned run average across 41 Triple-A frames.

Winder has battled shoulder issues dating back to the second half of the 2021 campaign. He spent time on the minor league injured list with shoulder injuries every year between 2021-23. A stress fracture in his shoulder blade cost him the first two months of last season. That has perhaps contributed to Winder’s underwhelming 5.49 ERA through parts of four Triple-A seasos. He owns a 4.39 mark across 110 2/3 major league innings, though his 18% strikeout rate is well below average.

Arizona could keep the 28-year-old in relief or give him another rotation opportunity if they feel his shoulder will hold up. Winder has shown strong command and mixes five pitches. His four-seam fastball sat around 94 MPH during his rotation work a few seasons back. It ticked up to 95 MPH on average in his limited big league action last season.

Corbin Burnes Discusses Decision To Join Diamondbacks

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Corbin Burnes’ six-year, $210MM contract with the Diamondbacks stands out as perhaps the most surprising move of the 2024-25 offseason, as Arizona wasn’t viewed as a prime contender to either spend that much money, or even make a move for a frontline pitcher given the depth already present in the Snakes’ rotation.

As revealed today during Burnes’ introductory press conference, the concept of Burnes joining the D’Backs also seemed unlikely to all parties involved at the start of the offseason.  Past reports suggested that it was Burnes and his agent Scott Boras who reached out to the D’Backs to ignite talks in late December and a deal was reached in fairly short order, and this version of events was largely supported in comments to media (including the Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro, Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci, and MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert) today.

Burnes and his family live in Scottsdale, and there was obvious appeal in playing so close to home, especially after Burnes’ wife Brooke gave birth to twin girls this past June.  While Burnes had interest in playing for the Diamondbacks, there wasn’t much or any contact between the two sides until Boras contacted owner Ken Kendrick in December about the possibility of a signing.  Boras and Kendrick seemingly handled this initial set of negotiations directly, as D’Backs GM Mike Hazen and assistant GM Amiel Sawdaye were both out of country on family vacations.

The result was the priciest contract in Diamondbacks franchise history, and a payroll that now sits at roughly $193.6MM, as per RosterResource’s estimates.  Kendrick admitted that the D’Backs were “stretching the budget” to make the Burnes deal work, but he pointed to such new revenue streams as a sponsored jersey patch, a ballpark sportsbook, and more concerts at Chase Field, plus the more traditional extra funds generated by increased attendance.

“All of those things drive the train, and then what do we do?  Every dollar that comes in we’re going to reinvest it in ballplayers and not in the ownership, and we will always do that,” Kendrick said.

Burnes wasn’t entirely off the Diamondbacks’ radar at the start of the offseason, as Sawdaye said in an appearance on the Baseball Isn’t Boring podcast today that the front office had “heard through intermediaries, and other players” that Burnes had interest in playing close to home.  Internally, Sawdaye said “we had some discussion and it seemed financially it wasn’t going to be able to work or make sense.”

However, with Kendrick and CEO Derrick Hall pushing things and Burnes remaining unsigned, Sawdaye said the front office essentially asked ” ’well, what’s the price going to be?’ We’d be doing ourselves a disservice to a player who wants to come here, and obviously we should find out what that’s going to cost.”

As hefty as Burnes’ contract is, Boras said there was “no question” the right-hander turned down larger offers from other teams.  Past reports indicated that the Blue Jays and possibly the Orioles were willing to top Arizona’s offer, though Burnes said today that he’d only received concrete offers from the Jays and Giants, plus “some verbal stuff with Baltimore and Boston, but nothing I had seen in writing.”

Verducci’s piece includes a longer breakdown of how Burnes’ free agent trip developed, with Toronto, Boston, and the Yankees all expressing interest right at the start of free agency.  Various discussions took place with all parties over the next several weeks, with Corbin and Brooke Burnes prioritizing how signing with each prospective suitor would impact their young family’s day-to-day routine.  The Yankees and Red Sox seemed to fall back in the chase after the teams had respectively landed Max Fried and Garrett Crochet to address their pitching needs, which helped clear the way for the D’Backs to emerge with a late bid.

