Red Sox Rumors: Jordan Montgomery lowering asking price could land him with hated rival

Free agent pitcher and recent World Series champion Jordan Montgomery still remains on the market with the regular season just hours away.

After a long stall in his market, rumors have surfaced that many teams have new or renewed interest in the pitcher after other starters sustained injuries in spring training.

Joel Sherman of New York Post confirmed that the Yankees and Mets are still in on Montgomery. MLB insider Jim Bowden also confirmed that the Red Sox are "still involved to some degree," but he did not elaborate further on the extent of Boston's efforts to sign the pitcher.

The Yankees have reportedly given Montgomery a range of values within which they would feel comfortable signing him. Compared to the Red Sox, the Yanks' payroll is astronomical — they're spending over $150 million more than the Sox this season and they're up against the highest luxury tax threshold.

Yet, they seem willing to take the leap to sign Montgomery, unlike the newly-small-market Red Sox.

The Yankees offering Montgomery a range of deals does not look good for the Red Sox

The pitcher has been known to carry an exorbitant asking price into discussions and there have been conflicting reports as to what Montgomery's price is. Some reporters have theorized that it's the same deal Aaron Nola got from the Phillies at seven years, $172 million. New reports have risen that suggest Montgomery may be willing to accept a deal similar to Tyler Glasnow's with the Dodgers at five years, $136.5 million.

It's doubtful that the Yankees' contract offer is within Montgomery's boundaries because Glasnow's contract offers a higher average annual value than the one modeled after Nola's deal. And if they were willing to pay as much money as he's asking for, they would've just paid him. But the fact that Montgomery is finally willing to lower his price around the time the Yankees gave him a range is concerning.

It doesn't sound like the Red Sox will end up signing Montgomery, regardless, which is not news to Boston fans. His price is still too steep for the front office to even consider and the Sox have very few long-term contracts on the books — they're probably unwilling to start a new trend of long-term deals with a 31-year-old pitcher.

Montgomery crushing an entire offseason's worth of Red Sox fans' dreams by signing with the Yankees would be so typical. But at least they could end up overpaying for Montgomery's services.

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