Will the Frankie Montas era come to an end? The Dominican fireballer has provided Oakland A’s fans with seven years of impressive four-seam bullets, looping breaking balls and great memories.
Since coming back from an early-July injury, Montas has looked adept on the mound as trade rumors swirl around the Coliseum and the A’s home clubhouse. When he toes the rubber, his teammates know their chances of winning rise exponentially.
“I see an elite pitcher,” teammate Vimael Machín said of the pitcher with a 3.18 ERA over 19 starts in 2022. “We know that if we score a couple of runs, we might have a chance to win the game.”
There is a good chance that Montas’ win earlier this week will be the last time Oakland’s ace will take the Coliseum mound donning the green and gold. One quick journey to Google’s search engine shows Montas’ name as synonymous with “that great starting pitcher your favorite team should trade for.”
If or when Montas is dealt at the Aug. 2 trade deadline, which coincides with a week-long road trip, the 29-year-old is emotionally ready for a Bay Area exit. Back in 2013, Montas had spent the better part of a half-decade in the Boston Red Sox organization.
At age 21, he was shocked at the trade that sent him to the White Sox for Jake Peavy, and said he was devastated when he got the news.
“I remember my Low-A manager called me down to the hotel and told me I was traded, and then someone from the White Sox called me and told me the same thing,” Montas remembered.
“I was there from 2009 to 2013, so all my friends were there and I knew everyone in the organization. It was tough, but you adjust to it and make new friends.”
After getting a cup of lukewarm coffee at the end of 2015 with the White Sox, the Chicago-based team dealt him to the Los Angeles Dodgers in a trade that involved a Splash Brother’s sibling, Trayce Thompson.
Less than a year later, a more dispassionate and mature Montas was dealt to the A’s when the Dodgers coveted Rich Hill and Josh Reddick’s services.
“That’s the business side of the sport that we don’t like but we have to deal with,” Montas said.
The East Bay is where Montas broke out, putting up a 35-32 record since 2017 and claiming a sixth-place finish in the Cy Young voting in 2021. He has been a workhorse for the A’s, especially in recent years. Over that phenomenal 2021 season, he led the American League in starts. During years wrought with unpredictable turns, a top-notch Montas start was one of the few sure things in Oakland.
If there is anyone who can relate to the trade deadline uncertainty Montas has dealt with, it is manager Mark Kotsay. The A’s skipper was traded five times during his 17-year career. His final trade, interestingly enough, was a 2009 deal that saw him take the opposite path as Montas, from the White Sox to the Red Sox.
“The further you get in your career, the trade deadline is harder because you think about the circumstances of your family, and you may have longevity to the team you’re with and have friendships with your teammates,” Kotsay said. “The older you get the harder it becomes from that standpoint.”
Those who are traded have to uproot their lives and leave their friends and homes, which can obviously create challenging circumstances. However, Kotsay mentioned a byproduct of being traded as a veteran is that an acquiring team often has a better opportunity to make a deep playoff run.
“But the older you get, the light at the end of the tunnel is that you get an opportunity to be traded to a playoff team and has a chance to play in the postseason,” Kotsay said.
The A’s, who are currently in last place in the American League West, can’t give that to Montas.
With less than a week to go until the trade deadline, Montas has been linked to almost every contending team in baseball. But which team does Montas himself want to find himself with next week?
The Oakland Athletics.
“I’m pretty much used to it, even though I’m not expecting to be traded,” Montas said. “Hopefully I can stay here.”
