Yankees eyeing pitching reunion nobody asked for after Montgomery, Eovaldi masterclasses

Have you enjoyed watching Jordan Montgomery, Nathan Eovaldi and even Andrew Heaney dominating on the mound for the Texas Rangers in the MLB playoffs? Perhaps it has you, as a New York Yankees fan, yearning for a reunion with someone who the Bombers failed to unlock?

Well, buckle up, because we've got fantastic news: the Yankees are thinking the exact same thing, and their October ambition has them hot on the trail of -- oh, come on.

No, not that guy. Not him, either. Keep going. It's ... Frankie Montas! MLB insider Bryan Hoch reported this week that the "wind appears to be blowing" in the "direction" of Montas landing with the Yankees on a bounce-back deal after his largely absentee tenure in the Bronx.

There's nothing wrong with importing additional pitching depth, especially if the Yankees don't commit big money to bring a former All-Star aboard. But this maneuver, in particular, comes with a high degree of stink. Brian Cashman has zero interest in losing a trade of this magnitude, and seems willing to commit an additional year to an obvious failure mainly to justify surrendering assets for Montas and his balky shoulder (an injury which he fudged) in the first place. Here's, uh, hoping that instinct pays off somehow.

Yankees likely to bring Frankie Montas back for 2024

We should've known that, when the Yankees seemed oddly dedicated to rehabbing Montas and getting him into a game during the team's final series of the season with the Royals, that something was brewing here.

Hoch speculated this week that a new Montas contract could include something close to a $7.5 million guarantee for 2024, the number he received for his "services" last season, plus a club option for 2025 if he fulfills his promise. That framework could be appealing to both parties, but considering the empty hole Montas' salary burned in the Yankees' pockets last time around, you can forgive fans if they're not quite so welcoming.

Imagine, after a postseason dominated by former Yankees arms made good, from Nathan Eovaldi wriggling out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in Houston, to Jordan Montgomery whiffing Yordan Alvarez thrice, to even Aroldis Chapman turning on the fans in Houston to blow Alex Bregman's game-tying home run back into the ballpark, that the reunion Cashman chooses is the non-participatory Montas. Could work. Not shocking.