Yankees catcher Ben Rortvedt and right-hander Frankie Montas both underwent surgery Wednesday, manager Aaron Boone announced to reporters (Twitter links via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). Montas was already known to require arthroscopic surgery on his shoulder, and today’s procedure is now being classified as a cleanup of his labrum. His rotator cuff did not require repair. Montas will be cleared to resume throwing in approximately 12 weeks and could still return this season.
Rortvedt, meanwhile, has been bothered by a finger ailment that doctors had been unable to pinpoint in recent days. He met with a specialist yesterday. The operation addressed an aneurysm near the posterior in his left shoulder, which had impacted the circulation in his hand and finger. He’ll be shut down from all baseball activity for at least the next month.
The injury to Montas is an obvious blow for a Yankees club that hoped for a healthy Montas in 2023 — one that resembled his standout form with the Athletics more than the diminished version of Montas they saw following last summer’s trade. The right-hander had dealt with shoulder troubles shortly before the trade deadline, but the Yankees were clearly convinced that the issue was minor and that they’d be getting something close to the pitcher who’d posted a 3.30 ERA with strong strikeout and walk rates from Opening Day 2021 through the 2022 trade deadline.
Instead, the Yankees received eight rough outings from Montas down the stretch and will now be without him for the majority of the 2023 campaign, after which he’s slated to become a free agent. New York also picked up righty reliever Lou Trivino in that swap, and he delivered 21 2/3 innings of 1.94 ERA ball down the stretch. He’s controlled through the 2024 season, but the trade with the A’s will still feel rather steep, given that the Yankees sent prospects Ken Waldichuk, JP Sears, Luis Medina and Cooper Bowman to Oakland in return for Montas and Trivino. The Yankees reportedly do not plan to pursue a trade to replenish the pitching depth lost with Montas’ injury.
As for Rortvedt, he came over to the Yankees alongside Josh Donaldson and Isiah Kiner-Falefa in the trade that sent Gio Urshela and Gary Sanchez to the Twins last offseason. A former second-round pick who’s regarded as a glove-first option behind the dish, the 25-year-old Rortvedt played in only 48 minor league games in 2022. He spent most of the season on the Major League injured list due to a severe oblique strain and was optioned upon activation. He spent six games in the low minors before heading to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, where he turned in a .221/.307/.396 batting line with six home runs and a 10.2% walk rate but also a troubling 32.2% strikeout rate in 177 plate appearances.
Rortvedt has appeared in 39 big league games, all with the Twins, and posted a .169/.229/.281 batting line with a 29.6% strikeout rate in 98 trips to the plate. He has a minor league option year remaining — which is crucial, given that Jose Trevino and Kyle Higashioka are lined up as the primary catchers to begin the season — and can be controlled for at least five more years.
I’m still not entirely convinced that Ben Rortvedt is a real person
The lab named him after the formula they were using to optimize launch angle. Rise Over Run Times Velocity Equals Distance Traveled.
Ah, the Yanks, a cut above the rest…
I’m still relatively amazed that they waited this long to address Montas injury. But what is, Is. The other amazing thing they did as far as I’m thinking, Is if they knew Montas was hurt, Why they let Tallion walk for nothing? I mean the Cubs are saying thanks, But Letting him walk and signing Rodon seems like a big risk to me. But hey it’s not my money so I say, Play on! LOL
Well…
1. Tailon is not quite the same level of pitching talent as Rodon is. They’d rather pay Rodon more to be a front end of the rotation ace than Tailon less to be a back end of the rotation starter for them. So there’s that. I’d much rather Rodon than Tailon even with the salary difference and I’m sure most Yankee fans would as well having seen first hand how “reliable” Tailon is.
2. Tailon hasn’t exactly been the fountain of health either.
Him and Sixto Sanchez
Why you gotta do Frankie Montas’ personal catcher like that?
He is real… I only know because he plays my body double when the stunts get too dangerous.
