The Arizona Diamondbacks shocked the baseball world last night by signing star free agent pitcher Corbin Burnes to a 6 year/$210 million contract. Arizona’s big splash will have significant ramifications across baseball. The NL West is now even more competitive, and a rebuilding team like the White Sox can take advantage of a newly formed logjam on the Diamondbacks pitching staff.
The Diamondbacks starting rotation is very crowded. Burnes and fellow right-handers Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly are their newly formed top three. They also have former prized free agent signing Eduardo Rodríguez from the left side. Promising young right-handers Brandon Pfaadt and Ryne Nelson round out their starting staff. They have no shortage of starting pitchers and are six deep without even including disgruntled lefty Jordan Montgomery. He seemingly lacks a spot now, and their pitching surplus could work to the White Sox benefit.
A veteran of 8 MLB seasons, Montgomery has generally been a quality pitcher in the major leagues. He made 32 starts with the Cardinals and Rangers in 2023, pitching to a respectable 3.20 ERA and 1.19 WHIP. He was also integral to the Rangers World Series run. It was arguably the best season of his MLB career.
Montgomery parlayed his 2023 success into a one year/$25 million contract with the Diamondbacks with a team option for 2025. Unfortunately for both parties, 2024 was the worst season of Montgomery’s MLB career. His ERA was over 6.00 and he was so bad that he was demoted to the bullpen towards the end of the season. Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick publicly called the signing of Montgomery “a horrible decision” and their “biggest mistake this season from a talent standpoint.” Montgomery exercised his $22.5 million player option for 2025, but the relationship between both parties is shaky at best because of his poor performance and Kendrick’s comments.
While the Diamondbacks no longer have the space or desire to roster Montgomery, the White Sox might. Even after the signing of veteran pitcher Bryse Wilson, the White Sox could use another innings eater. The 2025 rotation will be very young. It is fair to assume that all of Davis Martin, Drew Thorpe, Sean Burke, and Jonathan Cannon will be under workload limitations to an extent. The White Sox need bodies and guys who can eat innings. Montgomery fits that category. He has pitched over 150 innings four times and has three seasons of over 30 starts each. He is durable and a proven winner. That is the type of pitcher the White Sox need to get through 2025. His veteran presence could guide a young rotation.
There is also bounce-back potential with Montgomery. Even during his career-worst 2024 season, he was still elite in categories like chase% and barrel%. He has also historically been a good pitcher and is not far removed from MLB success. It isn’t unreasonable to think that a change of scenery could revitalize his career. He is also under contract for just 2025. It would be a minimal commitment from the White Sox perspective. If Montgomery is bad again, he will be gone after the season. However, he could become a trade chip with a strong first half.
Given Montgomery’s current status, he is a pure salary dump. As a result, the White Sox could likely ask for a prospect along with Montgomery in exchange for taking his salary off the Diamondbacks’ hands. There is also a version of this scenario where the White Sox could send Andrew Benintendi to Arizona as part of the deal to even out the contracts a bit. Exploring the salary dump route to acquire a pitcher and potentially more prospects is an avenue worth taking for the White Sox.
While taking on Jordan Montgomery from the Arizona Diamondbacks in a salary dump is logical given where the 2025 White Sox stand, it likely won’t happen. It would involve taking on payroll, which is seemingly a no-no for Chris Getz. The White Sox will have one of the lowest payrolls in MLB next season and aren’t likely to spend much more money this winter. That said, trading for Montgomery would represent an outside-the-box way to get another innings eater and potentially accumulate more assets for the future.
