Diamondbacks' Jordan Montgomery Handed Demotion, RIPS Former Agent Boras

He was one of the Boras Four, the free agents this past offseason that infamous agent Scott Boras held back from signing until the season was nearly set to kick off. The Arizona Diamondbacks finally blinked and handed left-hander Jordan Montgomery a one-year, $25 million contract on the eve of the regular season.

Missing all of spring training sure didn't help him as the 31-year-old veteran got off to a miserable start for the Snakes, and never really recovered. Now, after posting a 6.44 ERA and 1.67 WHIP in 19 starts, Montgomery has been demoted to the bullpen.

Per manager Torey Lovullo, the @Dbacks will shift Jordan Montgomery to the bullpen. Ryne Nelson will stay in rotation.
— Steve Gilbert (@SteveGilbertMLB) August 23, 2024

For his part, Montgomery is now essentially (rightfully, most would say) pinning the blame for his poor season on Boras.

Jordan Montgomery was not happy with the way Scott Boras handled his free agency 😳 pic.twitter.com/yyWe3xVd3q
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) August 23, 2024

The lefty, who was coming off his best season and a World Series championship, said that Boras "butchered" his free agency, saying he had talks with the Boston Red Sox, who were interested, but nothing came of it.

"I don't know, obviously Boras kind of butchered it, so I'm just trying to move on from the offseason and try to forget it."

Montgomery fired Boras in April, and we wonder if other players will think things through before they decide to roll the dice with the aggressive and merciless agent.

The pitcher has a vesting option in his contract that will earn him $25 million again next year if he makes at least 23 starts in 2024. But that's unlikely to happen now that he's in the bullpen. It vests at $22.5M at 18 starts, so he's guaranteed at least that.