Roki Sasaki Reportedly Informs Several Teams They Are Out Of Running

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3:10pm: The Rangers have also been informed that they are out of the running, reports Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. The Diamondbacks never got a meeting with Sasaki and won’t be the destination either, per John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Phoenix.

2:56pm: The Mets have also been informed that they are out of the running, per Joel Sherman of The New York Post.

2:35pm: The Yankees have been told that right-hander Roki Sasaki will not be signing with them, reports Jack Curry of Yes Network. That’s the second team that is reportedly out, with the Giants having also been told that they won’t be Sasaki’s destination. Andy Martino of SNY adds that the Mets aren’t expected to sign him either, though it’s unclear if they have been given a clear denial like the Giants and Yankees. As for teams that are still in the mix, Sasaki reportedly met with the Padres in San Diego recently, per a report from Dennis Lin, Will Sammon and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. This was after his recent meeting with the Blue Jays in Toronto.

Sasaki has been on the radar of MLB clubs for years, but his situation became very interesting once it became clear that he would be coming over to North America this winter. Since he is not yet 25 years old, he is considered an amateur under MLB’s international signing rules. That makes a massive difference in his earning power and opens him up to potentially sign with any club.

Per the international bonus pool system, each club has a limit on how much signing bonus money they can give to international amateurs, with this year’s pools ranging from $5-8MM. Broadly speaking, the large-market clubs have the smaller pools and vice versa. Teams can trade for more pool money but can’t add more than 60% of their initial pool allotment.

The Chiba Lotte Marines, Sasaki’s Nippon Professional Baseball club, will also be owed a posting fee. However, the value of that fee will be a percentage of his signing bonus and won’t be a large number either. Per the NPB posting rules, the fee is 20% of a deal’s first $25MM, 17.5% of the next $25MM, and 15% of further spending. Since Sasaki will be capped by the pool system, his deal will lead to a modest bonus, with the posting fee adding 20%.

Had Sasaki waited until he turned 25, he would have been considered a professional and could have signed a deal for any amount. That’s the route Yoshinobu Yamamoto took, eventually securing a $325MM deal from the Dodgers.

It can be debated as to who is the better pitcher between Yamamoto and Sasaki, but the point is that there’s tremendous upside in getting Sasaki aboard for such a small investment. Teams that normally don’t sign top free agents can become theoretical fits, while the larger clubs have big payrolls and competitive balance tax concerns, making them very interested as well.

By coming to North America now, Sasaki has seemingly illustrated that maximizing his short-term earnings is not his top priority. Since each club has roughly the same ability to offer him a bonus now, he should be focused on non-financial criteria for making his decision. It could come down to geography, a club’s reputation developing pitching or perhaps a team’s long-term competitive outlook. His agent, Joel Wolfe, said the plan was for teams to make pitches before the holidays. Sasaki would then travel to visit the home cities of certain clubs after the holidays.

A decision needs to come soon. Sasaki can’t officially sign until January 15 when the new pool year starts, but he also has to be signed by January 23, when his posting window closes. Now that there’s only a handful of days left, it seems he is narrowing the field.

The Yankees and Mets both reportedly met with Sasaki in December but it seems that he won’t be coming to New York to join either club. Both teams already have plenty of rotation options, though they surely would have welcomed the problem of adding Sasaki into the mix and further crowding things. The Yankees are already feel good enough about their pitching depth that they are reportedly shopping Marcus Stroman.

Perhaps signing Sasaki wouldn’t have added too much to the urgency to trade Stroman. MLB teams often use six-man rotations when folding in a Japanese pitcher, as the NPB usually sees starters throw once a week as opposed to the five-day rotation in North America. It’s a moot point now but the Yanks still project to start the year with a strong group that includes Gerrit Cole, Max Fried, Carlos Rodón, Luis Gil and Clarke Schmidt, which is why Stroman’s available.

