After the A’s dealt fan favorites Chris Bassitt, Matt Chapman, Sean Manaea and Matt Olson elsewhere this spring, it was only a matter of time before ace Frankie Montas was the next top performer to be sent to a new squad.
Ahead of Tuesday’s MLB trade deadline, Montas’ time has arrived.
The A’s sent Montas and right-handed reliever Lou Trivino to the New York Yankees in exchange for four prospects in what’s expected to be one of the biggest trades of the summer, sources confirm to this news organization. The A’s acquired pitching prospect JP Sears, left-handed pitching prospect Ken Waldichuk, infield prospect Cooper Bowman and right-handed pitching prospect Luis Medina.
“Trading two guys who have been in the organization for a long time was not easy,” A’s general manger David Forst said. “But we knew leading up to the deadline that this was likely the direction we were going to go in.”
Montas, a right-handed starter with an elite fastball-splitter combination, posted a 3.18 ERA in 19 starts for the A’s this season while striking out more than a batter per inning. He’ll be immediately counted on to slot in a Yankees rotation featuring Gerrit Cole and Nestor Cortes. The Yankees are in first place in the American League East, 11.5 games up on the Toronto Blue Jays. Montas will hope to build upon a postseason résumé that includes just two playoff appearances, both of which came in 2020 against the Chicago White Sox and Houston Astros.
According to MLB.com, Waldichuk — who played college ball at Saint Mary’s in Moraga — is the top prospect the A’s added in the deal and was ranked as the No. 5 prospect in the Yankees’ farm system. Per MLB Pipeline rankings, Medina was the Yankees’ No. 10 prospect, Sears was the No. 20 prospect and Bowman was the No. 21 prospect.
Sears and Waldichuk will go to Las Vegas to play for the Triple-A affiliate. Medina will go to Double-A Midland and Bowman to High-A Lansing.
A trade between the Mariners and Reds that sent Luis Castillo to Seattle for three of Seattle’s top five prospects raised the bar for the starting pitching market at the deadline. But the A’s were in the market for high-ceiling pitchers who could slide into the A’s high-minor league teams, all of which have a dearth in pitching depth. All three pitchers acquired can fill that role, and Waldichuk comes with plenty of upside. He has a 13.5 strikeouts per nine innings over the last two seasons — in plain terms, he’s struck out 280 batters over 186 innings pitched.
Sears could join the big league team sometime this season. He pitched three games with the Yankees this year, including two starts. He has a 2.05 ERA over 22 innings in those three appearances with 15 strikeouts and five walks.
Montas was considered one of the top starters available at this year’s trade deadline because he won’t become a free agent until after the 2023 season, giving him two opportunities to help his new team in playoff pushes. After the Reds and Mariners helped set the trade market for starting pitchers in a deal last week that sent right-hander Luis Castillo from Cincinnati to Seattle for three top prospects, there was little doubt the A’s would be motivated to move Montas for a prospect haul that should inject more life into a rebuilding process that began at the beginning of last offseason when Oakland allowed manager Bob Melvin to leave town for the same job with the San Diego Padres.
Trivino, 30, will move after a difficult few seasons in which he could never regain his rookie year form. After striking out 82 batters in 2018, Trivino battled injuries and struggling to find his devastating cutter again. Trivino signed for $3 million this year and has two years of team control remaining before he is a free agent in 2025.
The move further depletes an A’s rotation that has fared better than expected thanks to a breakout season from All-Star Paul Blackburn and consistent performances from lefty Cole Irvin. But without Bassitt, Manaea and Montas, the last-place A’s are a shell of the 2021 team that narrowly missed a fourth consecutive playoff berth.
In dealing Montas, who was acquired by Oakland in a 2016 deal that sent Rich Hill and Josh Reddick to the Los Angeles Dodgers, the A’s are losing their longest-tenured pitcher and a starter who finished sixth in 2021 American League Cy Young Award voting.
The trade also saves the A’s around $2 million, which is significant for a franchise led by owner John Fisher that will stop at nothing to cut costs. Montas, who is in the second of three arbitration years, is earning $5.025 million this season and is due a significant raise in 2023.
With Montas’ salary off the books, the A’s have slashed more than a projected $40 million from their payroll as arbitration-eligible starters Manaea ($9.75 million) and Bassitt ($8.8 million) agreed to salary figures with their new clubs while corner infielders Chapman (two years, $25 million) and Olson (eight years, $168 million) both signed extensions with their respective teams.
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