When the New York Yankees acquired Frankie Montas from the Oakland Athletics, the hope was that he would offer a second ace alongside Gerrit Cole, but those expectations have fallen by the wayside. In fact, Montas may end up being one of the worst trades in recent memory for this Yankee team, and general manager Brian Cashman knows it.
Prior to being moved, the 30-year-old starter posted a 3.18 ERA across 104.2 innings for Oakland, and while their medical staff cleared him of any issues, Montas recently indicated that he was injured when the Yankees acquired him.
“I was like eh-eh. I wasn’t fully 100 percent,” Montas said. “I was trying to pitch through it. Of course I got traded to a new team, I wanted to show what I can do.
The Yankees had to know Frankie Montas wasn’t completely healthy:
Cashman isn’t even hiding behind his pride anymore but instead admitting that it was a complete dud. The same could be said about the deal that brought Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Josh Donaldson to the Bronx.
“You can’t sugarcoat it —the Montas trade didn’t work out,” he said, via Ian O’Connor of the New York Post. “We didn’t get a healthy pitcher, and that’s ultimately my responsibility.”
While it is commendable that Cashman is taking responsibility, making deals like this and sending top pitching prospects on their way in exchange is simply unacceptable.
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The Yankees extended Cashman this off-season on a new contract, but things haven’t started out so smoothly this spring. The Bombers landed star lefty pitcher Carlos Rodon on a six-year, $162 million deal, another injury-prone arm who is already dealing with a left forearm strain that will knock him out for the first month of the regular season.
The Yankees have Rodon under contract for quite a while, so I imagine he will bounce back and offer value, but starting off his tenure in pinstripes with another injury certainly doesn’t bode well for Cashman’s recent track record.