Though Frankie Montas remains one of the few holdovers from the Oakland Athletics’ most recent offseason fire sale, MLB Network’s Jon Morosi doesn’t expect that to be the case for much longer.
Discussing Montas on Wednesday, Morosi said he would be “stunned” if the A’s ace isn’t moved by the Aug. 2 trade deadline. The MLB insider mentioned two teams in particular that could be fits for the right-hander.
This isn’t the first time that Montas and the Chicago White Sox have been mentioned in the same breath this spring. It was reported in April that the South Siders had “zero interest” in trading emerging powerful outfielder Andrew Vaughn in exchange for Oakland’s hurler.
Both Montas and Vaughn have had strong spring seasons thus far with the former holding a subpar 2-5 record but also a 3.20 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and 71 strikeouts across 11 starts covering 64 2/3 innings. In 110 at-bats over 31 games played, Vaughn has produced six home runs, 22 RBI and a .291/.339/.509 slash line.
As mentioned by Morosi, the St. Louis Cardinals could have interest in Montas due to Adam Wainwright’s expected retirement following the 2022 campaign and Montas’ contract running through 2023. Additionally, the Cardinals are still waiting on the return of injured ace Jack Flaherty, who hasn’t pitched yet this season.
Source: Yard Baker