NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JUNE 28: Frankie Montas #47 of the Oakland Athletics throws a pitch during the first inning of the game against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on June 28, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)
The Yankees traded for one of the best pitchers available on the market in Frankie Montas.
The New York Yankees weren’t willing to pay the price on Luis Castillo because they wanted to keep Anthony Volpe. They weren’t about to get fooled again. They made a Frankie Montas trade to make up for that swing and a miss on the former Cincinnati Reds pitcher now competing for the Seattle Mariners.
Montas has been long-regarded alongside Castillo as one of the better and most obvious trade candidates out there. In the end, it was the Yankees who held up the winning ticket to get him.
Frankie Montas trade details: How the Yankees landed their Luis Castillo backup plan
It wasn’t easy nor was it cheap. Even if Montas was a trade candidate since the time the 2021 season ended, the Athletics weren’t about to hand him over. New York will also take on Lou Trivino.
Brian Cashman was willing to bite a bit of the farm system in order to get this deal down. This is what it included:
Yankees Get
SP, Frankie Montas
RP, Lou Trivino
Athletics Get
LHP, Ken Waldichuk
LHP, J.P. Sears
RHP, Luis Medina
2B, Cooper Bowman
In return, they do receive one of the better pitchers they’ve been after for months.
Montas had been scheduled to start against the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday versus Noah Syndergaard. Instead, he’ll get to join the Yankees for what he’ll hope is a more serious pennant run than anything he has experienced in the big leagues. On his flight, Montas will bring with him a 4-9 record and 3.18 ERA in 19 starts this season.
He brings with him a lifetime record of 35-32 and a 3.73 ERA; one that has only gotten better in the last two seasons as he has been a more regular starter for Oakland.
Montas will be looking to get a little playoff revenge as a member of the Yankees. His one and only start in the postseason was against the Houston Astros and they knocked him out of the game after 3.2 innings of work.
The Yankees and Astros should be favorites to meet in the ALCS this year. The Frankie Montas trade will help them in the regular season. It also has a B-story with a plot about vengeance.