The Milwaukee Brewers are in first place in the National League Central Division with a record of 61-47. They begin a weekend series on the road against the Washington Nationals tonight in an effort to pad their lead over the St. Louis Cardinals, who are in second place and five-and-a-half games back.
Starting tonight for the Brewers will be Frankie Montas, whom Milwaukee acquired at the MLB trade deadline for two players, including outfielder Joey Wiemer. Montas came to the Brewers via the Cincinnati Reds, with whom he was 4-8 with a 5.01 ERA.
The Brewers and their fans are hoping that a change of scenery will help Montas improve this season. Indeed, the 2021 version of Montas, who went 13-9 with a 3.37 ERA in 32 starts for the Oakland A’s, would be a much-needed boost to the starting rotation.
As it turns out, though, Montas was not at the top of the Brewers’ wish list at the trade deadline.
The Milwaukee Brewers Tried to Trade for Chicago White Sox Starter Erick Fedde
According to Ken Rosenthal at The Athletic, the Brewers were one of two NL Central teams that were in a bidding war for Chicago White Sox hurler Erick Fedde:
“Two NL Central teams are pushing for Fedde, according to sources briefed on the discussions. One is the Milwaukee Brewers. The other is believed to be the Cardinals.”
The Cardinals ended up winning the Fedde sweepstakes, sending three prospects to Chicago as part of a three-team trade.
Fedde is 7-4 with a 3.11 ERA this season in his first year back in Major League Baseball following a year in South Korea.
Since the Brewers lost out on Fedde, they decided to pursue Montas from the Reds.
The Milwaukee Brewers Trade for Frankie Montas Was Met with Disdain
Brewers fans were not very pleased with general manager Matt Arnold and the trades he pulled off at the deadline.
Matt Arnold at the deadline when he realized that the deadline was at 6 pm EST not CST pic.twitter.com/72YsCw88LS
— Ben (@jchourioburner) July 31, 2024
Matt Arnold said he loves the bats we currently have and then 2 hours later the Brewers put up 1 run 🤣😂😂
Really can’t make this stuff up. Clown show front office
— Ryan Rude (@SwaleRude) July 31, 2024
Comedy of errors #Brewers doubt August will be any better than July was, good thing y’all stood pat front office… heartbreak is inevitable anyway so who cares
— yugyR (@itsyugyr) July 31, 2024
This is… not good… at all…
This team could seriously implode on itself all because of the front office… again… the Brewers are better than the Braves and look awful against them rn.
— Brewer Sooner (@BrewerSooner) July 31, 2024
That being said, sometimes trades work out in ways that fans do not expect. While the Josh Hader trade was wildly unpopular in 2022, the Brewers were able to use part of their return to acquire All-Star catcher William Contreras.
Montas is not a prospect and has a $20 million mutual option for 2025, a salary the Brewers are likely unwilling to pay.
He will need to perform well (see his 2021 stats above) in order for this trade to be worth it.
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