Yankees To Select Tanner Tully
The Yankees are set to option right-hander Clayton Beeter and select the contract of left-hander Tanner Tully, manager Aaron Boone announced before today’s game (X link via Greg Joyce of the New York Post). They’ll need to make a corresponding 40-man roster move, but the Yankees have not yet announced what that’ll be.
Tully, 29, has just six major league innings under his belt — all coming with the 2022 Guardians. He allowed four runs on eight hits and six walks in that short sample of work. Cleveland selected Tully in the 26th round back in 2016, and he spent the next seven seasons in their system, working primarily as a starting pitcher in the minors. Following that cup of coffee in the majors in ’22, he was removed from the 40-man roster and became a free agent, ultimately signing a minor league deal with the Yankees.
It proved to be a brief stint with the Yankees, as Tully made 19 starts in Triple-A before being granted his release to sign with the NC Dinos of the Korea Baseball Organization. He made 11 starts for the Dinos in the final couple months of the season, tossing 64 2/3 frames of 2.92 ERA ball with a 17.7% strikeout rate, 4.9% walk rate and 59.6% ground-ball rate. The Yankees brought Tully back on a minor league deal over the winter, and he’ll now make his first appearance on the big league roster.
The Yankees burned through five relievers yesterday after Carlos Rodon lasted only 4 1/3 innings in his first start of the year. They also needed four innings from the ‘pen following a five-inning Opening Day outing by Nestor Cortes. Tully will provide a multi-inning option to give them some length in the event of a short start from Marcus Stroman or should the game get out of hand one way or another. In parts of five Triple-A seasons, Tully has a 5.06 ERA with an 18.7% strikeout rate and 5.7% walk rate. He pitched six innings for the Yankees this spring and yielded one run on four hits and a walk with two strikeouts.
Cubs Promote Ben Brown, Place Justin Steele On 15-Day IL
2:34PM: The Cubs officially announced Brown’s promotion and Steele’s IL placement. Steele’s time on the injured list retroactively begins on March 29, and his injury was designated as a left hamstring strain.
12:59PM: The Cubs will call up right-hander Ben Brown from Triple-A today, according to FanSided’s Robert Murray (via X). Brown will likely take the roster spot of Justin Steele, who is ticketed for the 15-day injured list after suffering a hamstring injury on Opening Day.
It would also appear that Brown will take over Steele’s place in the rotation for the time being, with Brown lined up to make his MLB debut on either Tuesday or Wednesday when the Cubs host the Rockies. It will be quite the moment for 24-year-old Brown, whose pro career began as a 33rd-round draft pick for the Phillies in 2017 when injuries contributed to his fall down the board. As noted by Baseball America’s scouting report, Brown has had to overcome a burst appendix, a Tommy John surgery, an elbow strain, and some time on the Covid-related injured list before finally getting healthy in 2022 and getting some extended time on the mound.
That season brought about another change for Brown, when Philadelphia dealt him to the Cubs at the trade deadline in the David Robertson deal. Making his Triple-A debut in 2023, Brown posted a 5.33 ERA in 72 2/3 innings for Iowa before missing about a month with a lat problem.
A 15.8% walk rate was the biggest factor in Brown’s Triple-A struggles, and he has occasionally experienced some control problems in past years as well. The strikeout potential is evident, however, as Brown has a 31.1% strikeout rate over his 297 career minor league innings, and both Baseball America and MLB Pipeline give 60-grades to his fastball and curve, with Pipeline adding a 60 to his slider as well. Clearly Brown has plenty of stuff, though both scouting outlets wonder if his future might ultimately be as a reliever if he can’t stay healthy or deliver more consistent control.
Until that decision has to be made, the Cubs will see what Brown can do as a starter. Between Steele’s hamstring issue and Jameson Taillon already on the IL with back problems, Chicago has had to made some early dips in its rotation depth, which allowed both Javier Assad and Jordan Wicks to make the Opening Day rotation. Assad and Wicks have limited MLB experience, and Brown and NPB import Shota Imanaga have never pitched in the majors, leaving Kyle Hendricks as far and away the most experienced healthy starter in Wrigleyville. Veteran Drew Smyly was slotted for bullpen work rather than the starting rotation, and it seems like the Cubs will keep Smyly in that role even with Steele now sidelined.
