Re-grading Yankees' 2022 trade deadline: What went so very wrong?

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Grading Yankees' Frankie Montas/Lou Trivino Trade

Then: B+
Now: Generous D

The process of acquiring Frankie Montas, Frontline Starter, can be as "sound" as you'd like it to be, in your own personal vacuum. When the pitcher acquired self-reports that he was trying to pitch through a shoulder injury all of last summer, it's impossible to look back on this trade kindly.

It's tough to honestly believe that Brian Cashman and the team medical staff didn't do their due diligence last season when acquiring Montas, but ... in retrospect ... it's also tough to believe anything different.

Frankie Montas said that he “wasn’t 100%” when the Yankees acquired him. “I was trying to push through. I got traded to a new team and wanted to show what I could do. Things didn’t go the way I was expecting.”
— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) March 8, 2023

The Yankees must not have seen anything structurally worrisome in Montas' MRIs. If they'd asked the man honestly, though, he would've told them he didn't feel right. Maybe they asked him. Maybe they went through with the trade anyway. Maybe they found Ken Waldichuk/JP Sears/Luis Medina a small price to pay, and decided the risk was worth the reward, even as the odds of the reward coming to fruition shrank every time Montas picked up a baseball and felt "not 100%".

We didn't receive the documents clearing Montas last summer, but we believe the pitcher. He wasn't right. He didn't shake it off. And this never should've happened. Cashman has not picked the right high-profile starter in a long, long time. Please don't ask me about Carlos Rodón.

Lou Trivino is alright. He's also injured.

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