Jordan Montgomery has agreed on a one-year deal to rejoin the Texas Rangers, three seasons after being part of their only World Series championship and while the left-hander continues rehabbing from a second elbow reconstruction surgery.
A person with knowledge of the deal confirmed the move on Wednesday. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal hadn’t been finalized or announced.
The Dallas Morning News first reported the deal and said it was worth $1.25 million plus potential performance bonuses.
A trade-deadline acquisition from St. Louis in 2023, Montgomery went 4-2 with a 2.79 ERA in 11 regular-season games for the Rangers before winning two AL Championship Series games. That included 2 1/3 innings in relief in the Game 7 ALCS clincher in Houston. He went 3-1 in six games that postseason, the loss coming when starting Game 2 of the World Series against Arizona.
He then left in free agency and didn't sign until late the following spring with the Diamondbacks, going 8-7 with a 6.23 ERA in 2024 before missing all of last season.
Depending on his rehab, Montgomery could provide some pitching depth for the Rangers in the second half of this season. His surgery last year was done by Dr. Keith Meister, one of their team physicians.
Montgomery first had Tommy John surgery in 2018 that was performed by former New York Yankees team physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad.
Because the Rangers went into spring training with a full 40-man roster, they will have to make a move to clear a spot on the active roster for Montgomery before they can place him on the injured list.
Montgomery missed nearly a month with a knee injury in 2024 and finished with 83 strikeouts in 117 innings, and he was eventually demoted to the bullpen. That deal was for $25 million, part of a contract that drew harsh public criticism from Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick after he pushed for it.
That criticism came before Montgomery exercised a $22.5 million option to stay with Arizona in 2025, then had surgery late last March. The Diamondbacks traded him to Milwaukee last July, and he became a free agent again after the season.
Over eight big league seasons with the New York Yankees, St. Louis, Texas and Arizona, the 33-year-old lefty is 46-41 with a 4.03 ERA in 166 games (161 starts).
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
FILE - Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Jordan Montgomery shows off his 2023 World Series ring, which he won while a member of the Texas Rangers, after receiving it from Rangers manager Bruce Bochy before a baseball game between the Rangers and the Diamondbacks Tuesday, May 28, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Jeffrey McWhorter, File)
FILE - Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery throws against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the first inning in Game 2 of the baseball World Series Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez, File)
Portland, which is welcoming a WNBA team back to the city after 24 years, selected veteran forward Bridget Carleton with the first pick in Friday's expansion draft.
Guard Julie Allemand, who played last season for the Los Angeles Sparks, was selected by the Toronto Tempo with its first pick.
The Tempo won a coin flip and opted to take the sixth pick in the college draft on April 13 over the top pick in the expansion draft. So Portland went first on Friday and will have the seventh pick in the college draft.
Carleton, who has played for the last seven seasons for the Minnesota Lynx and averaged 6.5 points and 3.6 rebounds a game last season off the bench, was an unrestricted free agent.
“Once we finalized our process, and zoomed in on Bridget, and knew we had our first expansion pick, it was obvious we did not want to have Toronto hold our destiny in their hands," Portland general manger Vanja Cernivec said.
Allemand averaged 5.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 5 assists in 34 games last season.
“This group gives us the ability to compete from day one while continuing to build, and embraces the opportunity to help shape something new in a new country as Canada’s first WNBA team,” Toronto general manager Monica Wright Rogers said.
The league's teams protected five players apiece ahead of the expansion draft but those lists were not made public, leading to speculation about which players were available.
On Wednesday, the Chicago Sky announced trades with the Tempo and the Fire, which prevented the expansion teams from selecting Sky players. In exchange, the Fire got the No. 17 pick in the college draft and the No. 26 pick went to the Tempo.
The expansion draft had two rounds, with up to six picks for each team in each round. The teams alternated picks, with the Tempo picking first in the second round after the Fire got the first overall selection.
Teams could only lose two players to the expansion draft. If a player was taken in the first round, a second player from that same franchise couldn't be taken until the second round.
Following Allemand, the Tempo selected center Nyara Sabally from the Liberty, guard Marina Mabrey from the Sun, forward Aaliya Nye from the Aces, guard Lexi Held from the Mercury, and forward Maria Conde from the Valkyries.
In the second round the Tempo selected forward Maria Kliundikova from the Lynx, center Adja Kane from the Liberty, center Nikolina Milic from the Sun, guard Kitija Laksa from the Mercury, and guard Kristy Wallace from the Fever.
After Carleton, the Portland Fire selected guard Carla Leite from the Valkyries, center Luisa Geiselsoder from the Stars, forward Emily Engstler from the Mystics, guard Maya Caldwell from the Dream and forward Chloe Bibby from the Fever.
In the second round Portland took guard Haley Jones from the Wings, forward Nyadiew Puoch from the Dream, guard Sara Ashlee Barker from the Sparks, guard Sug Sutton from the Mystics and guard Nika Muhl from the Storm.
Mabry was also an unrestricted free agent. Each team was allowed to pick only one unrestricted free agent.
The teams still do not know when free agency will open. More than 80% of the players are free agents this year, as many players have expiring contracts or opted out of the previous collective bargaining agreement.
The college draft is set for April 13 and training camps open on April 19. The season will start on May 8.
The Tempo and Fire join the WNBA as the league's 14th and 15th teams. Portland previously had a WNBA team, also called the Fire, that played from 2000 to 2002.
AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
Toronto Tempo general manager Monica Wright Rogers, right, and assistant general manager Eli Horowitz pose for a photo after speaking to media following the WNBA Expansion Draft in Toronto, Friday, April 3, 2026. (Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press via AP)
FILE - Minnesota Lynx forward Bridget Carleton (6) dribbles the ball up court against the Phoenix Mercury during the second half of Game 2 of a WNBA basketball playoff semifinals series Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn, File)