Twins Place Royce Lewis On 10-Day IL, Promote Austin Martin
11:58PM: Lewis’ quad strain is “severe,” as Twins chief baseball officer Derek Falvey told reporters (including Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press). The infielder will be shut down for a month and then re-evaluated, so it doesn’t look like Lewis will be back in the majors until mid-May at the absolute earliest.
10:27AM: The Twins have officially placed Lewis on the 10-day IL and called up Martin. Lewis’ injury is described as a right quad strain, with a retroactive IL placement of March 29.
9:09AM: Royce Lewis had to make an early exit from the Twins’ opener due to a quad injury, and the problem is severe enough that the third baseman will be placed on the injured list, according to La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune (X link). Former top prospect Austin Martin is being called up to take Lewis’ spot on the active roster, and Martin will be making his MLB debut whenever he appears in his first game.
It remains to be seen how serious the quad problem might be, yet it represents yet another injury setback in Lewis’ young career. Since selected as the first overall pick of the 2017 draft, Lewis has been limited to 350 career minor league games and 71 regular-season big league games, primarily due to two right ACL tears. Between the pandemic-canceled 2020 minor league season and the first of those torn ACLs, Lewis didn’t play a single game over the 2020-21 seasons.
There is little question that Lewis is ready for prime time, given how he has torn up both Triple-A pitching and (in limited fashion) MLB opposition since returning to action in 2022. Lewis has hit .313/.369/.564 with 18 homers over his 282 plate appearances in the Show, and he was also a force during Minnesota’s playoff run last October. The Twins installed Lewis into the everyday third base job and were excited to see what he could do over the course of a full season, and this dream could still naturally be reached if this IL stint ends up being relatively minor.
Utilitymen Kyle Farmer and Willi Castro figure to handle most of the third base time while Lewis is sidelined, and Martin figures to add some multi-positional depth in his first time on a Major League roster. Martin has played shortstop, second base, center field, and left field over his three minor league seasons, and is considered at least a competent defender at any of his positions.
Martin shares some similarities with Lewis as a former high draft pick whose career has been hampered by injury. The Blue Jays selected Martin fifth overall in the 2020 draft, but then dealt Martin and Simeon Woods Richardson to Minnesota for Jose Berrios at the 2021 trade deadline. Martin has played in 159 games in the Twins’ farm system over the last two years, as pair of elbow sprains limited his playing time and perhaps his ability to generate power. A lack of slugging has undermined Martin’s otherwise impressive ability to make contact and draw walks, as he has hit .263/.387/.405 over 252 PA at the Triple-A level.
Between his injuries and limited production in the minors, Martin went from being a top-25 prospect in 2021 to further down top-100 rankings in 2022, to off the pundits’ radars entirely in the last two years of preseason evaluations. While Martin’s ceiling seems to have been lowered, the 25-year-old seems to be on pace to at least be a utilityman in the majors. If he can keep making contact and getting on base, this skillset combined with a versatile defensive profile makes Martin potentially a very useful player going forward.
Rays Agree To Minor League Deal With Dominic Smith
The Rays have signed first baseman Dominic Smith to a minor league contract, FanSided’s Robert Murray reports (X link). Smith’s latest trip in free agency didn’t last long, as he opted out of his previous minors deal with the Cubs just over a week ago.
With both Josh Lowe and Jonathan Aranda on the injured list, the Rays are thin in left-handed hitters, and also thin at first base since Aranda was expected to get some time at the position. The lefty-swinging Austin Shenton was called up to be part of Tampa Bay’s Opening Day roster, though Smith provides a more experienced alternative who might represent Shenton’s ticket back to the minors after just a cup of coffee in the big leagues (Shenton has yet to officially make his MLB debut).
