Frankie Montas Showed Up To Day 1 Of Yankees Spring Training Needing Shoulder Surgery That Might Cost Him The Whole Season

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Happy Spring Training everybody! The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and pitchers/catchers have reported to Florida or Arizona to begin their season. Everything at this point should be incredibly positive. You're looking at your shiny new toys and thinking about all the possibilities that await. Hope is there for all to see. 

Then you have Frankie Montas. 

The Yankees waited until February 15th to address Frankie Montas' bum shoulder. That's the very same shoulder that was a red flag when the Yankees acquired him in August of last season. It's the same shoulder that was barking to end the year and limited him severely into the postseason. It was well known Montas shoulder was an issue after the season came to a close and the Yankees still chose the wait and see approach. Now the best case scenario is that he comes back at the end of the 2023 season. Super. 

The Montas injury doesn't derail the Yankees season by any means. Thanks to the addition of Carlos Rodón, Montas was slotted in as their number 5 starter entering the season. You can live with losing your number 5 (you'd ideally love to have him healthy), but the frustrating part is what you gave up to get him last year. 

Jesus Christ what a nightmare of a deal. An all-time bad Brian Cashman trade. Montas was the clear Plan B move after the Mariners blew everyone out of the water with their Luis Castillo offer. That doesn't mean you just pull the trigger and hope his injury sorts itself out. Shoulders are tricky and dangerous. I was on board at the time because the Yankees badly needed a premier arm, but I assumed their medical team had fully checked out Montas. They assured the fanbase that the shoulder was not a problem moving forward. Whoever assured us I want gone. I mean how do you fuck this up this badly? It's one thing for the shoulder issue to derail his 2022 season, but not addressing it in the beginning of the offseason is inexcusable. I mean what the fuck are we doing? 

Everything off to a great start. Looks like Domingo and Clarke Schmidt are gonna have all the chances in the world to get a ton of starts under their belt and help the team win games. 

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