MLB trade deadline: A’s deal ace Montas to Yankees

OAKLAND, Calif. (KRON) — The Oakland A’s traded starting pitcher Frankie Montas and reliever Lou Trivino to the New York Yankees on Monday, a day before the MLB’s trade deadline. Montas was Oakland’s opening day starter and boasted a team-best 109 strikeouts at the time of the trade.

Montas and Trivino are the latest major leaguers to be dealt by Oakland, who lost several contributors in a flurry of moves last offseason. Among those moves was another trade that saw an ace pitcher sent to New York when Chris Bassitt was acquired by the Mets.

The A’s got four minor-league players back for Montas and Trivino — pitchers Ken Waldichuk, JP Sears and Luis Medina, and infielder Cooper Bowman. All four players were listed on MLB Pipeline’s list of the Yankees’ top 30 prospects. Waldichuk was the top-rated player of the four, ranked as the 5th-best Yankees prospect.

Montas was seen as one of the better starting pitchers available at the trade deadline. He posted a 3.18 ERA in 19 starts in 2022, coming off of a 2021 season in which he finished sixth in American League Cy Young voting. Trivino spent five years as a reliever for the A’s, finishing his tenure in Oakland with a 4.04 ERA and 36 saves.

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The A’s have several other players who have been involved in trade rumors this summer, notably outfielder Ramon Laureano and catcher Sean Murphy. Across the Bay, it remains to be seen which direction the Giants will take at the deadline. They currently sit four games behind the Philadelphia Phillies for the National League’s final wild card spot.