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Yankees shock with Jordan Montgomery-Cardinals deal at MLB trade deadline

ByAdam Weinrib|
NEW YORK, NY - JULY 26: Jordan Montgomery #47 of the New York Yankees pitches during the first inning against the New York Mets at Citi Field on July 26, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Adam Hunger/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - JULY 26: Jordan Montgomery #47 of the New York Yankees pitches during the first inning against the New York Mets at Citi Field on July 26, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Adam Hunger/Getty Images)

The New York Yankees have made a habit of not scoring for Jordan Montgomery. Now, they’ll never score for him again.

In a deadline headscratcher that hit the wire at the very last minute, Brian Cashman has dealt Montgomery away from a rotation that’s already been scuffling with depth, sending him to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for excellent defensive center fielder Harrison Bader.

Only problem? Bader’s currently injured, and though the Cardinals reportedly claim he’ll return before the end of the season, the “end of the season” isn’t the immediate present. At the moment, rotation depth seems to be a bigger issue than getting Aaron Judge off his feet in center field, especially with Tim Locastro already in the pipeline.

More will certainly leak out regarding why Montgomery was shipped out now, in the middle of an excellent season, with Luis Severino on the mend and Domingo German still trotting himself out every fifth day.

Initial read? The Yankees thought they were getting Pablo Lopez, were unable to finish that deal, and still signed off on Montgomery’s departure for whatever reason. Somebody has some explaining to do.

Yankees trade Jordan Montgomery for Cardinals’ Harrison Bader

This is completely inexplicable.

Montgomery was frustrating, sure, but still posted a 3.69 ERA and 1.1 WAR in 114.2 solid innings. His upside was minimal, at this point, but the hole left by his departure will sting worse than any of his effective, five-inning starts.

Bader? He’s a former Gold Glover with below-league-average offense who’s also been in a walking boot for weeks now.

Well, guess this answers the, “How much will Montgomery be extended for?” question pretty soundly.

The Yankees can do better than Montgomery in a postseason series, and recently demoted Clarke Schmidt in order to get him better acclimated to rotation work. But selling Monty after you’ve just gutted the entire upper farm, relinquishing JP Sears, Hayden Wesneski, and Ken Waldichuk is outright confounding.

“The Next Andy Pettitte” he officially is not.

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