Frankie Montas’ first full season with the Yankees will begin the same way it ended last year, with him dealing with shoulder inflammation.
The right-hander is expected to miss the first month of the regular season and, according to sources, is 8-10 weeks behind in offseason workouts.
Montas and the Yankees avoided arbitration by agreeing to a $7.5 million deal Friday, a number that likely would have been higher without the concerns.
The 29-year-old missed two weeks with the A’s last season after being forced off the start on July 3. He then landed on a 15-day IL on Sept. 20 with the Yankees after eight mostly innocuous outings — including a final start in Milwaukee after which an MRI also showed shoulder inflammation.
Montas was the Yankees’ top acquisition at last year’s trade deadline after they lost Luis Castillo, who went from the Reds to the Mariners and has since signed a huge extension to stay in Seattle.
The Yankees traded left-handers JP Sears and Ken Waldichuk, along with minor-leaguer Luis Medina and minor leaguer Cooper Bowman in exchange for Montas and Lou Trivino.
Trivino pitched well out of the bullpen for the Yankees last season and avoided arbitration earlier in the offseason, agreeing to a $4.1 million deal.
Montas struggled from the start in the Bronx.
In eight starts with the Yankees, Montas finished with a 6.35 ERA in 39 ²/3 innings and returned to pitch out of the bullpen in the ALCS, when he struck out just once, giving up a home run in his lone inning of work in the Game 1 and I never went again.
The Yankees hope Montas is an important part of a strong rotation that added Carlos Rodon this offseason to go along with Gerrit Cole, Nestor Cortes and Luis Severino, with Domingo German and Clarke Schmidt providing depth — something which the Yankees may need sooner than they would like if Montas is out for an extended period of time.
Montas is expected to be free after this season.
