Diamondbacks owner takes blame for club's 'biggest mistake'

On the heels of his team's elimination from playoff contention due to the Monday doubleheader split between the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets, Arizona Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick is speaking out on one particular free-agent bust.

In a wide-ranging interview with Arizona Sports, Kendrick said that signing starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery over the offseason was a "horrible decision" that was the Diamondbacks' "biggest mistake this season."

It's surprising to hear a team owner speak so bluntly honest about a player, but at least Kendrick is taking the blame for the mistake.

"Let me say it the best way I can say it: If anyone wants to blame anyone for Jordan Montgomery being a Diamondback, you’re talking to the guy that should be blamed because I brought it to (the front office's) attention," Kendrick said, per Arizona Sports. "I pushed for it. They agreed to it. It wasn’t in our game plan when he was signed right at the end of spring training, and looking back in hindsight, (it was) a horrible decision to have invested that money in a guy that performed as poorly as he did. It’s our biggest mistake this season from a talent standpoint, and I’m the perpetrator of that."

Montgomery went 10-11 with a 3.20 ERA in 2023, splitting time with the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers and helping the latter club win its first World Series title.

The southpaw signed a one-year, $25M deal with Arizona on March 28 (Opening Day) and fired Scott Boras as his agent in April.

In an August interview with the Boston Herald, Montgomery said that Boras "kind of butchered" his free agency. San Francisco Giants starter Blake Snell (a fellow offseason free agent pickup in the NL West) defended Boras against Montgomery's criticism.

Montgomery went 8-7 in 2024 but posted a 6.23 ERA and 1.65 WHIP across 25 games (21 starts), while being demoted to the bullpen for four appearances. His ERA and WHIP were both the worst marks of his career outside of the 2019 campaign when he pitched in just two games.