San Diego, Calif. — The Texas Rangers today announced that the club has acquired left-handed pitcher Jordan Montgomery, right-handed pitcher Chris Stratton, and international bonus pool money from the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for left-handed pitcher John King, infielder Tommy Saggese, and right-handed pitcher T.K. Roby.

To make room on the 40-man roster to accommodate both Montgomery and Stratton, right-handed pitcher Joe Barlow has been designated for assignment.

The Rangers will make additional moves to accommodate Montgomery, Stratton, and Max Scherzer on the active roster when they report to the club.

Montgomery, 30, is 6-9 with a 3.42 ERA (46 ER/121.0 IP) in 21 starts for St. Louis this season, striking out 108 batters against 35 walks allowed.  He ranks among National League qualifying leaders this campaign in quality starts (12, T7th), ERA (3.42, 9th), home runs allowed per nine innings (0.89, 10th), opponent GIDP per nine innings (0.97, 11th), and WHIP (1.25, 17th).  The lefthander owns a 12-12 record with a 3.31 ERA (68 ER/184.2 IP) in 32 starts with St. Louis after being acquired by the Cardinals from the New York Yankees on August 2, 2022 in exchange for outfielder Harrison Bader. Montgomery went 6-3 with a 3.11 ERA (22 ER/63.2 IP) in 11 starts with St. Louis in 2022.

The Sumter, South Carolina native finished sixth in the 2017 American League Rookie of the Year voting and was named to the Topps MLB All-Star Rookie Team after leading the American League in starts (29), strikeouts (144), and innings pitched (155.1) that season.  Selected by the New York Yankees in the fourth round of the 2014 MLB draft out of the University of South Carolina, Montgomery owns a 34-32 record with a 3.77 ERA (288 ER/687.1 IP) in 130 games (129 starts) across seven Major League seasons with New York-AL (2017-22) and St. Louis (2022-23).

Stratton, 32, has gone 1-1 with a 4.36 ERA (26 ER/53.2 IP) and one save over 42 relief appearances this season for St. Louis, recording 59 strikeouts to 17 walks and holding opponents to a .231/.291/.377/.668 (46-199) clip on the year.  The right-hander has amassed 22 relief outings of 4-or-more outs this season, T2nd-most in MLB.

The Tupelo, MS native was originally selected by San Francisco in the 1st round (20th overall) of the 2012 MLB draft out of Mississippi State University.  Stratton is 36-24 with a 4.50 ERA (258 ER/516.0 IP) across 280 games (42 starts) over eight Major League seasons with San Francisco (2016-18), Los Angeles-AL (2019), Pittsburgh (2020-22), and St. Louis (2022-23).

King, who is currently on option at Triple-A Round Rock, has gone 1-1 with a 5.79 ERA over 15 relief appearances with Texas this season.  He is 2-2 with a 3.32 ERA over 12 games/3 starts with Round Rock.  He has spent his entire professional career in the Rangers organization since being selected in the 10th round of the 2017 MLB Draft out of the University of Houston.

Saggese, who exited today’s Double-A Frisco game after one at-bat, has batted .313 with 15 home runs and 78 RBI over 93 games with the RoughRiders in 2023.  He was selected by the Rangers in the fifth round of the 2020 MLB Draft out of Carlsbad (Calif.) High School.

Roby has a 2-3 record with a 5.05 ERA over 10 games/starts for Frisco this season, allowing 12 walks with 50 strikeouts.  He was selected by the Rangers in the third round of the 2020 MLB Draft out of Pine Forest (Fla.) High School.

Barlow, currently on option at Round Rock, has gone 1-1 with a 4.66 ERA over 13 relief appearances with the Rangers this season.  The Rangers have seven days to trade, release, or outright Barlow to the minor leagues.

Following today’s transactions, the Rangers remain at the 40-man limit on the club’s Major League roster, along with three players (Jacob deGrom, Brett Martin, and Jake Odorizzi) on the 60-day Injured List.