Inside The Pinstripes

Yankees Acquire Frankie Montas, Lou Trivino From Athletics

New York has added an outfielder, starting pitcher and two relievers leading up to Tuesday's trade deadline.

Max Goodman

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NEW YORK — Hours after acquiring right-hander Scott Effross from the Cubs, the Yankees continued to address their pitching staff ahead of the trade deadline.

New York has acquired both starter Frankie Montas and reliever Lou Trivino from the Oakland Athletics, the team announced early Monday evening. Jack Curry of YES Network was first to report the trade.

In exchange for the two right-handers, New York is sending four top-30 prospects back to Oakland: left-handers JP Sears and Ken Waldichuk, right-hander Luis Medina and infielder Cooper Bowman. Waldichuk was New York's top pitching prospect, ranked as the organization's No. 5 prospect, per MLB Pipeline. Sears had pitched in pinstripes sporadically this season, posting a 2.05 ERA over seven appearances (two starts). 

The Yankees had been interested in Montas for quite some time. New York was linked to the right-hander back in spring training, a talented starter that's blossomed over the last few years in the A's rotation. This season, Montas has a 3.18 ERA over 19 starts, striking out 109 batters in 104.2 innings pitched. Last year, the right-hander finished sixth in the race for the American League Cy Young Award, posting a 3.37 ERA over a career-high 32 starts.

Montas, 29, will settle into the No. 2 spot in New York's rotation, a right-hand man for ace Gerrit Cole as they look to combat some adversity in the starting staff (Luis Severino is on the injured list while Nestor Cortes, Jameson Taillon and Jordan Montgomery have experienced dips in their production over the last few months). 

Bringing in Trivino, meanwhile, bolsters New York's bullpen. The 30-year-old is coming off a 22-save campaign in 2021, a season in which he posted a 3.18 ERA over 71 games. This year has been more of a struggle for Trivino—he has a 6.47 ERA in 39 appearances—but the potential is there. Trivino has a six-pitch mix out of the 'pen, producing a 28.7% strikeout rate and 31.7% chase rate. He's ran in trouble limiting hard contact, though. He has a career-high 42.7% hard hit rate and a 9.4% barrel rate.  

Considering the Yankees have lost a few high-leverage arms this year—Michael King and Chad Green are both out for the year—Trivino and Effross can help right away, bridging the gap to closer Clay Holmes going forward.

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Max Goodman
MAX GOODMAN

Max Goodman covers the New York Yankees for Sports Illustrated and FanNation. Goodman has been on the Yankees beat for three seasons. He is also the publisher of Sports Illustrated and FanNation's Jets site, Jets Country. Before starting Inside The Pinstripes, Goodman attended Northwestern University and the Medill School of Journalism. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism and Master’s Degree in Sports Media, graduating in 2019. At school, Goodman was an anchor and reporter with NNN SportsNight and played on the club baseball team. While at Northwestern, Goodman interned with MLB.com as an associate reporter covering the Miami Marlins. He also interned with ESPN, working as an associate reporter on Mike Greenberg's Get Up. Goodman is from New York City. He grew up in Hell's Kitchen. Follow Goodman on Twitter @MaxTGoodman. You can connect with him via email by reaching out at maxgoodmansports@gmail.com.

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