Well this is new! We’ve seen plenty of players leave their agents/agency for Scott Boras in the past. But rarely does it go the other way. Of course, rarely does Scott Boras miss as badly (or overplay his hand as significantly) as he did for Jordan Montgomery this offseason. So off he goes.
Jordan Montgomery Leaves Scott Boras
According to multiple reports now, newly-signed Arizona Diamondbacks starter Jordan Montgomery has left Boras Corp. in favor of a different high-powered player agent, Joel Wolfe and Nick Chanock at Wasserman.
And I don’t blame him!
Jordan Montgomery had an absolutely brilliant 2023 campaign last season, earning a 3.20 ERA over 188.2 IP. And given his age (just turned 31), his longevity (back-to-back 32 start seasons), his overall trackrecord, his recent success in the playoffs, and the fact that he wasn’t attached to draft pick compensation, Montgomery was expected to hit it big this offseason.
Kiley McDaniel shared his projection above, but that was actually the extreme low-end of projections across the industry, with most expecting a deal in the $140-$150M range for Montgomery. Frankly, I think he would’ve been worth it.
But Boras played games all winter, extending Jordan Montgomery’s free agency DEEP into the spring, allegedly even playing his free agency against his other free agent starter client, Blake Snell, but came up WAY short on both (and Snell was the reigning NL Cy Young award winner).
So instead of a big-money, long-term deal, the best Jordan Montgomery could get was a 1-year, $25M deal with a $20M vesting player option (which could go as high as $25M). And while Montgomery could certainly opt out and beat that, it’ll require another good and healthy performance from him this season. Plus, he’ll be a year older.
Frankly, of all the big four Boras free agents (which includes Cody Bellinger), I tend to think Montgomery got screwed the most. He seemed like he had the easiest and best case for a big deal, but Boras (seemingly) overreached and left Montgomery holding the bag. Brutal. Well, now Boras will pay for it, losing a big client and taking some bad press in the process. Can’t say I feel too bad for Boras!