According to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News, Jordan Montgomery and the Texas Rangers have agreed to a one-year deal. Montgomery was a part of the 2023 World Series-winning team in Texas after being acquired at the trade deadline. He will now make his way back to the Lone Star State, hoping to find the same magic.
Montgomery has spent the last two seasons as a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks. A two-year deal was signed there, not really working out from the get-go. Only 25 games were thrown — all of which came during the 2024 season. His 117.0 innings pitched yielded a 6.23 ERA, with 44 walks and just 83 strikeouts.
Things then got messy for everyone involved in the matter. Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick then publicly spoke out on the contract Arizona gave him ahead of the 2024 season. He took full blame, calling the signing of Montgomery “a horrible decision” and “our biggest mistake.” Not usually the kind of honesty you see from a front office member, let alone the team’s owner.
“If anyone wants to blame anyone for Jordan Montgomery being a Diamondback, you’re talking to the guy that should be blamed,” Kendrick said via Arizona Sports. “Because I brought it to [the front office’s] attention. I pushed for it. They agreed to it — it wasn’t in our game plan. You know when he was signed — right at the end of spring training. And looking back, in hindsight, a horrible decision to invest that money in a guy who performed as poorly as he did. It’s our biggest mistake this season from a talent standpoint. And I’m the perpetrator of that.”
To no surprise, Montgomery never threw another pitch for the Diamondbacks. In March 2025, it was announced that he needed Tommy John surgery, ending his season. The rehab process is still ongoing, even as the lefty signs with Texas. The Rangers will not see him on the mound until the summer months.
Once back to full health, everybody in Arlington will be hoping Montgomery can recapture his form from the 2023 run. He made 11 appearances for the Rangers during the regular season, recording a 2.79 ERA in 67.2 innings pitched. Those numbers were replicated in the postseason, taking the mound six times (once in relief) and having an ERA of 2.90. And, of course, the biggest prize of them all was winning the franchise’s first-ever World Series championship.