What happened in MLB trades Monday: Montas to Yankees, Mancini to Astros and more

Follow our live MLB trade deadline tracker for the latest deals ahead of Tuesday's deadline. (Photo of Frankie Montas: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)
The Athletic MLB Staff
What happened in MLB trades Monday: Montas to Yankees, Mancini to Astros and more

Summary

Follow our live MLB trade deadline tracker for the latest deals ahead of Tuesday's deadline.

(Photo of Frankie Montas: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)

Fulmer and Chafin on the move?

The two most likely Tigers to be traded going forward: Michael Fulmer and Andrew Chafin.

The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported Monday the White Sox and Mets are among teams interested in Chafin. The White Sox, though, traded for left-hander Jake Diekman later Monday. Interest from the Mets, according to multiple reports, is thought to be brewing for both Fulmer and Chafin. Chafin rejoined the Tigers on Monday in Minneapolis after having to miss the team’s trip to Toronto because he has not received the COVID-19 vaccine. Monday, Chafin seemed to indicate he would indeed get vaccinated if traded to a contending team that could face the Blue Jays. The Tigers already believed Chafin’s unvaccinated status would have little impact on his trade value.

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Atlanta's plan for Robbie Grossman

While outfielder Robbie Grossman, a pending free agent, has hit only .205 with a .595 OPS with Detroit, that's not the pertinent stat line to consider. The Braves need the veteran switch-hitter to platoon in left field with Eddie Rosario, and against lefties Grossman has hit a robust .364 with a .479 OBP and .999 OPS in 96 plate appearances, with nine doubles, one homer and almost as many walks (17) as strikeouts (21).

The Tigers get minor league left-hander Kris Anglin, 20, who was a 16th-round pick in 2021. He had a 2.86 ERA in rookie ball with 20 strikeouts, seven walks and three homers allowed in 22 innings, but at Low-A Augusta he's posted a 5.93 ERA in 12 games (seven starts) with 36 strikeouts, 19 walks and six homers in 30 1/3 innings.

What's next for Cleveland's Franmil Reyes

Franmil Reyes cleaned out his locker and hugged a few teammates after the Guardians’ extra-inning win on Monday. He’s expected to be optioned to Triple-A Columbus, a sizable fall from grace for the team’s sizable Opening Day cleanup hitter. Rookie right fielder Oscar Gonzalez could be activated from the injured list to take Reyes’ spot, though it’s worth noting plenty of things could unfold with the trade deadline approaching.

Cleveland is open to entertaining offers for Reyes, who owns a .604 OPS and a strikeout rate of 37.1 percent, but it’s obviously a sell-low proposition. Reyes’ track record suggests he’s usually dependable for 30 home runs and an .800 OPS, but the 27-year-old has looked lost at the plate all season.

Tigers deal Robbie Grossman

After a career year last season in which he topped 20 homers and 20 steals, Robbie Grossman hasn’t been able to replicate the results so far in 2022. As a result, the Tigers felt they had little choice but to move him for anything they could get at this year’s deadline. The Tigers needed to clear roster space and open up playing time for younger outfielders such as Akil Baddoo. Grossman, a switch-hitter on an expiring deal, has struggled against right-handers but has an OPS of .999 against lefties this season. (edited)

The bizarre scene in Houston before the Vázquez deal

Because the Red Sox were in Houston as the Vázquez deal was coming together, media from both markets — more than two dozen reporters and cameramen — swarmed batting practice to document Vázquez’s final swings with the team that drafted him out of Puerto Rico in 2008. Vázquez had been a member of the Red Sox organization for nearly a decade and a half. He reached the big leagues in 2014 and underwent Tommy John surgery soon after, but he returned to become a valuable role player and eventually catch the final out of the 2018 World Series, before reinventing himself that offseason to become one of the better, more durable all-around catchers in the game.

Long considered a glove-first player, Vázquez had a .632 OPS his first four years in the majors but a .745 his past four years. He was hitting .282 with the Red Sox’s fourth-best OPS in 2022. It’s the final season of a four-year, $20.3-million extension, and Vázquez was worth every penny, respected and even beloved in the Red Sox clubhouse, a player who’d come into the organization as a ninth-round teenager and was leaving as a proven big league veteran.

