Oakland Athletics

Time to bet on some baseball.

The Atlanta Braves have acquired catcher Sean Murphy in a three-team trade with the Oakland Athletics that also involves the Milwaukee Brewers.

Here are the full details of the trade, which was first reported by Jeff Passan of ESPN:

• Braves get: Sean Murphy (C)
• Athletics get: Kyle Muller (LHP), Manny Piña (C), Royber Salinas (RHP), Freddy Tarnok (RHP), Esteury Ruiz (OF)
• Brewers get: William Contreras (C), Joel Payamps (RHP), Justin Yeager (RHP)

Of note, left-handed pitcher Kyle Muller was the Braves' No. 1 prospect on MLB.com.

Murphy finished last season with a .250 batting average, .759 OPS and 18 home runs with 66 RBI. He earned one 10th-place vote for MVP in the American League.

The 28-year-old won a Gold Glove award in 2021.

Murphy has 11 defensive runs saved over the last two years combined, per FanGraphs, and he set a career high with 5.1 wins above replacement last season.

The catcher could post even better numbers after the trade considering his struggles at RingCentral Coliseum in Oakland. Murphy had a .684 OPS in 162 career home games and an .820 mark in 168 games on the road. His batting average was 45 points higher away from home, and he had 12 more home runs and 10 more doubles.

Playing half his games at Atlanta's Truist Park could lead to a bigger breakout in 2023.

Catchers Travis d'Arnaud and Contreras both earned All-Star selections for Atlanta last season and combined to start 156 of 162 regular-season games behind the plate. Acquiring Murphy gives the Braves a defensive upgrade over Contreras and could allow d'Arnaud to spend more time as a designated hitter.

Considering d'Arnaud has never played more than 112 games in a season and a thumb injury limited him to 60 games in 2021, this move should help keep him fresh for the long season.

After going 101-61 last year, the Braves have the firepower to again contend for a World Series title.

Milwaukee gets a major upgrade over Victor Caratini and Omar Narváez at catcher with the addition of Contreras, who hit 20 home runs with a .278 average last year. It should help provide a jolt to the lineup after the Brewers fell short of the playoffs in 2022.

Oakland continues its rebuild after a 60-102 season, dealing Murphy ahead of his first year of arbitration while adding major league-ready prospects in Muller and Tarnok.

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said he believes the Oakland Athletics will move to Las Vegas in an interview with SiriusXM Radio's Christopher Russo.

The A's have been in talks with Oakland officials regarding a new ballpark as part of the Howard Terminal project, but a key deadline to get that done passed without any further progress.

Mick Akers of the Las Vegas Review-Journal provided more details on Oct. 3.

"Oakland City Administrator Ed Reiskin said last month that the city and the A’s needed to finalize a development agreement for a proposed $12 billion Howard Terminal project—including a $1 billion waterfront ballpark—by last week. Without that, he said a binding vote this year by the Oakland City Council would be all but out of the question."

"Reiskin cited a tight timeline of other necessary reviews that would have followed between this month and early December as the reason for the deadline."

The issue is that the project appears it will now be delayed until 2023, and A's President Dave Kaval previously said that would hinder the team's efforts to stay in Oakland.

The team's lease agreement at RingCentral Coliseum lasts through 2024.

Oakland was home to three professional sports teams in the Golden State Warriors, Oakland (now Las Vegas) Raiders and A's just three years ago. The Raiders have since moved to Vegas, and Golden State went across the bay to San Francisco.

Now it appears the A's could join the Raiders, ending a tenure in Oakland that featured four World Series titles (1972-1974, 1989) and six pennants (1988 and 1990) in addition to eight straight winning seasons from 1999 to 2006.

The New York Yankees acquired starting pitcher Frankie Montas and reliever Lou Trivino from the Oakland Athletics on Monday.

Oakland received minor league pitchers JP Sears, Ken Waldichuk and Luis Medina and infielder Cooper Bowman in return.

YES Network's Jack Curry first reported the deal.

Trivino is the second reliever the Yankees added Monday after they finalized a deal for the Chicago Cubs' Scott Effross.

This move continues Oakland's teardown. The A's already dealt Matt Olson, Matt Chapman, Sean Manaea and Chris Bassitt, so it was only a matter of time before Montas followed them out the door.

The 29-year-old is arbitration-eligible for the 2023 season and due to hit free agency after the 2023 campaign. With his team anchored to the bottom of the American League West at 39-65, keeping him through the trade deadline made less practical sense than cashing in now.

Montas has done the A's a bit of a favor by putting together a strong 2022 campaign.

