Should the St Louis Cardinals give Jordan Montgomery an extension?

Should the St Louis Cardinals be thinking about a long-term deal with Jordan Montgomery?

When the trade deadline came and went for the 2022 season, the St. Louis Cardinals had added some much-needed pitching help, including two starting pitchers. Jose Quintana and Jordan Montgomery have both been huge additions to the Cardinals’ starting rotation.

Quintana’s trade availability fooled no one, as the Pittsburgh Pirates are one of the worst teams in baseball. But Jordan Montgomery? Nobody could have imagined that the Yankees pitcher could have been available.

The Montgomery for Harrison Bader swap took some of the baseball world by surprise. The Yankees were one of, if not the best, teams in all of baseball and they were adding at the trade deadline. Bader, though currently injured, will likely be a great player for the Yankees. Still, the Montgomery trade was a surprise.

Since joining the red hot redbirds, Montgomery is putting up numbers that would seem unrealistic even for a video game.

In four starts, Montgomery is 4-0 with a 0.35 ERA. In his latest start, he threw a complete game shutout against the rival Chicago Cubs. While still under contract for next season, is it too soon to be thinking about what a long-term extension might look like?

I understand that it’s a very, very, very small sample size. Giving out contracts based on a four game sample size is laughable. With that said, I think Montgomery is a solid candidate to be a great pitcher for the duration of his career. His numbers with the New York Yankees, in a tough AL East division, were good. What could he do in an extremely weak NL Central?

We’re getting just a small glimpse of that.

Now, I’m unsure if the Cardinals are thinking about Montgomery’s long-term place with the team yet. He’s still under contractual control for next season, so this conversation can be kicked down the road if desired.

But I think it’s a worthy discussion to have. If the Cardinals think Montgomery can continue pitching even somewhat close to how he’s been pitching since joining the team, it could make sense to explore an extension now.

One reason this could give pause is Steven Matz. The lefty starter was just signed to a four-year contract prior to the season, and has been inconsistent or injured for most of the season. I’m not sure if the Cardinals would be eager to give out another multi-year deal for a starting pitcher right now, even though Miles Mikolas only has one more season on his contract and there’s a chance Adam Wainwright retires soon.

Ultimately, I don’t see that as being a reason to hold off on keeping Montgomery long-term. The Cardinals don’t have much high upside pitching coming through the minor league system, and a team can never really have too much pitching. There’s plenty of room for a pitcher like Jordan Montgomery in the Cardinals rotation for years to come.

What do you think, readers? Is it foolish to even consider an extension yet or is it something the team should think about doing? Either way, let’s enjoy watching Jordan Montgomery and the St. Louis Cardinals steamroll into October.