With MLB Opening Day 2024 just days away, it seems that both the New York Mets and New York Yankees are still pursuing the best free agent left on the market, Jordan Montgomery.
The 2024 season is set to kick off for much of the league this Thursday and both the Mets and Yankees will be among the teams beginning their campaigns. While both teams have huge payrolls this season, the expectations for both clubs are very different.
If the Pinstripes can eventually get ace Gerrit Cole back healthy, they are seen as a serious contender to reach the World Series in October. As for the Amazins, they need many players to have bounce-back seasons if they hope to contend for a Wild Card spot in a year when the organization was budget shopping in free agency.
- Jordan Montgomery stats (2023): 10-11 record, 3.20 ERA, 1.193 WHIP, 166 SO, 48 BB
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However, last week the Mets made their biggest splash in the open market this year when they added All-Star designated hitter JD Martinez. The Yankees also made a blockbuster trade and signed an All-Star pitcher before the new season as well. However, both teams may have one more big move in them to address an area of need.
MLB insider explains latest on Mets and Yankees pursuit of Jordan Montgomery
Yankees, Cardinals, and Rangers veteran Jordan Montgomery is the last big name left in MLB free agency and there have been various reports about both New York teams having interest in the pitcher. On Monday night, New York Post MLB insider Joel Sherman gave an update on the situation and what it will take to get a contract signed.
“They apparently have not shut the door on Jordan Montgomery. The Mets had a similar philosophy with Montgomery as another Scott Boras client, J.D. Martinez. They had a price in mind and if it ever fell to that they would act — as they did in signing a heavily deferred one-year, $12 million pact with Martinez,” Sherman wrote. “The Yankees have informed Boras what range they are comfortable with on Montgomery and the two sides did not seem in accord — even at this late date.”
- Jordan Montgomery contract projection: 7 years, $165 million
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“What I heard is the Montgomery ask was originally in the Aaron Nola range (seven years, $172 million) and moved more to the Tyler Glasnow area (five years, $136.5 million),” he added. “The Yanks have privately assessed Montgomery as a No. 3 starter, in part because he does not have high-end swing-and-miss stuff — so think more in the ballpark of Eduardo Rodriguez’s four years at $80 million perhaps.”
Whoever lands the championship pitcher will have to wait close to a month before he is ready for big-league action.
