D-Backs owner says signing $25 million pitcher was ‘terrible mistake’

PHOENIX – As if being at home in the postseason after Sunday’s elimination wasn’t painful enough for the Arizona Diamondbacks, they spent Monday doing damage control after their owner pointed the finger and punished one of his highest-paid players had.

D-Backs owner Ken Kendrick blamed himself for signing free-agent starter Jordan Montgomery, saying he was the one who suggested the front office sign him after starter Eduardo Rodriguez showed up in spring training injured his left shoulder.

Kendrick now says he regrets the recommendation and says the Diamondbacks should never have signed Montgomery, who went 8-7 with a 6.23 ERA in 21 starts, to a one-year, $25 million contract.

The kicker?

Instead of beating up Montgomery on the way out the door, Kendrick will likely see a lot of him next year too. Montgomery has a $22.5 million player option in 2025 that he is expected to exercise.

“Let me say it the best way I can say it,” Kendrick said on The Burns & Gambo Show on Monday. “If anyone wants to blame anyone for Jordan Montgomery being a Diamondback, talk to the guy who should be blamed,” because I brought it to their attention. They agreed to it.

“That wasn’t in our game plan. You know when he was signed, right at the end of spring training. And looking back, it was a terrible decision to have invested that money in a man who performed as poorly as he did.

“From a talent perspective, it was our biggest mistake this season. And I am the perpetrator.”

This was one of the harshest condemnations by an owner of a player since the days of George Steinbrenner and Hall of Famer Dave Winfield nearly 40 years ago.

Montgomery, who signed late to appear in spring training, struggled most of the year. He was removed from the starting rotation in August before returning in September.

Montgomery actually didn’t even want to pitch in Arizona. He waited for a contract offer from the Texas Rangers that never came and turned down a four-year offer from the Boston Red Sox earlier this winter. He ended up accepting the D-Backs’ offer and then fired his agent, Scott Boras.

Now, six months later, everyone is mad at each other.

Kendrick, frustrated that the D-backs missed the playoffs by just one game and needed Atlanta or New York to win a doubleheader on Monday, also leveled criticism at the commissioner’s office for forcing the two teams to compete against the Twinbill. These were replacement games after Hurricane Helene caused the games in Atlanta to be postponed last Wednesday and Thursday.

He called it a “debacle” that could have been prevented and said MLB should have asked the two teams to play a doubleheader last Monday when they both dropped out

“I am disappointed that MLB has not taken a more aggressive stance and insisted that these games be played earlier,” Kendrick said. “This decision would have changed the course of the week for many teams, including these guys. I think they’re both at a huge disadvantage…since in some cases they’ve used top pitchers and burned out their bullpens. You’re going to play in the postseason when you should be able to have your best players ready to go.”

But while Kendrick lamented the hurricane’s potential impact on their postseason chances, the players felt it was almost immoral to use it as an excuse.

“I mean, people are losing their lives, their homes,” front-runner Zac Gallen told reporters on Monday. “So if I were to get upset about a natural disaster while people are worried about other things, that would be completely tone-deaf.”

Amen.

While Kendrick didn’t hide his disappointment – the D-Backs finished the game with the same 89-73 record as Atlanta and the Mets but lost the tiebreaker – he didn’t criticize manager Torey Lovullo or GM Mike Hazen.

“If any of us, at least me, were to say that our manager did a bad job this season or our general manager did a bad job this season,” Kendrick said, “I wouldn’t be the one to say that .”

While the D-Backs’ attendance rose to 2.3 million, their highest number since 2008, it is unclear whether their franchise-record payroll of $175 million will fall after their playoff failure.

Kendrick, who still paid former D-Backs starter Madison Bumgarner $14 million this year, doesn’t hide the fact that he hopes Montgomery leaves and makes $22.5 million.

“Will we be financially competitive again next year?” said Kendrick. “I think the answer is basically yes, we are. … I think we have a core of players that will return, which will put us in a position to be very, very competitive again next season. And it won’t be cheap to do it.”

The D-Backs have their entire starting lineup and rotation under contract, with the exception of first baseman Christian Walker.

“There are a lot of unknowns here, a lot of uncertainties,” Walker told reporters. “There’s a good chance I’ll end up here, but there are some unknowns.”

And now there is another unknown.

If Walker returns and is struggling, could he be Kendrick’s next victim?

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Signing Jordan Montgomery was a ‘terrible mistake,’ D-Backs owner says