The New York Yankees shocked the baseball world yesterday when they traded veteran starter Jordan Montgomery to the St. Louis Cardinals just minutes before the deadline.
In exchange, St. Louis sent injured outfielder Harrison Bader, a New York native, back to the Bronx.
Several Yankees fans were left stunned after they let go of Montgomery, especially with all the outfield depth the Yankees have since they acquired Andrew Benintendi.
The veteran left-hander is 3-3 with a 3.69 ERA in 21 starts this season.
Yankees insider Andy Martino has a theory as to why the team traded Montgomery, citing that since the Yankees acquired Frankie Montas, it was highly unlikely that Montgomery would start a postseason game for them this October.
The Jordan Montgomery/Bader trade makes sense because Montgomery just wasn’t going to pitch important playoff innings unless something goes wrong. Bader should be healthy by then. Yankees have the luxury of trading for October, not August/sept.
— Andy Martino (@martinonyc) August 3, 2022
Making Sense Of The Monty-Bader Trade
This makes sense for the Yankees and the Cardinals.
St. Louis gets some much-needed innings coverage with this acquisition.
The Yankees on the other hand, unless something goes wrong, have four solid starters for the postseason, those being Gerrit Cole, Jameson Taillon, Nestor Cortes, and Montas.
Domingo German is also back from his injury, so the Yankees still have a solid five starters in their rotation.
In that case, the need for Montgomery lessened a little bit.
The Yankees really loaded up on pitching at the trade deadline.
In addition to Montas, they acquired Lou Trivino from the Oakland Athletics in that same deal and also landed Scott Effross in a deal with the Chicago Cubs.
The Yankees have plenty of pitching and should be just fine.
At the same time, Bader is expected to return at some point from plantar fasciitis in his right foot.
In the end, the move makes sense for both the Yankees and the Cardinals.
NEXT: Yankees Reveal When Frankie Montas Will Debut