Frankie Montas trade: Brewers acquire righty as Reds begin deadline sell-off, per report

Montas, 31, has struggled lately but gives the Brewers a much-needed veteran starter

By Mike Axisa Jul 29, 2024 at 9:55 pm ET• 1 min read

The NL Central leading Milwaukee Brewers are getting some much-needed rotation help. The Brewers will acquire veteran righty Frankie Montas from the division rival Cincinnati Reds for outfielder Joey Wiemer and righty Jakob Junis, reports MLB.com. Neither team has confirmed the deal.

Montas, 31, is working on a one-year, $16 million contract in his first year back from shoulder surgery. He has a 5.01 ERA in 19 starts and 93 1/3 innings, and he's really struggled of late: 6.41 ERA with a .866 opponent's OPS in his last eight starts. Montas has averaged under five innings in those eight starts.

Milwaukee has gotten hammered by starting pitcher injuries this season and badly needed an arm prior to Tuesday's 6 p.m. ET trade deadline. Their rotation depth chart now looks something like this:

1. RHP Freddy Peralta
2. RHP Brandon Woodruff(out for 2024 with shoulder surgery)
3. LHP Wade Miley(out for 2024 with Tommy John surgery)
4. RHP Aaron Civale
5. RHP Colin Rea
6. RHP Tobias Myers
7. RHP Frankie Montas
8. LHP DL Hall(out with knee injury)
9. LHP Robert Gasser(out for 2024 with Tommy John surgery)
10. RHP Joe Ross(out with back injury)

The Brewers added Civale in a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays earlier this month. They also added righty reliever Nick Mears, who has standout pitch data (movement, spin rates, etc.), in a minor trade with the Colorado Rockies. Milwaukee now figures to target a lefty bat given Christian Yelich's back injury.