After a free agency that nearly dragged out until Opening Day, Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Jordan Montgomery has fired his agent, powerful MLB figure Scott Boras, according to a report from ESPN.
A quartet of Boras’s clients who were top free agents this winter, which ESPN says have been termed the “Boras Four,” all signed deals well below expectations after free-agency processes that lasted most of the offseason. Montgomery’s lasted the longest, as he agreed to a one-year, $25 million deal which includes a vesting option up to $25 million for next season on March 26, two days before the Diamondbacks’ season began.
But the other three members of that “Boras Four” — third baseman Matt Chapman, outfielder Cody Bellinger and pitcher Blake Snell — also wound up signing deals for much less than expected, despite the fact that all four received accolades in 2023.
Montgomery played a crucial role in the Texas Rangers’ run to their first ever World Series title after coming over in a midseason trade from the St. Louis Cardinals. Chapman won his second career gold glove at third base with the Toronto Blue Jays. Bellinger won 2023 NL Comeback Player of the Year after making good on a one-year prove-it deal with the Chicago Cubs. Snell won the 2023 NL Cy Young with the San Diego Padres. All four were expected to sign deals stretching five, six or even seven years.
Yet Bellinger re-signed with the Cubs in early March for three years and $80 million, Chapman signed with the San Francisco Giants for three years and $54 million in early March, and Snell signed a two-year, $62 million deal with the Giants so late in spring training that he was unable to debut for his new team until this past Tuesday and only pitched three innings against the Washington Nationals, allowing three runs.
After Montgomery signed, Boras blamed team owners for his clients’ surprisingly difficult offseasons.
The agent, long seen as the most powerful and influential in baseball if not North American sports in general, attributed the slow pace of free agency to a few factors, including normal market fluctuation and the uncertainty of team revenue from regional sports networks.
“We’ve had a dramatic difference in the competitiveness and aggressiveness of owners to win,” Boras said.
Montgomery is hiring Joel Wolfe and Nick Chanock from Wasserman as his new agents to replace Boras, per ESPN. Wolfe, who leads Wasserman’s baseball portfolio, had a much more successful winter, highlighted by getting Japanese star pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto signed to a record-breaking 12-year, $325 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers despite Yamamoto never throwing an MLB pitch beforehand.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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