Smith has been non-tendered in each of the last two offseasons, with the first coming when the Mets cut him loose following the 2022 campaign. New York selected Smith 11th overall in the 2013 draft, and seemed to living up to that potential when he hit .299/.366/.571 with 21 homers over 396 plate appearances in 2019-20. Smith’s performance in the abbreviated 2020 season even earned him some down-ballot MVP support, but injuries contributed to a big dip in production over the next two seasons. The Nationals signed Smith to a one-year, $2MM guarantee last winter, though he hit only .254/.326/.366 with 12 home runs in 586 PA for Washington.
After the deal with the Cubs didn’t pan out, signing with Tampa Bay represents yet another fresh start for Smith, who is still just 28 years old. The Rays’ history of successful reclamation projects makes it possible that Smith might yet enjoy a post-hype breakout at this later stage of his career, but for now Smith will be focused just on getting back to the majors and earning regular at-bats.
White Sox Release Lucius Fox, Yoelqui Cespedes
The White Sox parted ways with two notable names, as shortstop Lucius Fox and outfielder Yoelqui Cespedes have each been released within the last few days. Fox’s release was reported on his official MLB.com profile page, while James Fegan of the Sox Machine blog was first to note Cespedes’ release.
Fox inked a minor league deal with Chicago in February but didn’t receive any action during Spring Training, and so the 26-year-old will again hit the open market. Fox was a highly-regarded international prospect who signed for a whopping $6MM bonus from the Giants in 2015, though San Francisco dealt Fox (and Matt Duffy) to the Rays just over a year later in order to acquire Matt Moore at the trade deadline. The shortstop has since bounced around to four other organizations, counting his brief stint with the White Sox.
The Nationals claimed Fox off waivers from the Orioles in the 2021-22 offseason, and Fox’s only career Major League games to date came in the form of 10 games (and two hits in 28 plate appearances) with Washington in 2022. This cup of coffee in the Show at least made Fox the ninth big leaguer in history to hail from the Bahamas. Fox played in the Nats’ farm system in 2023 but didn’t hit much, continuing the theme of his pro career. Over 2476 career PA in the minors, Fox has a .243/.335/.333 slash line and 156 steals out of 202 chances.
Cespedes has something of a similar story, as he signed a $2.05MM deal with the White Sox out of Cuba in January 2021 (the opening of the 2020-21 international signing window was delayed by the pandemic). There was some extra hype attached given how older brother Yoenis was already a former All-Star, but the younger Cespedes hit .230/.319/.350 over 503 combined PA at the Double-A and Triple-A levels in 2023. Though the 26-year-old Cespedes hit pretty well in his previous two pro seasons, it appears that newly-hired Sox farm director Paul Janish is ready to move on following Cespedes’ down year.
Nationals Place Nick Senzel On 10-Day IL, Select Trey Lipscomb
TODAY: The Nationals announced Lipscomb’s selection, and Senzel was officially placed on the 10-day IL with a right thumb fracture.
MARCH 28: The Nationals are planning to select infielder Trey Lipscomb, reports Andrew Golden of The Washington Post. Lipscomb would replace Nick Senzel on the active roster; the third baseman broke his thumb in practice before Washington’s Opening Day game. As for the 40-man roster, Lipscomb can take Stephen Strasburg‘s spot. The ailing veteran was placed on the 60-day IL earlier today, per Mark Zuckerman of MASN.
Drafted in the third round out of the University of Tennessee in 2022, Lipscomb made his way up to Double-A last season. He hit .284/.310/.438 with a 102 wRC+ in 80 games for the Harrisburg Senators. While he is primarily a third baseman, he has spent time at all four infield positions. He even began to practice as an outfielder this spring, per Golden.
In addition to flexing his defensive versatility, Lipscomb made a strong impression at the plate in big league camp, going 20-for-50 with five walks and only seven strikeouts. However, this spring, manager Davey Martinez told Zuckerman that Lipscomb would only make the roster out of camp if he was going to get regular playing time. Indeed, a few days later, the 23-year-old was reassigned to minor league camp.