The Mets have more uncertainty in their rotation but still have plenty of arms to potentially fill out their rotation. Sean Manaea, Kodai Senga, David Peterson, Frankie Montas, Clay Holmes, Paul Blackburn, Griffin Canning and Tylor Megill are all possibilities. There are question marks with many of those names but that’s eight viable candidates of varying degrees for five rotation spots.

Many observers have considered the Dodgers and the Padres to be the two most likely landing spots, so it’s not especially surprising that San Diego is still in the mix. No one can be sure what Sasaki’s priorities are, but it’s been suggested that the club’s West Coast location and strong performance in recent years are points in their favor, as well as Sasaki’s friendship with Yu Darvish.

As pointed out by The Athletic and others, the Padres could probably use Sasaki more than any other club. They have known financial constraints but plenty of holes to fill, which is why players like Luis Arráez, Dylan Cease, Jake Cronenworth and Robert Suarez have been in trade rumors this winter. Adding a pitcher of Sasaki’s caliber at such a discounted rate would be tremendously helpful for them.

As of right now, the rotation projects to include Darvish, Cease and Michael King, with plenty of question marks beyond that. Adding Sasaki would give the Padres a very strong front four, but it could also perhaps increase the chances of the Friars trading Cease for players that are cheaper and more controllable but less proven.

It’s still anyone’s guess what team will be chosen by Sasaki and why. As mentioned, the Jays are still a possibility, based on Sasaki’s recent trip to Toronto. The Padres are obviously in there as well. The Athletic mentions the Dodgers, Rangers, Cubs and Mariners are clubs that are thought to be in the mix. It’s unknown if Sasaki will visit with any of those other clubs but resolution is coming soon, with more information perhaps trickling out in the coming days.

Diamondbacks Claim René Pinto

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The D-backs announced Friday that they’ve claimed catcher René Pinto off waivers from the Orioles. Baltimore designated him for assignment a week ago to create roster space for free agent signee Charlie Morton. Arizona already had two open spots on their 40-man roster, so there’s no corresponding move.

Pinto changes hands for the second time this offseason. Baltimore had claimed him off waivers from the Rays within days of the end of the World Series. Their subsequent signing of Gary Sánchez to an $8.5MM free agent deal indicated that Pinto’s tenure with the O’s could be brief. The 28-year-old is out of minor league options. Baltimore couldn’t send him to Triple-A without exposing him to waivers. The Orioles will go with Adley Rutschman and Sánchez as their duo behind the plate.

While Pinto has a better chance of holding his roster spot in Arizona, that’s by no means guaranteed. Gabriel Moreno is locked in as the starter. Jose Herrera has spent parts of three seasons as the backup. Herrera is also out of options. It’s unlikely that the Diamondbacks will carry three catchers into the regular season. The Snakes could let Pinto and Herrera compete for the #2 job during Spring Training.

Alternatively, Adrian Del Castillo could squeeze them both off the roster. He had a monster year in Triple-A (.312/.399/.603) and hit .313/.368/.525 in his first 25 big league games. Del Castillo isn’t considered an especially strong defender, however, so the Snakes could use him as a multi-positional bench bat rather than risk thinning their catching depth by waiving Herrera and Pinto.

Pinto is a right-handed hitter who has appeared in parts of three MLB seasons for Tampa Bay. He owns a .231/.263/.404 slash with 10 homers across 237 career plate appearances. Pinto showed some power in a small sample in 2023. That earned him the Opening Day catching assignment last season, but he struggled behind the dish. Opponents went 18-19 in stolen base attempts over just 135 innings. Pinto also committed a passed ball and was behind the plate for seven wild pitches.

