Does Jordan Montgomery joining D-backs offset Padres’ Dylan Cease trade?

The San Diego Padres can't catch a break this offseason. First it was the Arizona Diamondbacks who swung a trade for Eugenio Suárez, signed Eduardo Rodriguez to a four-year deal, and brought back Lourdes Gurriel Jr. on a three-year pact.

Then the Los Angeles Dodgers basically secured four infinity stones with the additions of Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Teoscar Hernandez, and Tyler Glasnow. LA also just extended catcher Will Smith for another 10 years. Throw those players into the mix with perennial MVP candidates like Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts, and the Dodgers look like a juggernaut.

More recently, it was the San Francisco Giants who entered the chat with the late-spring additions of Gold Glove third baseman Matt Chapman and two-time Cy Young Award-winner Blake Snell. Add those two All-Stars to San Fran's earlier additions of Jung Hoo Lee, Robbie Ray, and Jorge Soler, and the Giants are another massive hurdle in the Friars quest to get back to the postseason.

Does Jordan Montgomery joining D-backs offset Padres’ Dylan Cease trade?

The Padres did their best to keep up with the Joneses after swinging a trade for Dylan Cease. The former Chicago White Sox hurler and Cy Young finalist will join the likes of Yu Darvish, Joe Musgrove, and Michael King in the Friars starting rotation.

But recent developments in the desert may have offset any sort of progress the Padres have made since acquiring Cease from the South Side of Chicago. On Tuesday, the D-backs came to terms on a one-year deal with Jordan Montgomery. The Snakes will pay Monty $25 million in 2024 with a vesting option for 2025.

All of the sudden, competing in the NL West became even more difficult. One could argue that while the Dodgers, Giants, and Diamondbacks improved their rosters, the Padres got worse. San Diego lost Soto, Snell, Gold Glove outfielder Trent Grisham, starters Seth Lugo, Nick Martinez, and Michael Wacha, along with All-Star closer Josh Hader.

The Padres still have plenty of talent, and did add players like King, Yuki Matsui and top prospect Jackson Merrill. But the Diamondbacks proved that they're not going to sit back and play second-fiddle in the NL West. The Padres quest to contend for a playoff spot in 2024 was never easy, but at no point this offseason did it feel like they actually had an inroad for longer than a week or two.

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