Keith Law: Oakland does poorly in Montas trade

Oakland did not do well here, although it’s possible Montas’ injuries just became too much for buyers. Left-hander Ken Waldichuk is a big strikeout guy, working heavily off a mid-90s fastball with high spin and movement, and pairing it with an above-average slider. He has below-average command, his changeup isn’t very good, and he shows a large platoon split, enough that I think he’s much more likely to end up a reliever — and that’s before we talk about the very long arm action.

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Where the Mets stand

We’re less than 24 hours away from the deadline, and the Mets have been relatively quiet. On Monday, two players the Mets had targeted to varying degrees, Trey Mancini and Christian Vázquez, both ended up with the Astros in separate deals.

For the second consecutive season, the Mets appear hamstrung by the unequal talent distribution in their farm system. New York has some very good prospects headlining its system, but there’s a significant dropoff after the top six prospects. The Mets have been hesitant to deal anyone in that top six, especially for a rental piece.

There’s still a chance they could use their financial wherewithal to their advantage. For instance, now that the Red Sox have moved Vázquez, Boston can sneak under the luxury-tax threshold by dealing J.D. Martínez to a team willing to take on the full $7 million or so owed the DH the rest of this season. That would, theoretically, lower the prospect cost for Martínez when compared with, say, Willson Contreras or Josh Bell.

Royals making moves

The Royals are trading 3B Emmanuel Rivera to the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for RHP Luke Weaver, a source tells The Athletic.

What Red Sox are getting with McGuire

In Reese McGuire, the Red Sox are receiving a left-handed hitting catcher who is under control through the 2025 season. The 27-year-old hit .225 with a .546 OPS in 53 games for the White Sox this season. McGuire figures to share playing time with Kevin Plawecki the remainder of the season with the Red Sox trading Christian Vazquez to the Astros.

McGuire, a 2013 first-round pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates, is a career .241 hitter with a .646 OPS in 194 games with the Blue Jays and White Sox. McGuire was traded in April by the Blue Jays to the White Sox in exchange for catcher Zack Collins.

Diekman, a lefty, signed a two-year deal with the Red Sox prior to this season. He'd posted a 4.23 ERA in 44 appearances for the Red Sox with 51 strikeouts and 30 walks. Diekman is under contract for $3.5 million in each of the next two seasons with a $4 million option for 2024 with a $1 million buyout.

White Sox picking up all of Diekman's salary, per source

A a source confirms the White Sox are picking up all of Diekman’s salary, so the Red Sox clear that from the books for this year and next year.

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Why White Sox acquired Diekman

White Sox general manager Rick Hahn spent some time after Sunday's game speaking with Liam Hendriks. Afterward, his closer praised how the front office vets the clubhouse presence of potential trade acquisitions with current players before making moves.

“That’s what I love about the front office here,” Hendriks said. “They ask guys, ‘How is this guy in the clubhouse? How is this guy as a person? (How is) this guy on the field?’ It’s bouncing around guys. It could be the perfect fit but the guy can be an asshole and change the morale of this clubhouse.”

A day later, the Sox acquired Hendriks’ old Oakland A’s teammate in Diekman, who has a 4.23 ERA in 38 1/3 innings this season, with big strikeout numbers, as well as big walk totals contributing to a rough month of July (6.57 ERA with 10 walks in 12 1/3 innings). Diekman, 35 and under contract through next season with a club option for 2024, immediately addresses the Sox’ paucity of southpaws in the bullpen due to injuries for Aaron Bummer and Garrett Crochet, and their love of avoiding pure rentals for what they view as a multi-year contention window. Diekman has held same-handed hitters to .188/.316/.250 from a low three-quarters slot that is tough for left-handers to pick up.

