Jordan Montgomery signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks over the Boston Red Sox because ‘he wants to win’

According to reports, Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Jordan Montgomery wasn’t interested in signing with the Boston Red Sox because he wanted to win baseball games.

Last season, Montgomery played for both the St. Louis Cardinals and the Rangers, posting a 3.20 ERA in 188.2 innings. In six postseason games, Montgomery had a 3-1 record with a 2.90 ERA and 17 strikeouts highlighted by a shut down performance against the Houston Astros in Game 1 of the ALCS.

It was long-rumored that Montgomery would be heading to Boston during the MLB offseason but nothing ever materialized. Our Philadelphia Phillies were also in the mix to land Montgomery but that didn’t happen either, which led him to sign with Arizona the week before Opening Day on a one-year deal with $25 million with a $20 million player option for 2025.

In a recent interview, he spoke about his decision to head to Arizona over Boston stating that wanting to win baseball games was the major reason.

Jordan Montgomery signed with the D-Backs over Red Sox because he wants to win

Jordan Montgomery reportedly wasn’t interested in signing with Red Sox ‘because he wants to win’ https://t.co/3gSQadthhe

— Boston.com Red Sox News (@BDCSox) March 29, 2024

Honestly, not wanting to sign with the Red Sox makes perfect sense.

They have finished dead last in the American League East the past two seasons and after finishing their 2023 campaign with just 78 wins, they traded away Alex Verdugo and left-hander Chris Sale.

To make matters worse in Boston, they are now starting Triston Casas and Vaughn Grissom in their place while also extending 24-year-old pitcher Brayan Bello before his first Opening Day start.

Point being, if you Jordan Montgomery wants to win, then avoiding the Boston Red Sox was the correct move.

I guess we can credit Montgomery for speaking his mind and maybe I’m just scarred from the Phillies blowing the NLCS to the D-Backs last season and basically handing Arizona a trip to the World Series, but I really do believe thinking Arizona is a destination for winning is a bit of a stretch, no?

Also, I think it’s safe to say that no one believes the D-Backs are ready to make another deep run into the playoffs this season.

Trust me, the Boston Red Sox are definitely a bad baseball team these days but Montgomery was literally just pitching against the D-Backs and beating them in the World Series as a member of the Texas Rangers. 

Yes, I’m saying that last year’s World Series run for the Diamondbacks was an outlier.

I know they are talented and playing in the NL West, where the Los Angeles Dodgers are basically the same as the Atlanta Braves – just regular season heroes who fold under the bright lights of October baseball, but at the same time, I really don’t think anyone believes Arizona is better than the Phillies, Brewers, Giants, Padres, or hell, even the Reds and Cubs, right? 

If Jordan Montgomery wanted to win so badly, he wouldn’t have held out until the week before Opening Day and he wouldn’t have landed in Arizona on a short-term discount. 

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