However, it seems Lipscomb won’t have to wait long to make his MLB debut after all. Senzel was set to be Washington’s primary third baseman, and presumably, Lipscomb is being called up to fill that hole. The Nationals already have rookie Nasim Nuñez and veteran Ildemaro Vargas on the bench, but neither will stand in Lipscomb’s way if Martinez wants him playing every day. In fact, Zuckerman notes that Lipscomb is expected to be the starting third baseman for the Nationals on Saturday as they take on the Reds for game two of their season.
Braves Place Sean Murphy On Injured List Due To Oblique Injury
TODAY: The Braves officially announced Murphy’s placement on the 10-day IL, due to a strained left oblique. Tromp’s contract was officially selected to the big league roster.
MARCH 29: Braves catcher Sean Murphy departed today’s game with an oblique issue and the club informed reporters after the game that the backstop will go on the injured list. Mark Bowman of MLB.com was among those to relay the news. David O’Brien of The Athletic relays that Chadwick Tromp will be called up. Tromp is not currently on the 40-man and will need to be added, though Atlanta has multiple vacancies there.
The severity of the issue isn’t yet known but it will be a notable one for Atlanta, as Murphy is one of the better backstops in the league. He hit 21 home runs last year and drew walks in 11.2% of his plate appearances. That led to a batting line of .251/.365/.478, which translates to a wRC+ of 129. He’s also considered a strong defender and FanGraphs considered him to be worth 4.2 wins above replacement on the year. That was the fifth-highest tally among catchers, but the four above him all played at least 18 more games than Murphy did.
The reason Murphy played just 108 wasn’t due to injury, but the club splitting the catching playing time between him and Travis d’Arnaud. With Murphy now out, d’Arnaud will have to step up and take on a larger role for at least the next 10 days but perhaps longer.
As far as backup catchers go, few clubs could boast one as good as d’Arnaud, but he’s clearly a drop-off from Murphy. d’Arnaud hit 11 home runs in 292 plate appearances last year but his .225/.288/.397 batting line translated to a wRC+ of 83. He has been in better form in the past, as recently as 2022, when he hit .268/.319/.472 for a wRC+ of 120.
The club is loaded with talent but those are the only two catchers on the 40-man roster right now. d’Arnaud is now 35 years old and has had his share of injury woes over the years, including multiple concussions, Tommy John surgery, a thumb sprain, a broken finger and a strained rotator cuff. While Atlanta will still be a great team, Murphy is arguably the player on the roster whose absence would make the most negative impact.
Tromp, 29, has a bit of major league experience. He’s been in the big leagues in each of the past four years but taken just 102 plate appearances in 40 games over that time. His career batting line of .222/.225/.414 translates to a wRC+ of 65. In Triple-A over the past three years, he’s hit .229/.299/.399 for a wRC+ of 76. He was non-tendered by Atlanta after last season but re-signed on a minor league deal. As mentioned, he’ll need a 40-man spot but Atlanta has plenty of spots open.
Atlanta will roll with that combination for the time being but could also perhaps look around the league for external additions, as various roster cuts have been made in recent days with the season starting. Eric Haase was designated for assignment by the Brewers yesterday, Alí Sánchez by the Pirates and Cooper Hummel by the Giants. It’s also possible a small trade could be had, perhaps involving someone like Joey Bart of the Giants. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle recently took a look at how Bart has a tenuous grasp on his roster spot in San Francisco.
Regardless of how things play out, Atlanta won’t find anyone as good as Murphy. Whatever plans they cobble together in the weeks to come, they will be hoping for him to get healthy as quickly as possible and rejoin the club.
Giants Recall Kai-Wei Teng For Major League Debut
The Giants announced a series of roster moves today, with outfielder Luis Matos and right-hander Kai-Wai Teng recalled from Triple-A Sacramento. Teng will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game. In corresponding moves, outfielder Mike Yastrzemski has been placed on the paternity list while right-hander Luke Jackson goes on the 15-day injured list with a lower back strain. Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase had reported earlier that Matos would be taking Yastrzemski’s place on the roster. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle first relayed that Teng was at the ballpark tonight.
