Clock ticking on LA Angels-Frankie Montas trade as Opening Day approaches

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic recently reported that if the LA Angels were going to spend more money this offseason, it was going to be on starting pitching. That would likely need to happen through the trade block, as there aren't any sure-fire reliable starters left on the free agent market.

So far, however, the Angels have not made any moves post-lockout to improve the starting rotation. That's even with Chris Rodriguez getting hurt early in the offseason, and Griffin Canning getting hurt recently. Opening Day is less than a week away. If the Halos wanted to make a move, perhaps they already would have done it by now.

After all, Luis Castillo is reportedly off-limits, and he was the Angels No. 1 trade target remaining. The next-best trade target for the Angels was Frankie Montas of the Oakland Athletics, who everybody expected the A's to move. No movement has happened, however. It brings us back to another Rosenthal report last week that pointed out that he may not be as likely to move as originally thought:

If the LA Angels wanted to trade for Frankie Montas, they likely would have done it by now.

Again, spring training is almost over for the LA Angels as well as all other teams. If Frankie Montas was going to be traded here, he likely would already be here. If there were any impact starting pitching trades to be made in general, they likely would have already been made as well. The fact that the A's were already starting to get a little reluctant to trade Montas makes that possibility seem even more unlikely at this point.

If a deal can be done, however, the move should be made. Montas is coming off of a career-year, posting a 3.37 ERA and FIP. You know what you're getting out of Montas on the mound. He recorded a 13-9 record in a league-high 32 starts. Posting a 1.182 WHIP, he'd easily slot in as a top three spot in the Halos' rotation.