3 reasons why Jordan Montgomery makes more sense than Blake Snell for the LA Angels

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The Los Angeles Angels would've needed starting pitching help whether Shohei Ohtani stayed or not. Now with Ohtani officially a Dodger, attention has to turn to finding starting pitching reinforcements. The Halos had a subpar rotation with Ohtani this past season, and are not set up well to flourish without him.

What was a rich starting pitching market has seen several of the high-end arms sign elsewhere. The Angels were never seriously linked to guys like Aaron Nola, Sonny Gray, or Yoshinobu Yamamoto raising the question of if they'd even consider bringing in an expensive free agent with Ohtani gone.

The answer to that question appears to be yes, as they're one of several teams that have shown interest in the two best pitchers still available in Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery according to Jon Heyman of the NY Post. With a lot of competition, it remains to be seen if the Angels would win an intense bidding war, but if they had to choose one or the other, Montgomery makes a whole lot more sense than the reigning NL Cy Young winner.

1) Jordan Montgomery would not cost the Angels a draft pick to sign

Montgomery and Snell have been lumped together as the clear top free agent starting pitchers remaining, but there's one big difference between the two. One will require a draft pick to sign while the other will not. This is due to the qualifying offer.

If the Angels were to sign Blake Snell, they'd lose their second-highest pick and $500,000 of international bonus pool money as a team that did not go over the CBT threshold and does not receive revenue sharing. It's not the end of the world, but for a team lacking in a major way in the farm, they shouldn't be eager to lose the pick and money.

Montgomery on the other hand, as a player who was traded midseason, was not eligible to receive a qualifying offer so if the Angels were to sign him, they'd give nothing up in return.

The Angels have signed players in each of the last two offseasons (Noah Syndergaard and Tyler Anderson) who had the qualifying offer attached, so it'd be nice to see them avoid that, especially after trading so many prospects at this past deadline.

2) Jordan Montgomery gives the Angels more reliability than Blake Snell

While the draft pick and international money are important factors here, there are reasons performance-wise why the Angels should prioritize Montgomery over Snell.

Jordan Montgomery gives the Angels something they lack in a big way. Reliability. The southpaw takes the ball every fifth day and eats up innings. He might not look like an ace, but those two things are crucial.

In each of the last three seasons, Montgomery has made at least 30 starts with at least 157 innings of work. Since that 2021 season, Montgomery is 10th in games started and 17th in innings pitched. He's become one of the more reliable starting pitchers in terms of simply taking the ball.

Snell on the other hand, has had just two seasons of 30+ starts in his eight-year career. In those seasons he's been quite good, but the question of if he'll even take the ball consistently is a legitimate one. He has only three seasons of 25+ starts.

Even when Snell is on, he still doesn't give great length. His 180 innings of work led him to his Cy Young victory, but were actually 8.2 fewer than Montgomery. The Angels wouldn't get the upside if they sign Montgomery, but would get a very effective and reliable innings eater while Snell is more of a wild card.

3) Jordan Montgomery has a higher floor than Blake Snell

Snell's ceiling has him as one of the best pitchers in the game. There's no denying that. When he's on, he's virtually impossible to square up. I mean, the guy had a 1.20 ERA in his last 23 starts. That kind of locked in is unheard of. He held the opposition to a .181 batting average against. Just unheard of.

His ceiling blows Montgomery's out of the water. That goes without saying. His floor, however, is nothing to get overly excited about. The two Cy Young wins are great, but in the four seasons between, Snell had a 3.85 ERA in 85 starts. He never made more than 27 starts in a season, never threw more than 128.2 innings, and had two seasons with an ERA well above 4.00. He pitched more like a mid-rotation arm than a frontline starter. This was from 2019-2022.

Montgomery doesn't have the Cy Young upside, but his floor is certainly higher. The last three seasons have seen him post a 3.48 ERA in 94 starts. Montgomery doesn't walk anybody and does a great job keeping the ball in the ballpark. Snell doesn't allow many home runs either, but he walks the world which is why he doesn't often pitch super deep into games.

This Angels team already has eratic starting pitching with potential but no realistic expectations. Arms like Patrick Sandoval and Reid Detmers are supremely talented but have been super inconsistent. Montgomery probably wouldn't win a Cy Young, but the Angels would know what to expect from him. There's value in that added stability.

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