Breaking down Frankie Montas trade to Yankees

The Oakland Athletics have traded SP Frankie Montas to the New York Yankees, per Jeff Passan of ESPN. The Yankees are also acquiring RHP Lou Trivino in the deal. New York will send LHP JP Sears, LHP Ken Waldichuk, RHP Luis Medina and 2B Cooper Bowman to Oakland in the deal.

This is a strong deal for both sides. The Yankees are able to hold onto top prospects Anthony Volpe and Jasson Dominguez. The A’s get a MLB-ready lefty in Sears, who has spot started for the Yanks this season. Waldichuk is the Yankees top pitching prospect and has had a great season in AAA in 2022. Medina has upside as a strong bullpen arm and Bowman is just a throw-in prospect.

This should solidify the Yankees as favorites to win the World Series this season. Montas is a great No. 2 option in the rotation behind Gerrit Cole for the postseason. The Yankees should get SP Luis Severino back from the injured list and he should slot in as the third starter. If the Yankees want to, they can send any combination of Nestor Cortes, Jameson Taillon and Jordan Montgomery to the bullpen for the playoffs. Chances are Cortes rounds out the rotation and Taillon and Montgomery pitch from the pen come October.

It’s odd Montas hasn’t made an All-Star team early in his career. While he’s 4-9 this season, Montas has a 3.18 ERA with 109 strikeouts in 104.2 innings over 19 starts. Over six seasons in Oakland, Montas is 35-30 with a 3.70 ERA and 9.3 K/9 in 114 appearances. Last season, Montas finished 6th in voting for AL Cy Young after going 13-9 with a 3.37 ERA and 207 Ks over 187 innings.