The New York Yankees are kinda leading the charge, eh? It seems like they maybe fully and finally accepted that Juan Soto was not going to happen (just for them, or for anyone?), and decided to put the foot down on other moves.
First it was Scott Effross from the Cubs, and now it’s Frankie Montas and Lou Trivino from the A’s:
Montas, 29, has been excellent this year when healthy, and he comes with an extra year of control. Lou Trevino, a reliever, has terrible results this year, but the peripherals have all mostly been pretty normal. Montas, one of the best starters on the market, is obviously the main attraction here, though.
On first glance, this seems like an excellent outcome for the Cubs, since they were unlikely to trade again with the Yankees. So, then, Montas goes off the market without gobbling up prospects from a team with whom the Cubs are likely to deal. No, the Cubs don’t have a starting pitcher like that to deal, but sometimes a team can afford to add only one impact player, regardless of role. So, yeah, send a big piece to the Yankees (rather than the Padres, or Mets, or Blue Jays, or Braves, or whoever).
As for the return price, it was a big chunk of the Yankees’ farm system:
As an aside, since the Yankees probably knew they were going to get Montas, that made them all the more able to trade Hayden Wesneski, a near-MLB-ready starting pitching prospect, to the Cubs.