Full details of Frankie Montas' option choice has Brewers fans scratching their heads

The Milwaukee Brewers have undergone quite the roster purge to start the offseason. Many of the decisions were pretty wildly expected including giving Willy Adames the qualifying offer and letting him hit free agency as well as declining Wade Miley's option. One of the last decisions Milwaukee was set to make had to do with Frankie Montas' mutual option for 2025.

On the surface, this looked like a pretty easy choice for the Brewers to decline. While Montas showed some promising signs after the Brewers traded for him at the deadline, he still only managed a 4.55 ERA in 11 starts after the trade while having issues both with walks and hard contact all season long. Given that his 2025 option was for $20 million, most agreed that Milwaukee was basically a lock to decline their end of the option.

However, that isn't exactly what happened. On Monday, it was revealed that Montas actually declined his end of the option himself making the whole discussion a moot point while also raising some interesting questions as to why he made that choice.

Montas' option decision worked out for Brewers, but raises some weird questions

Milwaukee certainly wasn't upset to see Montas decline his end of the option. The Brewers had already passed on paying better players less money this offseason, so the idea that they would willingly pay him $20 million for 2025 was always extremely dubious. As to why Montas made that choice, we can only make educated guesses at this point.

While Montas definitely looked like a guy that was coming off shoulder surgery for most of the 2024 season, he did have some things going for him after the trade. His strikeout rate jumped up dramatically with Milwaukee especially in September after making some adjustments. It isn't crazy to think that Montas believes he began knocking the injury rust off, other teams would notice, and he could end up getting a multi-year deal that ends up being more guaranteed money overall and he just wanted to rip the bandaid off. It is also possible that he just wanted to decline the option so that he can say he made the choice instead of having the Brewers cut him loose.

Montas' future is still decidedly unclear. Opposing hitters squared him up way too often this past season including with the Brewers and giving up a .637 slugging percentage on his cutter is a huge red flag. No one realistically thinks that Montas will end up getting more for next season than the amount he just turned down. However, pitching has never been in more demand and Montas does have enough upside to think that a team could sign him to a multi-year deal that guarantees him more money overall even if his 2025 number ends up being less.

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