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The New York Yankees have already made the biggest move of their offseason after trading for star outfielder Juan Soto, but they still have roster holes to address in MLB free agency. One of them could have apparently been filled by a familiar face.
Before Frankie Montas agreed to a contract with the Cincinnati Reds, New York was interested in bringing back the starting pitcher, according to Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. Prior reports indicated as much, but the front office was clearly still mulling over a reunion.
Such a move would have been polarizing among Yankees fans, to say the least. Montas, who finished sixth in American League Cy Young voting while playing for the Oakland Athletics in 2021, continued a troubling trend of unsuccessful pitching trade acquisitions for the franchise.
Upon arriving in New York in the second half of the 2022 season, he posted a 6.35 Era and missed almost all of 2023 after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder. Montas' struggles reinforced the notion that not every talented small-market hurler can make the leap to the Big Apple, where media and fan pressure can rise to suffocating levels.
Even so, the 30-year-old righty was an intriguing short-term option who could have added some depth to a rotation that always seems to be in need of bodies. The Yankees must now look elsewhere in the free agent pool, which shouldn't be an issue.
There are suitable options with varying degrees of star power that can be effective additions. Either way, it can now be said that the Frankie Montas experiment was an unfortunate failure in the Bronx.
