MESA, Ariz. – Almost any baseball player who has been traded will at one point or another say “it’s good, because it shows that someone wanted me.”
Usually, it’s a throwaway line, said whether the player is happy about the trade or not.
There was nothing throwaway in the case of A’s right-hander Frankie Montas.
Montas was on the disabled list having just had a fractured rib removed last year when he learned that Oakland had swung a deal for him and fellow pitchers Jharel Cotton and Grant Holmes. The A’s gave up right fielder Josh Reddick and left-handed starter Rich Hill to the Dodgers in the process.