The New York Yankees’ midseason trade for Frankie Montas last year has been a disaster.
That’s the harsh reality Yankees general manager Brian Cashman is well aware of as New York prepares for the 2023 Major League Baseball season.
“You can’t sugarcoat it — the Montas trade didn’t work out,” Cashman recently told the New York Post’s Ian O’Connor. “We didn’t get a healthy pitcher, and that’s ultimately my responsibility.”
The Yankee acquired Montas and Lou Trivino from the Oakland Athletics for Ken Waldichuk, JP Sears, Luis Medina and Cooper Bowman before last season’s MLB trade deadline. The deal was supposed to boost New York’s starting rotation down the stretch and in 2023, with Montas slated to become a free agent after this season, but it certainly hasn’t panned out that way for the Bronx Bombers.
Montas made just eight starts with the Yankees in 2022, posting a 1-3 record and a 6.35 ERA. He pitched one inning in the postseason, surrendering a home run to Jeremy Peña in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series, which the Houston Astros swept en route to a World Series title.
Now, Montas could be sidelined for most, if not all, of 2023 after undergoing arthroscopic shoulder surgery last month. And there are questions about whether the Yankees simply traded for damaged goods, as Montas, who dealt with a shoulder injury last season, claimed earlier this month he “wasn’t 100%” at the time of the blockbuster.
Maybe Montas works his way back later this season and makes an impact, salvaging what otherwise looks like a misstep by the Yankees. But that’s an unlikely scenario, and Cashman clearly has come to grips with the fact that last season’s trade with Oakland was a huge swing and a miss.
