This Yankees-Frankie Montas trade package could finish the job

Despite the records of the two teams doing battle, Tuesday night is a massive one for the 54-20 New York Yankees. After all, they might be facing a future teammate — or, if things go the other way, they might be reapportioning trade deadline resources.

Though the Yankees’ current rotation stands out among the league’s very best — that goes for the pitching staff as a whole, actually — they’re beginning to show signs that they could use some reinforcements in August.

Of course, this is nothing we didn’t see coming. Nestor Cortes is having an All-Star first half, but his past few starts have been marked by a few additional long balls. Besides, he’s never passed 100 innings in any given season so far, and the Yankees will need insurance for him if they want him fresh deep into October. Ditto that for Luis Severino, coming off three lost years, and Jameson Taillon, who stopped at 144 innings last season.

The level of depth below the Yankees’ current rotation is lacking, too. Luis Gil is out for the season, and Clarke Schmidt isn’t stretched out. Beyond JP Sears, Manny Bañuelos, and untested rookies like Hayden Wesneski and Ken Waldichuk, the Yanks could use more experienced names to take on the task of second-half innings.

If those “more experienced” names happen to be potential All-Stars like Frankie Montas of the A’s, that’d be acceptable, too.

Montas is starting against the Bombers on Tuesday night. He’s also one of two high-profile names the team has been attached to in recent weeks, alongside Luis Castillo of the Reds.

Both will be sold as potential aces, and both men are under control through 2023. It’s a major commitment, and there’s a large pack of suitors the Yankees will need to get ahead of if they intend to put all their eggs in either basket. Therefore, Tuesday’s showdown could be extremely determinative. Prior to Montas’ outing, he’s posted a 3.21 ERA in 89.2 innings, striking out 92 men with a 1.082 WHIP in the process.

If New York ultimately lands on Montas as their target, this package could vault them ahead of the Cardinals, Dodgers, and the rest of the competition.

Yankees Frankie Montas trade package with Oakland A’s

Oswald Peraza is your centerpiece. There’s no getting around that. Frankly, the Yankees will be lucky if they can escape these talks without surrendering Anthony Volpe or Jasson Dominguez, so even citing Peraza here feels light/will require a hefty load of additional top-15 names. The A’s want prospect packages, the heavier the better. They do not want to deal in money, per Buster Olney.

A Peraza-centric package would likely include the 22-year-old shortstop, as well as Luis Medina, Hayden Wesneski, and Everson Pereira. If the trade ends up centered around Dominguez, Wesneski could find himself removed, but the other two names would have to remain.

This will hurt. But so will Montas going elsewhere because Brian Cashman opted out of the competition in this year of all years.

https://twitter.com/PitchingNinja/status/1540092564803842049?s=20&t=LB9DdhWb0ihmYElb5i9X5Q

If they have the opportunity, the Yankees must deal from positions of strength like shortstop and starting pitching depth. While it would sting, on the surface, to lose big names that fans have grown comfortable with … if you don’t trust the Yankees to develop pitching, what exactly do you trust them to do?

Enjoy the audition Tuesday night.

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