Mariners Acquire Once Top Prospect Mike Montgomery

Mike Montgomery was once the prized pitching prospect of the Kansas City Royals. He was seen to be a future fixture in their starting rotation. Montgomery will now be looking for a role on his third team in the past four seasons.

The Tampa Bay Rays, who acquired Montgomery in the blockbuster that saw names like Wade Davis, James Shields, Wil Myers and Jake Odorizzi exchange uniforms in 2012, traded Montgomery once again to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for Erasmo Ramirez. There is seemingly no room in the big leagues for Montgomery, so he will once again try to find his way up the Mariners’ ladder. 

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Drafted in the first round, selected 36th overall by the Royals in 2008, the lefty was seen to be the Royals’ future ace. Upon hitting the Minor Leagues, he looked every bit the part. Montgomery cruised through the lower levels, keeping runners off base (never had a WHIP higher than 1.15 in his first three seasons) and not allowing them to score (his ERA did not eclipse 2.61 over the same span).

After a solid 2010 performance in which he dominated High-A ball and handled his promotion to Double-A equally as well, Montgomery was ranked as a Top 25 prospect in all of baseball by both Baseball America (No. 19) and Baseball Prospectus (No. 21) heading into 2011. Montgomery would head to Triple-A and seemingly never be the same.

His first go in the hitter friendly PCL was a nightmare. His 2011 season, in which he was so heavily hyped, finished 5-11 with a horrendous 5.32 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP. The ensuing season was worse and the Royals appeared to give up on Montgomery sending him to Tampa Bay.

Although he improved from his dismal numbers in the PCL, Montgomery wasn’t blowing the doors off in the International League for the Rays either. He made 25 starts this past season, going 10-5, while posting his lowest ERA and WHIP in three seasons (4.29 and 1.31 respectively), while earning Mid-Season All Star honors and two Pitcher of the Week Awards. The improvement merited him a trip to Spring Training.

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The Rays gave Montgomery a go as a reliever this spring and he seemingly turned a corner. He allowed just three runs over 11.1 innings while striking out 9. Apparently, it wasn’t enough to make the big league squad, so instead of dealing with another year in the minors, the Rays traded him away.

Still only 25-years old Montgomery will try to find a spot in the Seattle Mariners bullpen. The downside of the trade is Montgomery returns to the PCL where his career began its downward spiral. The upside is that the Mariners’ bullpen is not particularly deep, so there may be an opening much sooner than later if he continues to progress as a reliever.

It won’t be an easy task for Montgomery to make the big leagues in 2015. He may never be the big hyped pitcher he once was expected to be, but that doesn’t mean he can’t contribute to a Mariners team clearly on the rise. Should Montgomery falter however, it may be his last chance to show he has the stuff needed to be a Major League pitcher.