Washington Nationals Could Revive Career of Polarizing Pitcher with Trade

The Washington Nationals are well on their way to being out of this expedited rebuild and back in playoff contention with the young core of stars that they have built.

Headlined by Dylan Crews, the club's number two overall pick in the 2023 MLB draft, it is a unit that showed promise in 2024 and is poised to take a massive step forward in the coming season.

While the offense has been built around players who are expected to mash home runs with ease, the rotation is rather top-heavy and sees a massive decline in ability around the middle of the order.

After taking a flyer on veteran pitcher Mike Soroka earlier this offseason and signing him to a one-year, $9 million contract, the Nationals could use some of their minor league talent to take another flyer on veteran pitcher Jordan Montgomery in a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Montgomery signed with the Diamondbacks last offseason, though the agreement did not come until March 26, with Opening Day coming just two days later.

The veteran would not make his debut with the club until April 19, rushing his time to prepare for meaningful games, and it would result in the worst campaign of his career. Montgomery pitched to a 6.23 ERA across 117 innings in 25 games with 83 strikeouts and a 67 ERA+.

Even with the struggles in 2024, Montgomery carries a career 4.03 ERA across 872 innings in 166 games with 788 strikeouts and a 106 ERA+. He is not an ace, but he is a proven veteran who can easily slot into the middle of a rotation.

Arizona brass openly regrets signing Montgomery, with principal owner Ken Kendrick stating that signing the veteran was "a horrible decision."

This has seen the relationship between the pitcher and the organization quickly deteriorate, and Washington could be the saving grace for both sides.

The Diamondbacks are willing to move off of Montgomery's $22.5 million remaining on his deal for the coming year, and the Nationals have the payroll flexibility to make that happen. It would not take much in the form of prospect capital, either, should Washington take on the entirety of the remaining money owed to Montgomery.

Montgomery is not the pitcher that showed up in 2024 for Arizona. He is much better than that. Montgomery is also not the ace-level pitcher that the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers benefitted from in 2023. He is somewhere in the middle.

Adding the veteran to a rotation fronted by MacKenzie Gore would give the club one more experienced voice in the rotation, this one having a championship pedigree from his time with the Rangers.

Everyone involved in this hypothetical trade would benefit. The Diamondbacks would free up payroll space and move on from a player they openly regret signing; Montgomery would move on to a team that wants his services; Washington would lengthen their starting rotation depth and improve on one of their weaknesses heading into 2025.

It is the case of the elusive win-win-win deal.