Jackson departed last night’s game with an apparent back issue. He didn’t seem terribly concerned with the severity but the club evidently feels he will need at least a couple of weeks to get back on the mound.
His injury will pave the way for Teng to be called up to the big leagues for the first time. The 25-year-old was signed by the Twins as an international amateur out of Taiwan. He came to the Giants in the 2019 deadline deal that sent Sam Dyson to Minnesota.
He has climbed the rungs of the minor league ladder since then, showcasing strikeout stuff but also control issues. He split last year between Double-A and Triple-A, making 28 starts and one relief appearance, tossing 126 1/3 innings. He struck out 29.8% of batters faced but also gave out free passes at a 12.4% clip, leading to a combined earned run average of 4.42.
He was added to the club’s 40-man roster in November to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. He didn’t make the Opening Day roster but Jackson’s injury will allow him to come up just after. He’ll likely be in a long relief role out of the bullpen. The club is currently operating with 14 positions players and just 12 pitchers, meaning that eating multiple innings from the bullpen will be valuable for the club.
Yankees Acquire JT Brubaker From Pirates
The Yankees have acquired right-hander JT Brubaker and international bonus pool space from the Pirates for a player to be named later, per announcements from both clubs. Prior to the official announcements, Alex Stumpf of MLB.com reported on that Brubaker was going to the Yanks for a PTBNL. The righty is on the 60-day injured list, recovering from last year’s Tommy John surgery. He won’t need a roster spot with the Yankees but won’t be available to them immediately. Per Stumpf, via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com, Brubaker is targeting a return around the All-Star break. He’s controllable via arbitration through the 2025 season. The bonus pool money is worth $550K, per Francys Romero.
Brubaker, 30, missed the entire 2023 season after requiring Tommy John in mid-April. In the three preceding seasons, he had been one of the steadier arms on Pittsburgh’s staff. He tossed 315 2/3 innings over the 2020 to 2022 campaigns, one of which was shortened by the pandemic, with an earned run average of 4.99.
Though that ERA may not be terribly exciting, it’s possible that it doesn’t represent his true skill level, with some underlying metrics painting a more favorable picture. He struck out 23.3% of batters faced in that stretch and walked 7.8%, with both of those numbers being slightly better than average for a starting pitcher in the modern game. His 44% ground ball rate was also right around typical league average.
The discrepancy may be down to luck, as his .313 batting average on balls in play and 70.1% strand rate have both been on the unfortunate side of par. ERA estimators like his 4.43 FIP and 4.04 SIERA suggest he may have deserved better. That was especially true in 2022, when he had a 4.69 ERA but a 3.92 FIP and 3.97 SIERA.
But it’s also possible the difference is down to Brubaker’s struggles with lefties, something explored by MLBTR’s Anthony Franco prior to Brubaker’s surgery. He only throws his changeup about 5.5% of the time and hasn’t had great results with it, meaning he doesn’t have a great weapon for tackling lefty hitters. They have hit .269/.339/.481 against him, compared to a line of .272/.342/.391 from righty-swinging opponents.
Whether the Yankees can help Brubaker find another gear remains to be seen, but there’s likely some appeal even if he remains a back-of-the-rotation kind of guy. The Yankees were looking for starting pitching this offseason, even after signing Marcus Stroman. Their need for rotation reinforcements was only increased with the recent news that Gerrit Cole is going to miss some time with an elbow issue.
Cole and Brubaker may be on somewhat similar timelines, as Cole was also placed on the 60-day IL, putting him on the shelf until at least late May but with an uncertain timeline after that. Brubaker won’t be able to help out during Cole’s absence but other injuries could crop up throughout the season that could require reinforcements. The Yankees currently have Stroman, Nestor Cortes and Carlos Rodón in three rotation spots, all three of whom missed significant time last year. Luis Gil won a rotation spot out of camp despite missing most of the past two seasons recovering from his own Tommy John surgery.
