Everybody knows, at this point, that the Oakland Athletics will trade left-handed pitcher Sean Manaea.
After all, he will enter free agency after the 2022 season.
Frankie Montas, on the other hand, is another story: the A’s are now, reportedly, thinking about keeping him.
“Teams in discussions with the A’s say Oakland currently is focused on trading LHP Sean Manaea, and is waiting to decide how to proceed with RHP Frankie Montas,” The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal tweeted on Wednesday.
Teams in discussions with the A’s say Oakland currently is focused on trading LHP Sean Manaea, and is waiting to decide how to proceed with RHP Frankie Montas.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) March 23, 2022
It was the latest update on the two A’s pitchers.
While Oakland, for obvious reasons, has to trade Manaea now to maximize his value (they could try again around the deadline, but could get less value with him being seen as a rental), they don’t have to flip Montas this year, since he remains under control for two more seasons: 2022 and 2023.
Manaea Will Likely Go Somewhere Else Before The Season
Both will likely be traded eventually, but Manaea is a sure bet to go this year.
The lefty had one of the finest seasons of his career in 2021.
He posted a 3.91 ERA and a 3.66 FIP in 179.1 innings, and that’s solid production that any team would welcome.
Those numbers helped him achieve a career-high WAR of 3.3.
WAR means Wins Above Replacement and is the quickest way to evaluate how much a pitcher contributed to his team, although its use is directed to determine how much better a player was comparing him to a replacement-level ballplayer.
Manaea is not an ace by any means (unlike Montas, who does have that kind of upside), but he is a solid mid-rotation arm who can fortify any staff.
The New York Yankees and some AL Central teams (the Minnesota Twins, most notably) should be very interested in Manaea.
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