3 former Dodgers trade targets LA must avoid at the 2022 trade deadline

1. Frankie Montas

Like Luis Castillo, Frankie Montas is a right-handed pitcher that has been tied to the Dodgers both in previous offseasons and previous trade deadlines. The Oakland Athletics were never really in a position to trade Montas before, though, and now the team definitely is.

After blowing the team up and making it clear that Las Vegas is in the team’s future plans, the A’s have a 23-47 record and are 21 games behind the first-place Houston Astros. They are the worst team in MLB.

That is why it makes sense for Oakland to trade Montas and get a nice prospect return out of him. He does have one more year of arbitration next season, but he is likely going to see a big pay bump in that final year with how he has pitched in Oakland. And, as we all know, the A’s do not like to spend money.

While Montas is a good pitcher who finished sixth in Cy Young voting last season, he is in a similar boat to Luis Castillo. He has good stuff and the Dodgers would maximize him more than the Athletics are, but at the end of the day, the team doesn’t really need to trade premium prospects to get Montas’ arm in the rotation.

The former Dodger (who was traded to Oakland in the Rich Hill trade) has a 3.53 ERA and 105 ERA+ this season. Both of those numbers would be the worst in the current Dodgers’ rotation.

LA is much better off trading any premium talent for backend bullpen help, not Frankie Montas.