While control has never been Diekman’s forte, his current 17.5 percent walk rate is among the worst of his career to date, and has contributed to vulnerability against right-handed hitters. The Sox specifically needed a lefty reliever, but also could really just use another setup man, period. With Reynaldo López on the injured list, and the Sox currently wary of using Liam Hendriks, Joe Kelly or Kendall Graveman on back-to-back days, their offensive struggles are leading to a lot of close games. But a return to Diekman’s form from the first half will be needed for him to contribute reliably in high-leverage outside of situational matchups.

Both McGuire and Seby Zavala were out of options, and while the White Sox had been carrying both on the major league roster for the past week, Yasmani Grandal's return from injury was going to force a decision eventually. Zavala, hitting .296/.340/.439 in 30 games (albeit with a wholly unsustainable BABIP) and reliable pitch-framing, won the backup job to make McGuire expendable.

Tommy Pham never lived up to career numbers with Reds

The Reds signed Tommy Pham to a one-year deal worth $7.5 million with an eye on this time of year. The Reds had traded starting left fielder Jesse Winker to the Mariners in spring and quickly replaced him with Pham, 34. Pham never really lived up to his career numbers in his time with Cincinnati, hitting .238/.320/.374 with 11 homers in 91 games, mostly batting third in the team's lineup. He was hitting just .204/.255/.245 with no home runs in July, by far his worth month of the year. That came after a June that saw him OPS .873 and hit six homers.

Pham's time in Cincinnati will be remembered more for his fantasy football squabble with the Giants' Joc Pederson than anything he did during a game.

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Reds trade outfielder Tommy Pham to Red Sox

Reds trade outfielder Tommy Pham to Red Sox

The Cincinnati Reds traded outfielder Tommy Pham to the Boston Red Sox on Monday, a source told The Athletic. It was not known what the Red Sox sent to Cincinnati in return.

Pham, 34, is slashing .238/.320/.374 this season with 11 home runs. He signed with the Reds as a free agent on March 26, agreeing to a contract that pays him $6 million this season with a mutual option for $6 million in 2023 that includes a $1.5 million buyout.

(Photo: Katie Stratman / USA Today)

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Astros pushing to acquire Red Sox C Christian Vázquez

Braves sign Austin Riley to 10-year, $212 million contract

The Braves have signed Austin Riley to a 10-year, $212 million contract extension that is the largest contract in franchise history and also includes a $20 million club option for 2033. He'll make $15 million in 2023, $21 million in 2024, and $22 million each of the remaining years of the deal.

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Experts break down the Frankie Montas trade

Experts break down the Frankie Montas trade

The Yankees acquired Frankie Montas to do something he has only done once before. When you carry a double-digit division lead into August, you’re allowed to look ahead to October. Which is why it is reasonable to project how Montas will pitch in the playoffs. Very little can be gleaned from his one previous postseason start, a 3 2/3-inning outing against the Astros in 2020. The Yankees will provide him with an opportunity to build his playoff resume in a couple months.

Earlier in the summer, the rotation looked like the backbone of the Yankees’ historic pace. The structure took some hits, as Jameson Taillon stumbled and Luis Severino injured his shoulder. With Nestor Cortes shouldering the most onerous workload of his career, it was reasonable for the Yankees to pursue a sidekick for No. 1 starter Gerrit Cole.

Can Montas be that man? He has pitched quite well for most of his big-league career. But he has never pitched inside the cauldron of expectations that is The Bronx. He will be under team control through 2023, so the judgment of this trade cannot be fully rendered this October. Try telling that to a franchise that hasn’t been to the World Series since 2009.

(Photo: Wendell Cruz / USA Today)

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The Athletic Staff

Full details of the 3-team Orioles/Astros/Rays trade

Astros receive: 1B/OF Trey Mancini (via Orioles), RHP Jayden Murray (via Rays)

Orioles receive: RHP Seth Johnson (via Rays), RHP Chayce McDermott (via Astros)

Rays receive: OF Jose Siri (via Astros)

Trey Mancini on leaving Baltimore

"There’s not enough I can say about this org, this city of Baltimore, what the fans mean to me, what these guys in here mean to me. It’s the only team I have been a part of since 2013. To be a part of things changing for the better ... has been incredible."

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