Tampa Bay optioned him and kept him in Triple-A for the rest of the season. He hit just .191/.257/.373 over 53 games with their top affiliate and was never called back up. Pinto’s broader offensive track record in the minors is more impressive. He’s a .253/.303/.487 hitter across 907 Triple-A plate appearances spanning four seasons.

Diamondbacks Avoid Arbitration With Zac Gallen, Josh Naylor

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The Diamondbacks avoided arbitration with right-hander Zac Gallen and first baseman Josh Naylor, according to reports from Mark Feinsand of MLB.com and Robert Murray of FanSided. Gallen will earn $13.5MM, while Naylor will command $10.9MM. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz had projected Gallen at $14.1MM and Naylor at $10.9MM. It’s the final year of club control for both players.

Gallen, 29, pitched 148 innings of 3.65 ERA ball last season, representing his lowest innings total and highest ERA of the past three seasons. The right-hander missed roughly a month with a hamstring strain, limiting his time on the mound and perhaps also impacting his performance.

At his best, Gallen is an All-Star and Cy Young-caliber arm. He finished in the top five of NL Cy Young balloting in both 2022 and 2023, earning his lone career All-Star nod in the latter of those two seasons. Across those two years, Gallen pitched to a 3.04 ERA in 394 innings. Since making his big league debut with the Marlins in 2019 — Miami flipped him to Arizona that summer for Jazz Chisholm Jr. — Gallen touts a 3.29 ERA, 26.6% strikeout rate and 7.6% walk rate in 815 1/3 innings.

Gallen has long been the ace of Arizona’s staff, but he’ll at least nominally be bumped into the No. 2 spot of a potential powerhouse rotation in the wake of the D-backs’ shock signing of Corbin Burnes to a six-year, $210MM deal. Burnes, Gallen, Merrill Kelly, Eduardo Rodriguez, Ryne Nelson, Brandon Pfaadt and rebound hopeful/trade candidate Jordan Montgomery give the Diamondbacks a wealth of rotation talent to lean on in the coming season.

Naylor, 27, came to Arizona last month in a trade that sent righty Slade Cecconi and a competitive balance draft pick back to the Guardians. Cleveland immediately pivoted and signed Carlos Santana to a one-year, $12MM deal that mirrored the projection for Naylor. Cleveland will end up with the pricier of the two options at first base in the end, though they also added a controllable 25-year-old swingman and a pick in the high 60s of the 2025 draft.

The 2025 season will be Arizona’s lone year of control over Naylor, who’s coming off a career-best 31 home runs. He turned in a .243/.320/.456 batting line in 2024, clocking in about 18% better than league-average, by measure of wRC+. His bat faded a bit in the season’s second half, but only relative to the huge first-half numbers Naylor posted (particularly in April and in June). He was an above-average hitter in five of the season’s six months, per wRC+, with the lone exception being May, when he was just 3% under par.

Put more succinctly, Naylor is a consistent slugger who’ll bolster the middle of the D-backs’ lineup in place of Christian Walker, who signed a three-year, $60MM deal in Houston as a free agent (netting the Snakes a compensatory draft pick after the first round in the process). Naylor walked at a career-best 9.2% clip in 2024 and fanned at a 16.6% pace that’s considerably lower than league average.

Both Gallen and Naylor are candidates to receive a qualifying offer from the D-backs at season’s end, positioning Arizona to net compensation in the 2026 draft for their potential departure. Gallen, in particular, is a veritable lock so long as he’s healthy. Naylor would be a very strong QO candidate as well if he replicates or approximates the .267/.330/.465 form he’s turned in over the past three seasons, as he’d reach the market at just 28 years of age.

D-backs, Pavin Smith Avoid Arbitration

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The Diamondbacks avoided arbitration with first baseman/outfielder Pavin Smith by agreeing to a one-year, $1.5MM deal, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. He’d been projected for a $1.6MM salary by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz.