Clipper- Where can I stream that show?
Hey Rortvedt, I hardly knew ya!
Hahahahaha! Great comment Ronky Boy….
“Rortvedt, meanwhile, has been bothered by a finger ailment that doctors had been unable to pinpoint in recent days. He met with a specialist yesterday. The operation addressed an aneurysm near the posterior in his left shoulder, which had impacted the circulation in his hand and finger.”
Have you ever seen photos of Rortvedt like this one?
https://www.mlb.com/news/yankees-ben-rortvedt-has-huge-muscles
You can be a baseball player or you can be a bodybuilder.
Note to Brian Cashman: how many injured weightlifters do you have to pay on the IL before you figure out that they might not be a good investment?
Gabe Kapler did both, and for a guy with all that muscle he never managed to hit 20 HR’s in a season
Kapler was kind of a rarity in that regard. He wasn’t just a weightlifter, he was — and is — a wholistic health freak like Jack LaLanne. He combined the strength training with a complete regimen that included a focus on nutrition.
LaLanne was so strict about his diet that he once ate a cookie and then forced himself to vomit it up. He celebrated his 70th birthday by towing 70 boats, one laden with guests, in a mile swim in Long Beach Harbor from the Queens Way Bridge to the Queen Mary.
One thing you bet is that LaLanne never touched steroids.
One thing you CAN bet is that LaLanne never touched steroids.
Remember George Foster of the Big Red Machine? He hit 52 home runs one season even though he was skinny. That’s when I realized that his power came from his wrists, forearms and hands
You don’t know very much about Kapler. Kepler was one of only a couple of players who broke from the union and insisted players be tested for PEDs.
I don’t know who you’re replying to, Halo11Fan, but if to me, let me be clear: I wasn’t suggesting the Kapler ever used steroids. To the contrary, I compared him to Jack LaLanne because of his adherence to healthful nutrition. He’s not as scrupulous about diet as Jack was, but he’s still very careful about what he puts into his body. It would seem to be out of character for Gabe to have drugged himself to build muscle. I imagine the only juicing he ever did was with a blender: i.e., carrot juice, cabbage juice, beet juice, etc.
Kapler has his own fitness website:
https://kaplifestyle.com/
No one has any ideas if Foster was juicing to get to 50. Realize that up until that point and early in his career (coincidentally up until the exact time he joined the “Big Red Machine”) he wasn’t a power hitter at all. And there’s been some indications that Foster wasn’t the only guy that saw his power numbers spike after joining the Reds. Before anyone says it, steroids and it’s use to enhance physical performance as been around since the 60’s when primarily Olympic athletes widely used it to great advantage.
It’s true that you can’t tell whether or not an athlete is juicing simply by looking at him. Fernando Tatis, Jr. isn’t built like Jose Canseco or Mark McGwire.
Just saying. I think it’s perfectly reasonable to believe a player took PEDs, especially someone as cut as Kepler, But Kepler’s history deserves to be better known.
There seems to be a contradiction in citing Kapler’s lobbying for drug tests while saying it’s perfectly reasonable to believe he took PEDs. That belief seems even less reasonable when you consider that his career SLG was below the league average, and in his peak HR year of 1999, his HR% was 3.9% compared to juicers like Manny Ramirez, whose HR% that year was 6.9%.
Sure, it’s possible he was a juicer who just couldn’t launch the ball for some other reason, but typically it’s the enhancement of the fast-twitch muscles that allows a juicer to wait on pitches a crucial instant longer, which allows him to see the ball better and barrel it up.
I concede, too, that it’s possible that his calling for drug tests was to deflect suspicion. I recall that Ortiz made some big noises about how juicers should be severely penalized — and then his own failed drug test was made public.
I do think, though, that Kapler’s physique fit the stereotype of a juicer, but his performance at the plate didn’t. If he ever did juice as a ballplayer, it was only in his first three full years in the league.