Brubaker comes into 2024 with exactly four years of service time. He first qualified for arbitration going into 2023 and earned a salary of $2.275MM. After sitting out the whole campaign, he agreed to the same mark this year, with one more arbitration season remaining.
For the Bucs, they were looking at another season and a half of Brubaker’s services, including next year and the post-All-Star portion of 2024. Once healthy, he would have been entering a rotation mix that currently consists of Mitch Keller, Martín Pérez, Marco Gonzales, Jared Jones and Bailey Falter, but prospects like Paul Skenes and Quinn Priester might be in there by midseason. Bubba Chandler will be a bit behind that group and Johan Oviedo, who will miss 2024 due to his own Tommy John, will be back in the picture next year.
General manager Ben Cherington spoke to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, saying that the club preferred to get something in return now. That return is unknown at this time but will become more clear when the PTBNL is revealed. In the meantime, they will save a small amount of money.
The Yanks will be taking on slightly more than the Bucs are saving, since they are over the fourth line of the competitive balance tax and a third-time payor. That means they are paying a 110% tax on any money they add to the payroll at this point. On top of Brubaker’s $2.275MM salary, they will also have to pay $2.5025MM in taxes.
If Brubaker is healthy in a few months but the Yankee rotation is in decent shape, he has a couple of options and could be sent to Triple-A. That could provide the club with some extra depth, it could also give them an extra year of control. As mentioned, Brubaker is coming into 2024 with exactly four years of service time. He’s currently accruing more service time while on the 60-day IL but an optional assignment of a few weeks would prevent him from getting to the five-year mark this year.
Regardless of how that plays out, the Yankees are adding some rotation depth for the latter half of this year and for the future as well. Additionally, they’ve added some unknown amount of international bonus pool space. The Bucs have saved a bit of money and bolstered their system with another player who is presumably younger and more controllable than Brubaker, though the details of their return have not yet emerged.
Diamondbacks Sign Jordan Montgomery
March 29: The Diamondbacks have made it official, announcing Montgomery’s signing today, adding that Montgomery has been optioned to Triple-A Reno. Players with more than five years of service time can’t be optioned without their consent, but the lefty presumably agreed to be sent down so that he could get in some work after missing Spring Training while unsigned. The lefty is targeting April 19 for his first start with the Snakes, per Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic.
March 26: The Diamondbacks and left-hander Jordan Montgomery are reportedly in agreement on a one-year, $25MM pact. The deal includes a $20MM vesting player option for the 2025 season, with Montgomery earning the ability to opt out if he starts at least ten games in 2024. Montgomery’s option will vest at $20MM if he makes ten starts, with an additional $2.5MM added to the option upon reaching 18 starts and 23 starts during the 2024 season. The deal is pending a physical.
The deal brings to a close a lengthy free agency for Montgomery, who defeated the Diamondbacks in the 2023 World Series alongside the Rangers just five months ago. Arizona will be the 31-year-old’s fourth team in the past three seasons. Montgomery’s free agent odyssey dragged on longer than anyone could have reasonably anticipated heading into the offseason, when he was widely expected to command a long-term, nine-figure contract. The 2023-24 offseason, however, will be one remembered as an oddity, given the stark number of clubs dealing with uncertainty regarding their television broadcast rights — Montgomery’s incumbent Rangers among them — and about a third of the league facing luxury-tax concerns of some degree.
All of that combined to limit the market for Montgomery and other top-tier free agents, although the left-hander’s lofty asking price on the heels of a career-year punctuated by postseason heroics surely didn’t do him any favors. Even as late into the offseason as early March, the left-hander and agent Scott Boras were reported to be seeking a six- or even seven-year deal. A six-year deal under conventional market circumstances early in the offseason might’ve been attainable, but this offseason’s market simply didn’t bear that. The nature of this new contract with the D-backs will allow him the opportunity to take another bite at the free agent apple next offseason, with some added insurance in the form of a player option that safeguards against a late-season injury.