Smith, 29 next month, was selected with the No. 7 pick by Arizona back in 2017. He’s not lived up to that lofty billing but did enjoy a breakout showing in the big leagues this past season, mashing at a .270/.348/.547 clip. That stout production came in a fairly small sample of 158 trips to the plate, but it was supported by career-best batted ball metrics; Smith averaged a hearty 90.2 mph off the bat and put 44% off his batted balls in play at 95 mph or more.

Smith also drew a free pass in an excellent 11.4% of his plate appearances and fanned in a lower-than-average 19.4% of his trips to the plate. As with his quality of contact, that plate discipline holds up with a look under the hood. Only seven percent of hitters in baseball (min. 150 plate appearances) chased pitches off the plate at a lower rate than Smith last season (20.1%). Only 14% of players in that same set made contact at a better rate than Smith’s 90.5% when swinging at pitches within the strike zone. Put more simply, Smith showed keen knowledge of the strike zone and very, very rarely missed when attacking a ball over the plate. That type of discipline and bat-to-ball prowess is hard to fluke your way into over even a sample as limited as his 2024 showing.

This marks Smith’s first offseason of arbitration eligibility and his first time earning noticeably north of the league minimum. He’s out of minor league options, so Smith is a veritable lock to make the Opening Day roster, barring injury.

Smith won’t be entrusted with regular time at first base even after the Snakes lost Christian Walker to free agency, as Arizona quickly pivoted and acquired Josh Naylor to man the position. However, he should log ample time at designated hitter now that Joc Pederson has also left the club for a two-year deal in Texas, and he’d presumably be the primary alternative at first base should Naylor incur an injury or simply require a breather. Smith can also rotate into either left or right field in the event of an injury or day off for Corbin Carroll, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and/or Jake McCarthy. Smith is a career .226/.289/.310 hitter against lefties and thus isn’t likely to see much action against southpaws, but he’s a .249/.333/.427 hitter against righties — including a huge .282/.356/.564 showing this past season. He’s controllable through the 2027 season.

MLBTR Podcast: Brent Rooker’s Extension, Gavin Lux, And Catching Up On The Holiday Transactions

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Diamondbacks Acquire Grae Kessinger

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The D-Backs have acquired infielder Grae Kessinger from the Astros for minor league pitcher Matthew Linskey, as first reported by Chandler Rome and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Houston had designated Kessinger for assignment before the holiday break as the corresponding move for the Christian Walker pickup. Arizona had a trio of 40-man roster spots available, so no further move was necessary. Both teams have now announced the trade.

Kessinger was Houston’s second-round pick in 2019. The righty-hitting utilityman has made 49 big league appearances over the past two seasons. Kessinger has hit .131 with one homer while striking out 19 times over his first 70 trips to the plate. The Ole Miss product has taken 524 Triple-A plate appearances over the last two years. He’s a .271/.363/.407 hitter at that level. Kessinger has walked at a strong 12.4% clip against a manageable 21.5% strikeout rate in the Pacific Coast League.

While Kessinger isn’t going to bring much power upside, his plate discipline gives him a chance to be a valuable bench piece. He was a college shortstop and has logged nearly 2000 innings there professionally. He also has significant experience at each of second and third base with limited work at first base. Kessinger still has two options remaining, allowing the Snakes to keep him at Triple-A Reno for a while.

Linskey, 22, is a 6’7″ righty reliever. He turned in a 2.78 earned run average over 32 1/3 innings in the low minors last season. He posted a massive 38.3% strikeout rate but also walked 12% of batters faced. Linskey was a 16th-round draftee out of Rice in 2023.

Looking For A Match In A Jordan Montgomery Trade

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When the Diamondbacks shocked the baseball world by landing right-hander Corbin Burnes in free agency, the move gave them nearly unparalleled depth in the rotation: the righty is joined by Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly, Eduardo Rodriguez, Jordan Montgomery, Brandon Pfaadt, and Ryne Nelson among the club’s starting options headed into 2025. That sort of depth will cause plenty of speculation regarding the possibility of a trade, and Arizona’s rotation has been no exception to that. While the club reportedly wasn’t close to dealing any of its pitchers last week, they’ve has garnered interest on their rotation throughout the winter.

