They've been disusing this all day on TSN 690. Listening to the takes is just hilarious. They can't come to grips that they are no longer the team everyone wants to play for, quite the opposite these days.
It's a major slap in the face, Gardner took 1.75M less and signed for one extra year. Now, I get that the taxes in Quebec are high but I have to think getting paid in US$ while living in Canada has to offset that.
Montreal is not an expensive city to live in compared to other Major NA cities other than the tax issue.
Perhaps the way the Toronto media treated him turned him off to the pressure of playing for a Major Canadian market team but that's a lot to leave on the table IMO.