ARLINGTON, Texas — Nearly 24 hours after the Texas Rangers announced that they had acquired Max Scherzer from the New York Mets, general manager Chris Young made his next move as the team continued to push their chips to the center of the table. With future Hall of Famer Scherzer in tow, the Rangers have acquired another pair of arms to bolster their pitching staff with the hopes of October glory.
Finalizing the trade was a little easier than the one for Scherzer as this time around Texas lands starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery and reliever Chris Stratton from the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for prospect infielder Thomas Saggese and right-handed pitcher Tekoah Roby, and current big league left-handed reliever John King.
Coming to Texas
The Rangers, who have needed more pitching since the dawn of time, but especially of late in a season where they find themselves contending, acquired both a starter and reliever in the deal with the Cardinals. The starter is lefty Jordan Montgomery. Montgomery, who was in his second season with the Cardinals on a pillow contract of $10 million, has been a quality middle of the rotation arm.
Over the last year and a half with St. Louis, the 30-year-old has a 12-12 record with a 3.31 ERA, 0.9 HR/9 and a 3.52 K/BB rate. Before he was traded to St. Louis last year, Montgomery spent five and a half seasons with the New York Yankees, pitching to a 22-20 record, 3.94 ERA, 1.2 HR/9 and 3.27 K/BB rate.
Montgomery has started 21 games in 2023. He had a bit of a rough first couple of months to the season, but over June and July, he’s been much better. In the 10 starts he’s made over the previous eight weeks or so, Montgomery has pitched to a 2.37 ERA with 53 strikeouts and with opponents hitting just .213 against him.
If you take out his two most recent starts against the Cubs, he’s pitched to a 1.48 ERA. Montgomery slots in right behind Max Scherzer and Nathan Eovaldi – assuming the latter can return healthy – as a solid 1-2-3 punch ahead of Jon Gray, with Dane Dunning, Andrew Heaney, and Martin Perez filling out the Rangers’ rotation.
In addition to Montgomery, Texas also acquired right-handed reliever Chris Stratton in the deal. Stratton, who will be a free agent at the end of the year, has made 42 appearances for the Cardinals this season, and while the “Baseball Card” stats don’t look great – 4.36 ERA, 17 walks – he’s featuring a career high 3.47 K/BB ratio, a 9.9 K/9 rate, a career low 2.9 BB/9 rate, and career-low 1.174 WHIP. Stratton adds a little balance to a left-heavy bullpen that desperately needs another reliable high-leverage arm behind Aroldis Chapman and Will Smith.
Of lesser note, but as added intrigue, Stratton broke into the big leagues under current Rangers’ manager Bruce Bochy, and Montgomery pitched his best while with the Cardinals last season under the tutelage of current Rangers’ pitching coach Mike Maddux.
As one final sweetener, Texas also received an international bonus pool slot from the Cardinals to up their ability to spend on international free agents.
Going to St. Louis
Thomas Saggese is Texas’ No. 14 prospect and is a capable infielder with a glove better suited for second base. Like Scherzer’s spoils going to New York, Luisangel Acuña, Saggese spent time at both Hickory and Frisco last season and slashed .312/.361/.506 across both levels. This season, in 92 games with Frisco, Saggese is slashing .314/.380/.514.
The 2020 fifth round selection for Texas has been known to have an aggressive approach at the plate and a lot of pull stroke. He needs to work on his plate discipline and bulk up some, but there’s little question that he’ll hit in the big leagues. His character is treasured as well, having earned Texas’ “True Ranger” Award last season.
Tekoah Roby, the right-handed starting pitcher who was a third round pick in the 2020 draft, ranked as the club’s No. 11 prospect. He made his debut with the Wood Ducks in Down East in 2021, but was shut down with an elbow sprain. This season, with Double-A Frisco, Roby has battled through injuries again and is currently on the IL with a shoulder issue. In 10 starts with the Rough Riders, Roby has posted a 5.05 ERA in 46.1 innings and a decent 4.17 K/BB rate.
John King has been up and down with the big league club over the past three and a half seasons. The lefty has not been very good this season for Texas, posting a 5.79 ERA in 18.2 innings, striking out just 10 and allowing a career-worst 1.607 WHIP.
The contracts
Both Montgomery and Stratton will be free agents at the end of this year. Montgomery’s contract was only worth $10 million, so Texas will be on the hook for less than $4 million for his remaining stay in Texas. Stratton’s one-year contract, signed to avoid a non-tender from the Cardinals, was only for $2.8 million, leaving the Rangers to pay a relatively minimal amount through the remainder of this season.
What it means for Texas
Neither of the prospects that Texas gave up in this deal are ones that are must-keeps when the big league club needs reinforcements.
The Rangers currently have a long-term blockage in the middle infield with Marcus Semien and Corey Seager. Anybody with a middle infield position below the Major League level should be considered a trade chip, and since Texas has done a relatively good job of developing middle infielders, that has given them a lot of ammo with which to work with.
Offloading Roby while he’s injured right now to an organization that treasures pitching like the Cardinals could be the one that haunts Texas but there’s no guarantee that Roby will be healthy enough to reach his potential.King, meanwhile, has already shown what he is capable of and it wasn’t anything that, right now, would be useful on a contending team.
Young certainly is making the most of the currency at his disposal, and even though there might be some flashier or bigger names to get to go along with Scherzer, nobody can say that the Rangers’ GM is bargain bin shopping or shying away from pulling the trigger at a certain price point.
Are there more moves you’d like to see the Rangers make before the deadline? Share your thoughts with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB.