Kansas City Royals: Trade for Mike Montgomery didn’t work out

The Kansas City Royals traded for Mike Montgomery in 2019 and it didn’t go according to plan.

The Kansas City Royals sent catcher Martin Maldonado to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for pitcher Mike Montgomery during the 2019 trade deadline. Montgomery was actually drafted by the Royals in 2008, but never started a big league game for them until he was traded back to KC.

Instead, Montgomery spent his MLB career with the Mariners and Cubs before landing back with the team who drafted him over a decade prior. He won a World Series with the Cubs in 2016 and did so out of the bullpen, but he was someone who the Royals used as a starter.

Unfortunately, Montgomery didn’t add much to this team. He was having a rough 2019 season with the Cubs when he was traded and didn’t fare much better with the Royals, ending that season with a 4.64 ERA in 13 starts and 64 innings pitched.

The hope was that Montgomery could help out the rotation while the Royals waited for their younger pitching prospects to get to the big leagues, but that didn’t happen unfortunately. Montgomery was injured after just one start in the shortened 2020 season and he’s elected for free agency, so his time as a Royal is over.

The Kansas City Royals took a shot by trading for Mike Montgomery and it didn’t work out.

Montgomery made just one start for the Royals in 2020 before he was sidelined with an injury. He did end up returning near the end of the season and had two relief appearances. He pitched just 5.1 innings, gave up three earned runs (five total runs) and finished his short season with an ERA of 5.06. It wasn’t the kind of performance the Royals were hoping for, but Montgomery’s unavailability led to the Royals being able to test the waters with some of their younger prospects.

Moving forward, the Royals have four likely names in their rotation for 2020 – Kris Bubic, Danny Duffy, Brad Keller, and Brady Singer. The other spot might have gone to Montgomery if he returned, but he also could have been moved to the bullpen like Jakob Junis is likely going to do.

Taking a chance on Montgomery to see if he had anything left in the tank was a harmless move and sometimes trades don’t work out in teams’ favors. If it makes Royals fans feel any better, the Cubs didn’t even hold onto Maldonado long after this deal was made, instead shipping him to Houston for the duration of the season. This was a trade that didn’t work out for either team.

Mike Montgomery should draw some interest this offseason, but he won’t be returning to the Royals and that’s probably for the best.