Don’t forget O’Reilly with the Cards.
Derek Dietrich’s got nothing on Rortvedt.
Check out Tyler O’neil.
This guy will never play for the Yankees. It’s one thing after the other. What a great acquisition this was.
Great comments in this section. If you (my fellow Yankees fanatics) haven’t listened to the recent interview with Volpe at ST, I’d recommend it. It puts on display why so many people are high on this kid because of his attitude. His perspective is really grounded and he is incredibly humble. I really hope he’s everything they think he is and more. Great role model for kids to emulate.
For baseball especially, you really have to dedicate as much time and attention to maximizing/maintaining flexibility, as you do to adding strength and muscle. Doing it the right way (and within sensible limits) can really pay 0ff.
Some athletes don’t fully embrace that part of it, as much as they probably should. It’s harder to maintain the discipline and patience that requires – over just throwing iron and slamming sets and getting pumped.
Rotverdt, another Cashman gem. https://www.si.com/mlb/yankees/news/new-york-yankees-brian-cashman-knew-about-ben-rortvedt-injury-before-minnesota-twins-trade
I’m guessing that Cashmans last 2 trade blunders (that seemed to heavily rely on analytics) was what ushered in the additions of both Brian Sabean and Omar Minaya to the front office. Both Sabean and Minaya are known for their ability to spot talent the “old fashioned” way. Hopefully this will mean avoiding trades like we’ve seen recently where you get the sense no one from the Yankees actually really watched these guys and instead we’re names that were dumped out of the (poor) analytics machine that Cashmans stat geeks have been blindly grinding out.
Sad to hear about Ben, a Wisconsin kid trying to be great
Paging low quality poster Yanks2:
Is this story newsworthy (considering your last inane comment)?
Let me guess: Yes, because its about the center of the universe Yankees.
You’re no better than him with that kind of comment.
TWO amazing trades in this article really make me think it’s long time Cashman retired from this position. So, for four prospects, you got eight garbage starts from a guy who was never that good to begin with, that’s just THIS garbage trade. It’s so bad it eclipsed the other trade in this article: Urshela and Sanchez for IKF and Donaldson. Wouldn’t it have been much easier to just release Sanchez? THen you wouldn’t have Donaldson, you wouldn’t need the insanely overrated (somehow!) IKF, and you wouldn’t have to worry about Sanchez. Instead of eating only Sanchez’s money, now you can chow down on Donaldson’s, Falefa’s and the arbitration you JUST paid to Montas. Non-tender!!!!
My only comment is. Why arent you a mlb general manager. Answer: see last comment
Yeah, Zuvella, thanks for that hot take..
Cashman is a bum and Hal is an idiot. Fire Brian and sell the team.
Cashman has produced what exactly in his tenure? Squat. A single championship?
And Hal resigned him. Proves how moronic Hal is. Nothing changes until Hal no longer makes decisions.
Looks like Montas dodged a bullet. For the Yanks sake, hopefully he’s not another Sonny Gray for them.
So far Sonny Gray was a better Yankee than Montas. Gray did have moments.
Very true. Fortunately for Montas, he still has time to make something out of his Yankees tenure.
Does he really? He’ll be a free agent at the end of the upcoming season. A season where he may not even pitch in. Considering that Montas hardly looked comfortable on the mound at Yankee stadium (deer in the headlights never looked “better” and he honestly looked even more shell shocked than Sonny Gray ever did) I’m not sure the he’ll want to be back nor should the Yankees resign him in free agency.
You’re right joe. But that’s not saying much. Montas has done nothing but detract from the team. You would think he would be a ashamed to take his paycheck, but they never are.
So because he got injured (while actually pitching), he’s to blame and shouldn’t be paid.
Wow, the geniuses are out tonight!
