Arizona Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen said on Wednesday that he met with left-handed pitcher Jordan Montgomery to address the criticism from team owner Ken Kendrick following the season.
It’s still unclear if the 31-year-old Montgomery will be with the team in 2025, although Hazen is open to that possibility.
Montgomery signed a $25 million, one-year contract before the season, which included a player option for 2025. However, he struggled to meet expectations, finishing with a 6.23 ERA over 21 starts and 117 innings. He was eventually moved to the bullpen, where he made four appearances.
Earlier this week, Montgomery exercised his $22.5 million option to remain with the Diamondbacks for the 2025 season.
“I will say that he was extremely accountable to the season he had, and I respect that,” Hazen said at the general managers’ meetings. “I tried to be accountable toward some of the areas we could have maybe helped him a little better.
The dynamic was the dynamic, it is what it is.” Montgomery’s poor performance was one of the reasons the D-backs missed the playoffs after reaching the World Series in 2023.
Arizona ended up in a three-way tie with the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets for the final two National League wild-card spots but didn’t make it to October because both the Braves and Mets had won the regular-season series against the D-backs.
Kendrick took responsibility for Montgomery’s signing in a radio interview with Arizona Sports 98.7 FM after the season, admitting that it was his idea to bring him in.
“Looking back, in hindsight, a horrible decision to invest that money in a guy who performed as poorly as he did,” Kendrick said. “It’s our biggest mistake this season from a talent standpoint. And I’m the perpetrator of that.”
Looking ahead to spring training, Arizona could have six experienced starting pitchers, including Montgomery, Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly, Eduardo Rodriguez, Brandon Pfaadt, and Ryne Nelson.
“I feel like we’re in a strong position from a starting pitching standpoint,” Hazen said. “I’d like to stay there, but we’ll see what happens as we go through the offseason.”
Hazen also mentioned that other teams had been asking about Arizona’s pitchers.
“We’re talking to teams about starting pitchers because of the fact that we have six,” Hazen said. “So teams are coming at us for players — starting pitchers specifically.”
Before last season’s struggles, Montgomery had a solid track record as a big-league starter. Over eight seasons, he has a career record of 46-41 with a 4.03 ERA.
