Frankie Montas’ spring training stint with the 2024 Cincinnati Reds has already encompassed more innings than his entire 2023 output with the New York Yankees.

That would be 1 1/3 innings in Kansas City in the season’s final series, a reward for a difficult rehab executed well. Montas earned a chance to throw the ball one final time with the Yankees, and it was his shoulder to blame for knocking his season off course, not his resolve. Still, though, his career in pinstripes seemed doomed long before his winter surgical announcement prior to the 2023 season, all the way back to the moment the shoulder balked in June of 2022, prior to Brian Cashman pulling the trigger on a trade anyhow.

Montas, once thought to be returning to the Bronx as rotation depth/a helpful tutor, instead signed a one-year, $16 million deal in Cincinnati, far eclipsing any total New York might match.

Instead of a pillow contract, he signed in exchange for a bed of cold, hard cash. Turns out, after the righty’s healthy spring debut, it’s actually Yankees fans who need a proper pillow to lie on, considering how much tossing and turning they’ll be doing thinking about his two perfect, whiff-filled innings.

Former Yankees right-hander Frankie Montas is the talk of Reds camp! Eat my face with a knife and spoon!

“I left the Yankees! I’m magically cured!”

Not only did Montas’ stuff look crisp in that early spring highlight reel, but he’s apparently brought his commendable attitude to the Reds’ quest for the NL Central title and beyond.

Catcher Luke Maile pinged Montas as the early standout in both field work and locker room interactions, and the right-hander has reportedly “never been happier,” which I’m told can happen following a swift infusion of $16 million cash.

Maybe the talk of @Reds camp so far has been Frankie Montas.👀

He says he's never been happier and has made a universally good impression on everyone in the clubhouse so far.

Montas has 99 career starts in the Major Leagues. #RedsST | @FrankieMontas pic.twitter.com/7Vc9v9JDzT

— Bally Sports Cincinnati (@BallySportsCIN) February 26, 2024

We wish no ill will towards Montas, and hope he has a dynamite season in the NL Central. It just would’ve been nice if he could’ve avoided boldly underlining his name on the list of Cashman’s recent acquisition busts while he was still in town.