Mets Bolster Rotation Adding Frankie Montas

Posted by: Patrick Gorman 12/04/2024

On early Monday morning The New York Mets, according to multiple sources, have agreed to terms with SP Frankie Montas in a two-year deal worth $34 million dollars with a opt out. My initial reaction to this signing is very calm. What I mean by calm is that I trust David Stearns and company to unlock something with Frankie Montas. Milwaukee for sure saw something in him when they traded for him at the trade deadline this past year. The Brewers unlocked something with him with K/9 going from 7.5 with the Reds to 11.0 with the Brewers. We also saw Montas's strikeout percentage jump from 19% in Cincinnati to 28.7%. The Brewers made some tweaks with Montas where he was able to get more whiffs on his pitches as we see his strikeout numbers improve post trade.

I have also noticed how a lot of people are looking at his ERA the past year which was not pretty and I agree with that 4.84 is not good. However, you need to factor in the ballparks that he was pitching in with The Great American Ballpark which is a well known pitcher's nightmare because the dimensions immensely favor the hitters more. Once he got traded to Milwaukee they made proper adjustments to make him more effective which did work with the strikeout numbers going up and his ERA with the club going to a 4.44 ERA.

The money given to Montas is considered a lot especially for a 4/5 starter, but pitching is a premium price as we see the likes of Yusei Kikuchi making over $60 million dollars who is in the same tier as Montas. If Frankie Montas is slated to be our 4/5 starter in our rotation and replace Quintana's innings then sign me up. I fully have trust in Stearns especially with the outcome of Luis Severino and Sean Manaea.