Of that group, Montgomery has long seemed to be the most likely player to move. The lefty was a late-spring signing by the Diamondbacks last year, and the deal hasn’t gone well for anyone. Montgomery struggled badly in his first season in the desert, pitching to a 6.23 ERA in 117 innings of work. His 4.48 FIP was substantially better than that top-level run prevention figure, though even that was below average. Diamondbacks ownership went as far as to publicly criticize Montgomery shortly after the 2024 season came to a close, so it’s no surprise that the Snakes have long appeared motivated to move the southpaw ahead of his age-32 season. The addition of Burnes could at least theoretically open the door to Arizona feeling comfortable enough with its rotation depth to more seriously consider dealing one of its other arms, but it stands to reason that the club would still prefer to move Montgomery all else equal.

After such a disastrous 2024 campaign, it’s hard to imagine the Diamondbacks getting much of significance for the lefty’s services beyond some salary relief. Montgomery is slated to earn $22.5MM in 2025, a hefty sum that it seems unlikely that the club will be able to fully get off of its books. With that being said, the ever-increasing price of starting pitching makes the deal at least a little bit more palatable than it might seem at first glance. After all, the Red Sox guaranteed right-hander Walker Buehler $21.05MM for the 2025 season on the heels of a lackluster campaign where he posted a 5.38 ERA in 16 starts. The Tigers, meanwhile, guaranteed 37-year-old veteran Alex Cobb $15MM on the heels of a 2024 campaign where he made just three regular season starts.

Both of those players have substantial previous success to lean on, but so does Montgomery. The lefty won the World Series with the Rangers in 2023, and in doing so capped off a three-season stretch where he pitched to a strong 3.48 ERA (120 ERA+) with a 3.62 FIP across 94 starts. So long as the Diamondbacks aren’t looking to get anything of particular significance back in return, it’s relatively easy to imagine them being able to offload at least $15MM or so of Montgomery’s salary. Which teams could be best positioned to take a one-year roll of the dice on the lefty’s services? A look at nine potential suitors, listed alphabetically within tiers:

Best Fits

  • Athletics: The A’s have been quite aggressive in looking to upgrade their club this winter, in part as they attempt to avoid a grievance with the MLBPA regarding their use of revenue sharing dollars. They’ve already added Luis Severino and Jeffrey Springs to their rotation this winter, but club brass left the door open for a third starting pitching acquisition this winter if the opportunity presented itself. Enter Montgomery, the acquisition of whom could push the club’s luxury tax payroll up to $105MM range they’re reportedly targeting even if Arizona ate some of the money. If Montgomery manages to bounce back in 2025, he’d join Severino, Springs, JP Sears, and Mitch Spence in a surprisingly formidable rotation for the club’s first season in West Sacramento.
  • Braves: Atlanta has a clear need for rotation help after losing both Max Fried and Charlie Morton in free agency this winter, but the club has been uncharacteristically slow to get to work this winter. With that being said, Alex Anthopoulos’s front office has long shown a fondness for one-year additions coming off down seasons like Josh Donaldson and Marcell Ozuna. Arguably, that list also includes reigning NL Cy Young award winner Chris Sale as the lefty was entering the final guaranteed year of his deal with Boston when the Braves traded for him. A trade for Montgomery surely wouldn’t go quite as well as the one for Sale did, but it’s easy to imagine the lefty bouncing back in the Braves rotation alongside Sale, Spencer Strider, Reynaldo López, and Spencer Schwellenbach in 2025.
  • White Sox: Chicago may seem like an odd fit for Montgomery, given the fact that they’re coming off the worst season in MLB history with virtually no hope of making noise in the AL Central race during this coming season. The fact that they’re one of the only clearly rebuilding clubs in the game right now could make them a unique potential suitor for Montgomery’s services, however. Their rotation mix is filled to the brim with young arms who could prove to be interesting but offer little certainty, so adding a veteran arm like Montgomery could make sense for all sides. It’s possible the White Sox, with a payroll that RosterResource projects at just $78MM in 2025, could actually absorb the entirety of Montgomery’s salary in exchange for a prospect from Arizona. If Montgomery pitches well in the first half, Chicago could then flip the lefty at the deadline for additional young talent to keep their rebuild chugging along.

