10 teams that should trade for Oakland A’s starter Frankie Montas

The Oakland A’s have, virtually, let the vast majority of the good, veteran players away this offseason either via trade or free agency. They include Sean Manaea, Matt Olson, Chris Bassitt, Matt Chapman, Mark Canha, Starling Marte, Andrew Chafin, Yusmeiro Petit, Jake Diekman, and Yan Gomes. Those 10 players were among the top 19 players in rWAR for the A’s in 2021, including six of the top 10.

The top player that they haven’t traded yet is their ace Frankie Montas.

In 2021, Montas went 13-9 with an AL-leading 32 starts and an ERA of 3.37. In 187 innings, he had an ERA+ of 121, a FIP of 3.37 (the same as his ERA), a 1.182 WHIP, and he walked 2.7 batters and struck out 10.0 batters per nine innings. He came in 6th in AL Cy Young Award voting.

He only has this season and next before he is a free agent so the A’s will almost certainly trade him during this season or during the offseason.

But, right now, there are at least 10 teams that can use him in their starting rotation.

1) The Chicago White Sox could use Frankie Montas in their starting rotation

The Chicago White Sox already have a few injuries to their starting rotation including their two best pitchers Lucas Giolito (strained abdominal muscle) and Lance Lynn (knee surgery).

As a result, Vince Velasquez and Jimmy Lambert are in their rotation. Montas would be better than them but Montas would, at least, be better than Dallas Keuchel was in 2021.

The problem is that the White Sox have a very weak farm system. In fact, they have the worst farm system in the sport.

However, Mike Rodríguez of Univision has reported that a deal is close between the two. That was two days ago, though, so perhaps that isn’t actually the case.