MLB Rumors: Some Teams Don’t Expect Sean Manaea, Frankie Montas to Be Traded by A’s

The Oakland A's have a pair of starting pitchers drawing trade interest from other teams in Frankie Montas and Sean Manaea. But it doesn't appear that the team is ready to part ways with the hurlers.

According to Jon Heyman on MLB Network, "interested teams are getting the impression" that the A's are prepared to hold onto Montas and Manaea into the 2022 season and may not deal them at all.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported earlier on Wednesday that Oakland is "focused on trading" Manaea and "waiting to decide how to proceed" with Montas.

The A's have been purging their roster of former All-Stars through trades this offseason. Oakland sent first baseman Matt Olson to the Atlanta Braves, starting pitcher Chris Bassitt to the New York Mets and third baseman Matt Chapman to the Toronto Blue Jays.

Despite finishing 86-76 last year, the A's need a rebuild after cutting costs. According to ESPN, the three trades shaved $30 million from the team's projected payroll.

Montas and Manaea both started 32 games last season. Montas led Oakland with 187.0 innings pitched, 13 wins, 207 strikeouts to go with a 3.37 ERA. Manaea wasn't far behind him with 179.1 innings, 11 wins, 194 strikeouts and a 3.91 ERA.

Per Spotrac, Manaea has the highest cap hit on the A's roster for the 2022 season at $9.75 million. Montas is set to make a little over $5 million this year. If Oakland were to trade both of them, it would save the team nearly $15 million.