NEW YORK — The New York Yankees bolstered their pitching for the stretch run and playoffs, obtaining starter Frankie Montas and reliever Lou Trivino from the Oakland Athletics on Monday for four prospects.
New York sent Oakland 26-year-old rookie left-hander J.P. Sears along with three minor leaguers: 24-year-old left-hander Ken Waldichuk, 23-year-old right-hander Luis Medina and 22-year-old infielder Cooper Bowman.
Earlier in the day, the Yankees got Scott Effross, a 22-year-old rookie reliever, from the Chicago Cubs for Hayden Wesneski, a 24-year-old minor league right-hander.
Montas, a 29-year-old right-hander, is 4-9 with a 3.18 ERA in 19 starts, including a 2.76 ERA since the start of May. He has 109 strikeouts and 28 walks in 104 2/3 innings.
“His level of talent, especially with how he’s pitched the last couple years, just excited to get him in the mix,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “He’s got the full arsenal and stuff you look for top of the rotation guy. Gone out and proved last couple years he is that kind of caliber pitcher.
Montas joins a rotation headed by All-Stars Gerrit Cole (9-3, 3.30 ERA) and Nestor Cortes (9-3, 2.53 ERA) that has faltered of late.
Left-hander Jordan Montgomery is 0-2 with a 5.36 ERA in his last eight starts and right-hander James Taillon is 1-1 with a 5.04 ERA in his last five. Luis Severino has not pitched since July 13 because of a lat strain and was moved to the 60-day injured list Monday along with right-handed reliever Miguel Castro, out since July 10 with a strained right shoulder. Going into Monday night’s series opener against Seattle, Domingo Germán had an 8.22 ERA in his first two starts after recovering from a right shoulder impingement.
Montas left a July 3 start at Seattle after 13 pitches with shoulder tightness — his velocity was down about 3 mph. He returned July 21 and has a 2.25 ERA in starts against Detroit and Houston.
“I think we’re comfortable with where he’s at shoulder-wise,” Boone said.
Montas was the second significant starting pitcher dealt ahead of Tuesday’s trade deadline after Cincinnati sent Luis Castillo to Seattle. New York also acquired outfielder Andrew Benintendi from Kansas City last week, a move that has the Yankees looking to trade strikeout-prone Joey Gallo.
Montas has a $5,025,000 salary this year, is eligible for arbitration this winter and can become a free agent after the 2023 season. His fastball averages 96 mph.
Trivino, a 30-year-old right-hander, is 1-6 with a 6.47 ERA — double his 2021 figure — and 10 saves in 13 chances. Right-handed batters are hitting .289 against him this year while lefties are hitting .392 with nine walks in 60 plate appearances.
“Little bit down year statistically but we don’t think it lines up with what we’re seeing on some underlying things and who we think he is,” Boone said. “He’s been a very good reliever for them on some playoff-caliber teams.”
Houston’s Jose Altuve is 2 for 14 against Trevino and Alex Bregman is 2 for 10.
Trivino has a $3 million salary, is eligible for arbitration ahead of the 2023 and 2024 seasons, then can become a free agent.
The A’s, trying to get government approvals for a new ballpark in downtown Oakland, last made the playoffs in 2020, beating the Chicago White Sox in the wild-card round before losing to Houston in the Division Series.
Following the end of the lockout this March, Oakland traded first baseman Matt Olson to Atlanta, third baseman Matt Chapman to Toronto and right-hander Chris Bassitt to the New York Mets. The A’s opened the season with the lowest payroll in the major leagues at $48 million and cut about $3 million more over the rest of the season by trading Montas and Trivino.
Sears is 2-0 with a 2.05 ERA in two starts and five relief appearances with the Yankees. He is 1-1 with a 1.67 ERA in nine starts and two relief appearances at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Bowman, a fourth-round draft pick last year who signed for a $353,000 bonus, hit .217 this year for Class-A Hudson Valley with 15 doubles, eight homers, 35 steals and 35 RBIs.
Medina is 4-3 with a 3.38 ERA and 81 strikeouts in 72 innings this season at Double-A Somerset.
Waldichuk, a fifth-round selection in 2019, is 6-3 with a 2.71 ERA in 116 strikeouts in 76 1/3 innings for Triple-A Scranton and Double-A Somerset this year.
The Yankees also optioned right-hander Clarke Schmidt to Scranton and promoted right-hander Carlos Espinal from the RailRiders.
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