Brewers Acquire RHP Frankie Montas
MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee Brewers have acquired right-handed pitcher Frankie Montas (MOHN-tahs) from the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for right-handed pitcher Jakob Junis, outfielder Joey Wiemer and cash. The announcement was made this morning by Senior Vice President and General Manager Matt Arnold.
An updated 40-man roster (39) can be found here.
Montas, 31, is 41-43 with a 4.05 ERA in 149 games/118 starts during his Major League career while pitching for Chicago-AL (2015), Oakland (2017-22), New York-AL (2022-23) and Cincinnati (2024). He has postseason experience with the Athletics in 2020 and 2022. He was 4-8 with a 5.01 ERA in 19 starts with the Reds this season.
Montas enjoyed his best season in 2021 as he finished sixth in American League Cy Young Award voting, going 13-9 with a 3.37 ERA in 32 starts. He ranked among the American League top five in starts (T1st), quality starts (2nd, 20), innings pitched (3rd, 187.0), ERA (4th), strikeouts (4th, 207) and wins (T5th).
Junis, 31, appeared in 10 games/1 start with Milwaukee this season after signing as a free agent on Feb. 7. He went 4-0 with a 2.42 ERA and 1 save. He missed 69 games while on the injured list from April 6 to June 20. Junis has pitched in the Major Leagues for Kansas City (2017-21), San Francisco (2022-23) and Milwaukee (2024).
Wiemer, 25, was selected by Milwaukee in the fourth round of the 2020 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Cincinnati. He made his Major League debut last season, batting .204 with 13 HR, 42 RBI and 11 SB in 132 games. He appeared in 19 games with the Brewers this season (.154, 0hr, 0rbi, 1sb). Wiemer has spent most of 2024 at Triple-A Nashville (53g, .242, 3hr, 21rbi, 6sb).
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
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Frankie Montas is a rental for 2024. The loss of Junis will be felt pretty much immediately. Time will tell with Wiemer, but at the Major League level he struggled as time went on, with no end in sight.
This is the level of ownership commitment to fielding a playoff contender for Milwaukee. The number of pitchers the Brewers have sitting on the IL is staggering. There were quality pitchers available at the trade deadline, but the Brewers approach to fielding a team that is just good enough to keep the fan base interested is likely not going to get them very deep into the playoffs, particularly when teams within their division make better moves. Again, time will tell. I will be very happy to be wrong!