Frankie Montas will have shoulder surgery next Tuesday Feb. 21. Best case scenario is that he comes back in the second half of the season. The worst case is that he misses the whole year.
With Montas a free agent after the season, it is very likely that the Yankees will get nothing from Montas after a trade in which Montas (who was acquired with Lou Trivino) gave the Yankees eight starts last year, going 1-3, 6.35 while giving up young prospects in
Luis Medina, 24 this year, 5-7, 5.24 at AA in 2022.
Cooper Bowman, 23, ,215-11-47 with 47 SB at High A.
J.P. Sears, who turns 27 in a few days, 6-3, 3.86 between the Yanks and A’s in 2022 (17 games, 11 starts) and
Ken Waldichuk, 25, 2-2, 4.93 in 7 starts with Oakland after the trade.
We will see what the lefties Sears and Waldichuk do this year, but I hated giving those two up, and both look like they could be MLB help this year (both could be in the A’s starting rotation). Now it looks as if Domingo German (who Aaron Boone says looks really good on this first day of pitchers and catchers reporting) and Clarke Schmidt will be competing for the #5 spot in the rotation, but after them, who else is on the depth chart? Will Warren (hasn’t pitched above AA)? Clayton Beeter (ditto)? Randy Vasquez (ditto again)? Yoendrys Gomez (ditto)? None of those four have AAA experience, (Luis Gil is recovering from TJ surgery).
Last year’s moves at the trade deadline have really backfired for the Yanks. Besides Montas, the Yanks got Andrew Benintendi for LF but he broke a hamate bone, missed the last couple weeks of the season as well as the postseason, then went to the White Sox as a free agent. The Yanks only got 33 games and .254-2-12 out of Benintendi (yes, I had wanted him, but who knew he, Montas, and Effross—who I’ll discuss next—would get hurt?). But for Benintendi, the Yanks gave up
Chandler Champlain, 23, 3-8, 5.98 at Low and High A ball.
T.J. Sikkema, 24, 1-6, 4.83 at High A/AA and
Beck Way, 23, 8-8, 3.75 at High A.
None MLB ready yet, but Way looks AA bound.
Then there was Effross, who was great in 13 games, 0-0, 2.13, and three saves but who then needed TJ surgery which will make him miss all of this year. For Effross, the Yanks gave up
Hayden Wesneski, 25, who after the deal went 3-2, 2.18 in 6 games (4 starts) for the Cubs last year.
The Yanks could have used Sears, Waldichuk and Wesneski as depth. For them they got Trivino, Montas (out all or most of this year) and Effross (out all of this year). Ugh.
Sometimes you need to do better due diligence on a player’s health (Montas had shoulder issues before the trade) and sometimes you just get unlucky (Beninteni and Effross). Either way, last year’s acquisitions have been disastrous.
In some other camp news, D.J. LeMahieu is looking good after that toe problem ruined the end of his season last year, and Michael King looks ready to go after that fractured elbow ended a fabulous season for him last year.
The Sommer Frieze 
