Many times, Brewers fans are easily annoyed with the front office for not opening the pocket book and signing key free agents. Just look at the conversations around the team moving on from Willy Adames most recently, or Prince Fielder in years past. Sometimes though, it is better to move on from a guy, and let someone else pay them. This very well appears to be the case for Frankie Montas.
Montas was 3-3 as a starter for the Milwaukee Brewers, with a 4.55 ERA and 70 strikeouts over 57.1 innings pitched after he was acquired from the Reds at the MLB Trade Deadline. The Brewers trusted him in a must win Game 2 of the NL Wild Card Series against New York, striking out 3 over 3.2 innings, and not factoring into the decision. Milwaukee ultimately won the game, but lost in Game 3 in heartbreaking fashion. After the season officially ended, Montas opted out of his contract, choosing free agency, and then signing with the Mets for two years, $34 million.
Montas to miss significant time with injury
Given the state of the Brewers payroll, it was likely that they already weren't too sad to get Montas' money off their books. However, Milwaukee may now be particularly thankful for letting him walk in free agency, as Montas will reportedly miss significant time with a "high grade lat strain"
High grade lat strain for Frankie Montas, Mets announced. Will be shut down 6-8 weeks, then need a full spring training
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) February 17, 2025
Montas is now heading back to New York for additional testing and platelet rich plasma injection to aid in recovery. As Heyman notes above, Montas will need a full "spring training" build up over about 2 months once he is recovered from the injury. Given that Montas has an opt-out after the 2025 season, the Brewers may be incredibly lucky that Montas decided to walk away.
If we are being honest, Milwaukee was likely to decline their end of Montas' mutual option regardless of his decision. His production was pretty lackluster during his short stint and the Brewers are not in a position to carry a player like that making that much money. Still, it is nice things worked out where Milwaukee can focus on the rotation arms they have while the Mets have to wonder why they forked out so much for Montas.