Things got off on a rather inauspicious note as he allowed five earned runs in a 9-5 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on Opening Day. That poor outing is an outlier, though. Through 19 appearances, the right-hander boasts a 3.18 ERA and a 3.36 FIP, per FanGraphs. He has struck out 9.4 batters and allowed 2.4 walks per nine innings.

While Montas doesn't boast exceptional strikeout numbers, he has gotten a high number of batters to swing at stuff out of the zone. According to Baseball Savant, his chase rate (33.2 percent) ranks in the 88th percentile.

His pitch selection might have something to do with that. He boasts a pretty close balance between his top four pitches: four-seam fastball (27.1 percent), sinker (22.0 percent), slider (15.6 percent) and splitter (26.0 percent), per Baseball Savant.

Anticipating what Montas will throw is easier said than done, making life difficult for those standing inside the batter's box.

For contenders looking to strengthen their rotations, the Dominican Republic native was one of the best arms on the market. It was a battle between him and Cincinnati Reds ace Luis Castillo, and they basically had an equal chance of leaving a last-place team.

Montas' arrival will have a significant impact on New York's staff the rest of the way and into 2023. And Trivino, who boasts a 3.84 FIP and 10 saves in 39 appearances, will fortify a bullpen that has been beset by injuries all season.

At least with regard to Montas, this isn't a trade the Bronx Bombers necessarily needed to make because they already had a strong five-man unit of Gerrit Cole, Jordan Montgomery, Nestor Cortes, Jameson Taillon and Luis Severino.

Cortes' emergence in particular seemingly allowed the front office to abandon any pursuit of a high-profile arm. General manager Brian Cashman obviously begged to differ, and Severino's shoulder trouble might have had a lot to do with that.

Three teams have distanced themselves from the pack in the race for Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Frankie Montas.

MLB Network's Jon Morosi reported Sunday that Montas' market is "focused" on the Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees and St. Louis Cardinals ahead of Tuesday's MLB trade deadline.

The Seattle Mariners finalized a deal for the Cincinnati Reds' Luis Castillo on Friday, taking perhaps the best pitcher off the trade market. That leaves Montas as the top arm still available.

The 29-year-old right-hander is 4-9 with a 3.18 ERA and a 3.36 FIP in 19 starts, per FanGraphs.

The New York Post's Joel Sherman reported the Yankees discussed a Castillo swap with Cincinnati. Negotiations hit an impasse when the Bronx Bombers were prepared to deal Oswald Peraza but not Anthony Volpe.

USA Today's Bob Nightengale reported Saturday that Montas became New York's new primary target.

The Yankees are already 12.5 games ahead of the Blue Jays for first in the American League East, and they have a starting rotation headlined by Gerrit Cole and Nestor Cortes. They don't desperately need pitching help, but they clearly want to leave nothing to chance in pursuit of a 28th World Series title.

Toronto and St. Louis have a stronger incentive to take a big swing prior to the trade deadline because neither is leading its division. The Jays have a two-game cushion in the AL wild-card race, while the Cardinals are one game back of the Philadelphia Phillies for the NL's final wild-card spot.

While Montas' next team remains in doubt, it seems safe to assume his days with the last-place Athletics are numbered.

The New York Yankees and St. Louis Cardinals are among the teams interested in Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Frankie Montas ahead of the Aug. 2 trade deadline, per reports.

Montas is perhaps the best starting pitcher available after Cincinnati Reds star Luis Castillo was traded to the Seattle Mariners earlier this week for prospects Noelvi Marte, Edwin Arroyo, Levi Stoudt and Andrew Moore.

The Yankees have been in the market for another starting pitcher for some time.

Gerrit Cole, Nestor Cortes, Jordan Montgomery and Jameson Taillon have delivered impressive performances on the mound this season, but injuries to Domingo German and Luis Severino have caused some concern within the organization.

German returned from a shoulder injury on July 21 and has been underwhelming in two starts, posting an 8.22 ERA, 1.83 WHIP, three walks and nine strikeouts in 7.2 innings.

Severino, meanwhile, remains on the injured list with a low-grade right lat strain. He has started 16 games this season—recording a 3.45 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 95 strikeouts in 86 innings—but hasn't pitched since exiting his July 13 start against the Cincinnati Reds after just two innings.

Adding Montas would also put the Yankees in an even better position to contend for a World Series title. The club has the top record in the AL at 69-33 and boasts one of the best rosters in baseball.