Next Tier Down

  • Astros: It’s possible to imagine the Astros being content with their current starting depth after adding Hayden Wesneski to the mix in the Kyle Tucker trade and likely welcoming right-hander Luis Garcia back into the fold in time for Opening Day after he missed the 2024 season due to injury. With that being said, the club did lose both Justin Verlander and Jose Urquidy from its rotation depth this winter and is known to be shopping right-hander Ryan Pressly on the trade market this winter while searching for left-handed hitting outfielders. Arizona has a surplus of left-handed hitting outfielders and is known to be on the hunt of late-inning relief help, so perhaps there’s a fit here involving some combination of Montgomery, Pressly, and young Diamondbacks outfielder like Alek Thomas.
  • Mariners: Seattle may seem like a somewhat unusual fit for Montgomery’s services given the club’s strong rotation, but there seems to be at least some possibility that the club will trade right-hander Luis Castillo this winter. Doing so would leave the club with little rotation depth, however. Theoretically, it’s easy enough to imagine the Mariners dealing Castillo to another club in exchange for infield help, and then using the saved money from the deal in order to pivot towards acquiring Montgomery to restock the rotation. Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto has certainly shown a willingness to get similarly creative in the past, and Mike Hazen’s front office in Arizona has been one of his most frequent trade partners over the years.
  • Mets: The Mets aren’t in a position where they need to add another starter, with a rotation mix that currently runs eight players deep. With that being said, Montgomery’s salary would hardly be excessively cumbersome for the big-spending Mets, and David Stearns has shown a fondness for reclamation projects in the rotation. Given the Mets’ success in rehabilitating the careers of Luis Severino and Sean Manaea last winter, it would hardly be a surprise if the club found similar success in doing so with Montgomery.

Longer Shots

  • Cubs: The White Sox aren’t the only Chicago team Montgomery could at least theoretically make sense for. The Cubs are known to be in the market for another starting pitcher, and their pursuit of lefty Jesús Luzardo earlier this winter indicate a willingness on the club’s part to roll the dice on a hurler coming off a down season like Montgomery. With that being said, the club reportedly turned down a trade involving Montgomery and Cody Bellinger earlier this winter. Given the fact that the Cubs ended up trading Bellinger for little more than salary relief last month, it stands to reason that Jed Hoyer’s front office either has little interest in Montgomery’s services or at the very least preferred to open up that payroll space for other pursuits.
  • Orioles: Baltimore would’ve seemed like one of the better on-paper fits for Montgomery’s services just a week ago, but they recently inked right-hander Charlie Morton to a one-year deal for 2025. That won’t necessarily take them out of the rotation market entirely, but it seems as though Baltimore would only add to its rotation in order to bring in a clear upgrade over its internal options. Given Montgomery’s down season, it’s hard to imagine the club feeling that way about him at this point. After all, fifth starter Dean Kremer posted a higher ERA+ than Montgomery in two of the last three seasons.
  • Rangers: Montgomery was a key piece in the Rangers’ 2023 World Series championship, and the club seemingly had plenty of interest in bringing the lefty back last winter. Much like Montgomery himself, the Rangers had a down year in 2024 and missed the postseason. With Max Scherzer and Andrew Heaney now free agents, there could potentially be room for a reunion in the Texas rotation. With that being said, the club appears determined to remain under the first luxury tax threshold and has a number of young starters who they could opt to lean on in 2025 instead, like Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker.
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