After spending his entire career until the 2022 trade deadline in a Yankees uniform, Montgomery was swapped to St. Louis in exchange for center fielder Harrison Bader. The southpaw found great success in St. Louis, delivering a 3.31 ERA and 3.50 FIP in 32 starts for the club before he was once again swapped in a deadline deal, this time going to Texas as the Cardinals faced their first 90-loss campaign of the 21st century. His strong performance continued in Texas as he pitched to a sterling 2.79 ERA down the stretch before delivering a 2.90 ERA in 31 postseason innings as the Rangers claimed their first World Series championship in franchise history.
While Montgomery has emerged as a starter capable of comfortably pitching at the front of a playoff rotation in his 50 appearances (both postseason and regular season) since leaving New York, he showed himself to be a quality mid-rotation arm even during his days in the Bronx. While he missed much of the 2018 and 2019 campaigns rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, the lefty pitched to a respectable 3.94 ERA and 3.90 FIP in 98 appearances across five-and-a-half years with the club. During his time in New York, he struck out 22.7% of batters faced while walking just 6.9% and generating grounders at an above-average 43.7% clip. Those peripheral numbers are fairly consistent with the ones he’s posted during his breakout over the past two seasons; since the start of the 2022 campaign, Montgomery has struck out opponents at a 21.6% clip while walking 5.6% with a 45.3% groundball rate.
For the Diamondbacks, the addition of Montgomery further strengthens a starting rotation that the club already took a major step toward addressing when they signed left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez to a four-year, $80MM deal back in December. When at full strength, the club’s rotation now figures to feature NL Cy Young Award finalist Zac Gallen and Montgomery at the front, with Rodriguez and veteran righty Merrill Kelly in the middle, and youngster Brandon Pfaadt bringing up the rear. It’s a massive upgrade from the club’s 2023 group, which pitched to a combined 4.67 ERA last season. That was a bottom-ten figure in the majors last year and placed the club dead last among all 2023 playoff teams. By signing Montgomery, the Diamondbacks have successfully converted one of their biggest weaknesses in 2023 into a clear strength ahead of the 2024 season, at least on paper.
Of course, it remains to be seen whether that on-paper strength in the rotation will yield results. Availability remains a major question mark for the starting staff in Arizona entering the regular season, as neither major pitching addition will open the season in the club’s rotation. Rodriguez was shut down last week due to a lat strain and has no announced timetable for return. As for Montgomery, John Gambadoro of 98.7FM Phoenix reports that the club doesn’t expect him to be ready for at least “a few weeks.” Previous reports had indicated that Montgomery had built up to 75 pitches in his offseason workouts, though said training is no replacement for facing live hitting in organized ball.
Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic reports that the delayed start to the southpaw’s season comes with what could prove to be a significant financial benefit. Because Montgomery has agreed to start in the minor leagues to ramp up for his D-backs debut, Piecoro indicates that the left-hander will be rendered ineligible to receive a qualifying offer should he return to free agency this winter. That removes perhaps the most significant drawback Montgomery faced in signing a short-term deal this winter, as his midseason trade from St. Louis to Texas allowed him to enter free agency unencumbered by draft pick compensation. Had he been eligible for the QO this coming winter, he’d run the risks of facing a deflated market as a qualified free agent. That possibility is now no longer a concern.
The addition of Montgomery sends Arizona’s already franchise-record payroll to new levels after an offseason spending spree. In addition to Montgomery and Rodriguez, the club also fortified their outfield mix with Joc Pederson, Randal Grichuk, and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. in free agency while swinging a deal to land third baseman Eugenio Suarez to bolster their infield. Those additions wound up bringing the club’s estimated payroll (per RosterResource) to more than $167MM, with a $215MM figure for luxury tax purposes. Both numbers blow Arizona’s past records of $132MM in 2018 and $155MM in 2023 (per Cot’s Baseball Contracts) out of the water as the club enters 2024 eager to return to the postseason and establish themselves as a top contender in the NL alongside clubs such as the Dodgers, Braves, and Phillies.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported the sides had reached an agreement. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported the salary terms for 2024 as well as the 2025 vesting option. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported additional details regarding the nature of the vesting option.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images