As for the Cardinals, they need some depth behind Adam Wainwright and Miles Mikolas. Dakota Hudson, Jordan Hicks and Andre Pallante currently fill out the remainder of the St. Louis rotation, and the club would benefit from adding another arm.

The Cardinals are second in the NL Central with a 53-47 record, just 3.5 games behind the first-place Milwaukee Brewers, and hold the last wild-card spot. Adding Montas could put the club in a better position to compete for the division crown.

Montas has spent the last six seasons of his career in Oakland and has posted a 3.18 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 109 strikeouts in 104.2 innings this year.

The right-hander has one more year of arbitration eligibility before becoming an unrestricted free agent in 2024. It's reasonable to believe any team that acquires him at the deadline would be interested in signing him to an extension.

The 29-year-old would only be the latest member of the A's to be moved as part of Oakland's fire sale this year. The franchise has already parted ways with first baseman Matt Olson, third baseman Matt Chapman and starting pitchers Chris Bassitt and Sean Manaea.

The A's have the second-worst record in MLB at 39-63 and are on pace to miss the playoffs for the second straight season.

The New York Yankees are reportedly targeting two of the top starting pitchers on the market, the Oakland Athletics' Frankie Montas and Cincinnati Reds' Luis Castillo, ahead of Tuesday's 2022 MLB trade deadline.

Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported Wednesday the Yanks have made upgrading their rotation a "priority," but so far they aren't close to any blockbuster deals.

New York's starting staff has been mostly strong throughout 2022. Its starters rank third in ERA (3.31) behind only the Los Angeles Dodgers (2.77) and Houston Astros (3.21), per FanGraphs.

Gerrit Cole, Nestor Cortes, Jordan Montgomery and Jameson Taillon are all putting together strong seasons, so the only real question mark is the No. 5 spot with Domingo German and Luis Severino both being limited by injuries this season.

The Yankees aiming for a high-end arm like Montas or Castillo is more a product of them owning realistic World Series aspirations than trying to fill a desperate need.

Montas has compiled a 3.18 ERA and 1.13 WHIP with 109 strikeouts in 104.2 innings across 19 starts for the A's this season. He's struck out 578 batters in 552.2 career innings.

The 29-year-old Dominican Republic native is one of several players Oakland could move before the deadline with the front office focused firmly on the future. The team owns MLB's second-worst record at 37-63 in large part because of a noncompetitive offense.

After Tuesday's start against the Astros, the right-hander admitted a potential move has been on his mind amid a flurry of trade rumors.

"I'm not gonna lie, of course I've been thinking about it," Montas told reporters. "Especially with the deadline coming up pretty soon. There was a time today that I thought, 'Hey, this might be my last start here.'"

Meanwhile, it's much the same story for Castillo and the Reds, who sit at 37-59 amid a rebuilding project.

Castillo, 29, earned his second All-Star selection this season while on pace to post career-best numbers despite playing home games in the bandbox known as Great American Ball Park. He's recorded a 2.77 ERA and 1.08 WHIP in 13 outings.

Like Montas, he also provides intriguing strikeout numbers, having racked up 852 in 785.1 MLB innings.

Either high-profile starter would provide a major boost to the Yankees staff, but that level of marquee trade is not necessary to keep the team in contention. Even a move for a less costly mid-rotation starter would help provide some insurance.

But, at least for now, New York's front office is shooting for the stars ahead of the deadline.

Luis Castillo and Frankie Montas are reportedly the most likely star-level pitchers to be dealt ahead of the 2022 MLB trade deadline.

Jeff Passan of ESPN reported both pitchers will "almost certainly" be traded before the Aug. 2 cutoff date.

Castillo is fresh off his second All-Star appearance but has not been able to prop up a Reds team that's sitting at 37-59. He is 3-4 with a 2.77 ERA and 1.08 WHIP this season, striking out 82 batters in 78 innings.

Montas has been mentioned in trade rumors dating back to the winter as the Athletics engage in yet another roster teardown. The righty is 4-9 with a 3.18 ERA and 1.13 WHIP with 109 strikeouts in 104.2 innings for the 37-63 A's.

Both pitchers are under team control through the 2023 season. That will make them attractive to opposing teams, given they should get at least a season-plus of work before they hit free agency.

The number of teams looking for starting pitching help at the deadline is anything but small. The New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals, Seattle Mariners, Minnesota Twins, Toronto Blue Jays and San Diego Padres are all reportedly among that group.

Each of the teams mentioned has a legitimate shot at winning a World Series if things break right. Adding an All-Star-caliber pitcher to their rotation will go a long way toward making that October dream come true.

Expect a bit of a bidding war as the deadline approaches.