Montas made Sonny Gray look like Andy Petitte when it came to not looking she’ll shocked pitching on the mound at Yankee stadium. It has nothing to do with the injury. You can pitch poorly but confidently but that wasn’t Montas. Montas had that deer-in-the-headlights look that Sonny Gray had when he was a Yankee and pitching at the stadium (just even worse than Gray ever looked).
From what I read, Montas is expecting back with eight games that he can pitch and then the postseason. After that he is a free agent so he comes back maybe to pitch eight games and the postseason. That’s a bad trade.
It’s best that I stop reading these Yankee-s focussed articles…..there are 29 other teams I can read about, and there’ no point in torturing myself
If ya can’t beat ’em, join ’em.
Speaking of torture, Aaron Boone is already starting to gaslight everyone. I’m not sure if Boone is detached from reality, views his job as the single purpose of protecting players at all costs (but like a helicopter parent), or if he just lies and thinks it’s okay because he believes his motives are pure. But, it is one of those three.
The three recent examples are:
1) IKF, the “stopgap SS” for 2022 or until either Volpe or Peraza are ready, is competing for a starting SS job. Now, it’s bad enough they lied all last season by saying he’s one of the best SS in MLB, but to put him up to start @ SS…..again! Either it’s a lie (he’s simply going through motions), or he’s detached;
2) Boone asserting that Donaldson will have a bounce back year… his ST AB looked *exactly* like last year (late on FB, bad swing, overmatched); yet Boone swears he’s in tiptop physical condition and going to dominate offensively, like 2021;
3) and the third is Boone’s repeated inexcusable defenses of Aaron Hicks.
Boone doesn’t have to slam these guys – he doesn’t even have to criticize them; but to go to the extreme opposite is to deny reality. I am confident that Boone will come forward in one of these interviews and definitively claim the NYY World Series champs of 2022. I question the mental stability of someone who can so willingly change facts to fit a narrative.
all those muscles and taken out by a finger
‘poor Yankees…
Rortvedt
Sounds like a really drunk person trying to say Corvette
🙂
Or Scooby-Doo.
If you’ll start a sentence with “instead,” why on earth wouldn’t you do the same with “meanwhile?”
You see a problem in starting a sentence with “instead”?
Nope, I think it’s a good way to start a sentence. Just like the word “meanwhile.”
Apologies for my ignorance on this… Last month, Montas and the Yankees avoided arbitration by agreeing to a $7.5 million deal before the deadline. If they hadn’t agreed, could the Yankees have just released him before that deadline without owing him anything? Or would there still be an arbitration ruling that they would be bound by?
I believe they could have non-tendered him, but the date for that was earlier. But, I believe the Yankees are gambling that he can make a decent contribution in the playoffs, which they think would be worth that kind of money.
No apologies needed. The last day was Jan. 13 for both sides to submit figures. The Yankees could’ve decided to non-tender him a contract any time prior without further obligation. Once figures are submitted, the Yankees are bounded either by arbitration or a settlement to commit to a salary figure.
Agreeing on a contract to avoid arbitration doesn’t have any direct relationship to being able to release him or not.
They could have released him at any point before the arbitration period even started (and saved a million assuming the arbitrator decided on the same amount that they agreed to). FYI…you still have to Oy the guy if you release him.
All not agreeing to avoid arbitration would have done is force an arbitrator to decide on the salary. If anything the Yankees probably should have had the arbitrator decide might have saved them some money considering how awful Montas was.
Also there was no chance that Cashman was going to release him as it would be a direct indictment of his own incompetence NOR any chance that Hal would have agreed to pay a guy for not being on this team (it’s why Aaron Hicks is still a Yankee and not looking to leech onto another team).
The fact that the yanks even got Rorvedt in the deal was a snipe job by cashman. It wasn’t a mistake. Both players they dealt for Donaldson are no longer with the Twins 1 year later. Yankees need to stop fleecing Minnesota in trades.
…poor, poor Yankees.
The Spankees season is done!!