FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal was among the first to report the trade and players involved.
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Montas, who previously has been part of trades involving Jake Peavy and Todd Frazier, has been limited this year by injuries, pitching in only seven games – three in Double-A, four in Triple-A, where he has 15 strikeouts in 11.1 innings for a combined total of 22 punchouts in 16 frames. The Dodgers had a mighty farm system before this trade, and still have one of the deepest systems after it, but this trade does thin them out a bit. But as the trade deadline approached and no extension seemed to be in the cards, the Oakland Athletics realized they needed to move veteran starter Rich Hill. Their recent sweep at the hands of the Brewers might increase their motivation to plan for 2017 and beyond.
The Toronto Blue Jays have reportedly contacted the Oakland Athletics about outfielder Josh Reddick as well as left-handed pitcher Rich Hill.
Hill and Reddick are both impending free agents.
A nine-time All-Star after making this year’s AL roster, Beltran has a.281 career average with 414 home runs. At the present moment, Hill’s working on a $6 million contract that will expire at the end of the season.
Minutes after the Jay Bruce to NY deal was reported, another big deal was reached. Montas, who appeared in seven big league games with Chicago-AL last season in his only big-league action, was acquired by the Dodgers from the White Sox on December 16, 2015 in a three-team trade and has gone 16-25 with a 3.79 ERA in 99 games (84 starts) in seven minor league seasons in the Red Sox, White Sox and Dodger organizations. He has yet to play for an affiliated USA minor league team. Hill hit the disabled list in June after suffering a groin injury, causing him to miss the entire month. He’s now on the disabled list, but A’s manager Bob Melvin said in Cleveland on Sunday he expected Hill to be able to come off the DL and start Friday.
The three prospects the A’s get in return are starting pitchers Frankie Montes (No. 95 ranked prospect by MLB.com), Grant Holmes (No. 62 ranked prospect by MLB.com) and Jharel Cotton. The Blue Jays have gotten unbelievable performances from J.A. Happ and Marco Estrada this year while Marcus Stroman is beginning to pitch much better of late.
Holmes is 8-4 with a save and a 4.02 ERA in 20 games, 18 starts, for Single-A Rancho Cucamonga.
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The Boston Red Sox have acquired left-handed reliever Fernando Abad from the Minnesota Twins for minor-league pitcher Pat Light.
