Along with Luis Castillo and Tyler Malle, Montas is considered one of the best starting pitchers available at the trade deadline. The Yankees had been linked to Castillo, but he was traded to the Mariners in recent days. The Yanks apparently turned their attention to Montas to satisfy their desire to bolster their rotation. Montas has been a steady member of Oakland’s rotation for years, first establishing himself in 2018. Despite a down year in 2020, Montas still has a career 3.73 ERA with a 24.8% strikeout rate, 7 .8% walk rate and 43.5% ground ball rate. Just looking at what he’s done since the start of the 2021 season, he’s at an even better level, posting a 3.30 ERA, 26.3% strikeout rate, 7.1% walk rate, and 44% groundout rate. He’s worth 6.1 wins above replacement in that span, according to FanGraphs. Despite performing well, Montas has looked like an inevitable trade candidate for some time. As the 2021 season ended and the offseason began, the A’s were widely reported to be planning a massive sell-off of any player drawing a significant salary and/or approaching free agency. Montas was frequently mentioned among the trade candidates, alongside Chris Bassitt, Sean Manaia, Matt Olson and Matt Chapman. Those last four names all moved between this winter’s lockout and the start of the season, but Montas stayed. He’s making just over $5M this season, making him the cheapest of this group, but he only has one more season of club control left. Since the A’s aren’t likely to return to the games in that time, it made sense to make him available to other clubs. The Yankees have been incredibly healthy in their rotation this year, with their starting five of Gerrit Cole, Jameson Taillon, Nestor Cortes, Jordan Montgomery and Luis Severino all staying healthy through the first three-plus months of the season. As a result, the rotation as a whole has logged 567 innings, third most in the majors, while also posting a 3.37 ERA that is third in the league. However, Severino landed in IL a few weeks ago with shoulder tightness. While he has been out, Domingo German has made two starts but has an 8.22 ERA in them. When Montas reports to the team, it will likely push the German back to the minors or in a long relief role. If Severino can return to the mound while everyone else is still healthy, the Yanks may have to make a tough decision to fit everyone into the mix, but that would be a good problem to have going forward. More to come.
