Although it was anticipated, the Frankie Montas trade still stung for Athletics fans having to -- again -- say goodbye to a fan favorite.
It wasn’t easy for A’s general manager David Forst either, who discussed the trade after sending the ace and reliever Lou Trivino to the New York Yankees ahead of Tuesday’s MLB trade deadline.
“Trading two guys who have been in the organization for a long time was not easy,” Forst said on Monday. “But we knew leading up to the deadline that this was likely the direction we were going to go in.”
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While it was an inevitable, yet difficult decision, Forst is looking forward to the future with an improved farm system.
The A’s, in return, will get four prospects: pitchers Ken Waldichuk, Luis Medina, JP Sears and infielder Cooper Bowman.
“We got three pitchers who are very close to, if not already, Major League ready,” Forst said. “Sears has been in the big leagues and we saw him up close and personal in New York a couple months ago. All three guys we think are close to being in a Major League rotation, and Bowman is a guy that’s having a fantastic first full year out of the Draft. Excited to add all of them to our system.”
With the trade, Oakland addressed its lack of pitching depth at the minor league level with three players who could contribute sooner rather than later.
Oakland Athletics
However, Forst admitted that the A’s never intentionally baited pitchers.
“I wouldn’t say that in any of the deals we made since March that we necessarily went out to target pitching,” Forst said. “Ultimately, with the organizations, we were dealing with, that’s kind of where we landed. Certainty after this deal, you look at the pitchers who have been added to our system over the last couple of months and I feel really, really good about our depth going forward. ... You add these three guys, it’s an exciting group of depth for our system.”
With less than 24 hours remaining before Tuesday's 3 p.m. PT deadline, the A’s still hold on to a few players whose names have circulated around in trade rumors.
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“We’re gonna look at the opportunities that are out there,” Forst said. “As with everything, we’re balancing the players that are here now contributing with what we think we can achieve for future teams. I don't have a checklist of things that have to get done before [the Trade Deadline.] We’ll continue to stay abreast of where the opportunities are.
“There’s a chance for anything. The pace usually picks up in the last 24 hours with any deadline in this game. We’ll be ready for anything.”