The New York Yankees reached an agreement Monday to acquire right-handers Frankie Montas and Lou Trivino from the Oakland Athletics in exchange for a package of prospects, Jim Bowden of CBS Sports confirmed. The Athletics will receive four players in return: lefties JP Sears and Ken Waldichuk, righty Luis Medina and second baseman Cooper Bowman.
Montas, 29, was the top starting pitcher on the trade market after Friday night’s trade in which the Seattle Mariners acquired Luis Castillo from the Cincinnati Reds. In 19 starts this season, Montas has compiled a 3.18 ERA (117 ERA+) and a 3.89 strikeout-to-walk ratio. His contributions have been worth roughly 1.6 wins above replacement, according to Baseball-Reference calculations.
CBS Sports recently ranked Montas as the second best pitcher available. Here’s what we wrote at the time:
Montas’ arsenal remains based on power. He throws four pitches more than 10 percent of the time, and none of them go under 86 mph. (So much for needing a wide velocity band to keep hitters off balance.) The main reason he’s behind Castillo is that he’s unreliable. In other words, Castillo is on pace for his fourth season of 100+ innings in five tries; Montas’ next one will be the second of his career, the result of the injury and the suspension. On the bright side, he’s pretty good when he’s available, and an acquiring team will control his services through the 2023 season.
Montas bolsters a Yankees rotation that currently includes Gerrit Cole, Jameson Taillon, Nestor Cortes, Jordan Montgomery and Domingo Germán. Germán must overcome the starting five to make room for Montas. It’s unclear how the Yankees will shift their pieces if and when Luis Severino returns from his stint on the injured list with a strained back. (It is expected to relaunch soon.)
Trivino, along with teammate Scott Effross, will help a Yankees bullpen that has already lost Michael King and Chad Green for the season. Trivino was recently profiled by CBS Sports as one of the top under-the-radar trade candidates based on the promise of his new slider and unsustainable batting average on ground balls.
Sears, 26, has appeared in seven games this season for the big league team, posting a 2.05 ERA (190 ERA+) and a 3.00 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He’s a small lefty with a flat angle at the top of the zone who relies on three pitches: a low-to-mid-90s fastball, a slider and a changeup. Sears has a history of pitching for strikes, and he should have a chance to become at least a back-end starter for the A’s soon.
Waldichuk, 24, has posted a 3.59 ERA and a 3.04 walk rate in 11 Triple-A starts. He has a deceptive delivery and a good fastball changeup combination, along with a couple of breaking balls that rank as fringe or better. Waldichuk has struggled with his placement, and he may end up pitching in relief. The A’s will give him a look as a starter as they have no real reason not to.
Medina, 23, is seen as a bit of a relief. His fastball-to-breaking combination is pretty good, but he’s a smaller righty with a career walk rate of over six per nine innings. He has posted a 3.38 ERA and a 2.03 strikeout-to-walk ratio in Double-A this year.
Then there’s Bowman, a 22-year-old middle infielder. He has hit .217/.343/.355 with eight home runs in 80 High-A games.