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

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.