Could slumping ace be Braves buy-low candidate after success of Chris Sale trade?

If there's one thing Major League Baseball teams know about the Atlanta Braves, it's that they're extremely smart about how and where they spend.

It should have been an alarm bell for the entire sport when the Braves traded for oft-injured starting pitcher Chris Sale last winter, then inked him to an extension before the season began. Less than a year later, Sale is clearing space for his first career Cy Young Award on his mantle.

Entering 2025, the Braves are in a good spot with four talented starting pitchers, but longtime star Max Fried could be headed elsewhere in free agency. That would leave the Braves with an extra slot in their rotation, and several routes to pursue in terms of filling it.

Could the Braves repeat the success of the Sale trade with another left-hander this winter? There is certainly an intriguing candidate waiting for them in struggling Arizona Diamondbacks star Jordan Montgomery.

Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report predicted recently that Montgomery, a 2023 World Series hero with the Texas Rangers, would be traded this winter after opting into the second year of his Diamondbacks contract.

"Montgomery likely accepts the offer, but immediately becomes a trade block candidate in light of team owner Ken Kendrick's recent comments about it being a "horrible decision" to sign Montgomery. (Arizona would likely need to eat a big chunk of that $22.5M to move him.)" Miller said.

Montgomery was awful this season, and there's no way around it. He posted a 6.23 ERA, 1.65 WHIP, and only 83 strikeouts in 117 innings pitched. But he's also the perfect bounce-back candidate, considering his lack of Spring Training likely derailed the start of his campaign.

The whole situation closely mirrors that of Sale, though the 32-year-old Montgomery might not have the same type of raw stuff as the presumptive Cy Young winner.

Sale was entering the final year of his Red Sox contract, so Boston ate $17 million of the $27 million he was owed just to ship him to Atlanta. The Braves then immediately extended him with options through the 2026 season, and it wouldn't be a surprise to see them do the same with Montgomery.

Losing Fried would be painful, but it would also be the perfect Braves move to replace him with Montgomery and get the same type of production for far less salary.

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