Jordan Montgomery deal should’ve been new Orioles ownership’s Opening Day gift

At this point, Baltimore Orioles fans are tired of hearing that the team can't afford to go after top free agents. For years, the Angelos family cried poor and let the rest of the league have their pick of the top names while Orioles fans had to hope that Baltimore would do more than sign a fringe middle reliever each offseason.

However, things are hopefully changing there. The Orioles are among the best teams in the league, which has been good for fan interest and therefore revenues, but the most important development is that Baltimore is going to officially be under new ownership very, very soon. The hope is that David Rubenstein and Co. will be more willing to actually invest in the Orioles' roster.

Unfortunately, Orioles fans will have to wait a bit longer to find out if they will actually do that because the last big opportunity this offseason to change Baltimore's miserly narrative just passed them by when Jordan Montgomery signed with the Diamondbacks on Tuesday night.

The Orioles should have been all over Jordan Montgomery at that price

While the Orioles addressed their need for a frontline starting pitcher this offseason when they went out and traded for Corbin Burnes, losing out on Monty isn't a total disaster. However, Baltimore could still have used more depth in their rotation and having a guy like Montgomery still available this late in the game was a golden opportunity to make it happen.

Unfortunately, the Orioles never seemed to be in play even when Montgomery's price was dropping. It would have been perfectly reasonable for the Orioles to avoid giving Montgomery the seven years at $25+ million he was initially looking for this offseason, but that hasn't been on the table for a while.

As soon as his price dropped to make a short-term deal possible, Baltimore should have jumped into the bidding. Not only would it have addressed a roster need with a top-tier talent, but it would have shown that the Orioles' new owners are playing to win without actually hamstringing the team's payroll long-term. Monty signing a one-year, $25 million contract with the D-backs should've been right in the O's wheelhouse.

It feels a little bit like the timing of everything here was just a bit off. The transition to new ownership is happening right now and the Orioles had already gone through the spring training process, so perhaps Baltimore didn't want to disrupt the roster order too much right before the season. It's also possible that the Orioles just felt Montgomery wasn't worth $25 million a year even on a short-term deal. Either way, this could have been a chance to show that the franchise was turning the page.

Oh well ... until next offseason.

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