SURPRISE, Ariz. — It worked pretty well once before, so here they go again: The Rangers are acquiring left-hander Jordan Montgomery with the idea he’ll be a useful second-half member of the pitching staff.
Only difference: In 2023, they traded for Montgomery at the deadline. This time around: They are signing a still-rehabbing Montgomery to a minimal major league deal, a person with direct knowledge of the deal told The Dallas Morning News Wednesday.
Montgomery, 33, is expected to earn $1.25 million in base salary with the ability to add more via performance bonuses. But he first must get on a mound. Montgomery hasn’t pitched since an awful 2024 season with Arizona in which he posted a 6.23 ERA and fell out of the starting rotation at times. In late March last year, he underwent hybrid elbow ligament reconstruction in a procedure conducted by Rangers medical director Dr. Keith Meister.
“Just haven’t been recovering very well,” Montgomery told reporters last March in announcing the decision to undergo the procedure. “Kind of day after that last game [March 19], I came back sore, took a day off like I normally do. Next day was still a little achy, so we pushed my bullpen back. Felt decent the next day, kind of just threw through it. Threw a pretty good bullpen, but something was wrong. They told me we were just going to get some imaging on it — we thought it was just kind of a joint thing, would get a shot in there, clean it up and I’d be good. And that just wasn’t the case.”
Montgomery was later traded to Milwaukee as part of a salary-dump move, though he never pitched for the Brewers.
Smiley N. Pool / Staff Photographer
The combination of having their own team doctor having performed the surgery, overseeing his rehab, the way he performed with the Rangers down the stretch in 2023 and his minimal salary demands made it almost impossible for Texas to ignore. He gives the Rangers a potential option for second-half rotation depth, providing his recovery doesn’t hit any impediments.
It will still potentially cost the Rangers a player off their 40-man roster. Though Montgomery will go on the 60–day IL immediately after signing, he must first be placed on the active roster as a procedural move. That will force the Rangers to either place a player currently on the 40-man roster on the IL (and there don’t appear to be any obvious candidates) or designate one for assignment, leaving open the possibility the player could be claimed off waivers.
Adding Montgomery, however, gives the Rangers more layers of depth. Lefty Cody Bradford is expected back from internal brace surgery in May. Montgomery could be ready around the All-Star break. With elite starters Nathan Eovaldi and Jacob deGrom having long injury histories, the more contingencies the Rangers can add, the better positioned they may be.
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