The Reds deserve even more credit after watching the Yankees fleece the A's for Frankie Montas

Reds Country, if you haven't already, it's time to tip your hat to general manager Nick Krall. The Cincinnati Reds got a heckuva return in exchange for Luis Castillo last week and the Oakland A's just got taken for a ride by the New York Yankees.

The Yankees acquired right-handed pitcher Frankie Montas from the Oakland A's in exchange for four prospects; only one of which ranks among the Top 100 in baseball according to MLB Pipeline.

New York is sending left-hander Ken Waldichuk, right-hander Luis Medina, another lefty in J.P. Sears, and second baseman Cooper Bowman to Oakland. That's highway robbery after what the Seattle Mariners gave up in order to acquire Luis Castillo.

Reds GM Nick Krall deserves even more credit after watching the Yankees fleece the A's for Frankie Montas.

Heading into the latter part of the trade deadline, the argument could be made that if Luis Castillo was 1A, then Frankie Montas was 1B. Had he not suffered an injury earlier this summer, the difference in value might be even more minuscule. But, as Mark Feinsand of MLB.com mentions, Montas' velocity in his previous start was unaffected.

This was just pure ineptitude on the part of the Oakland A's front office. What if the roles were reversed? The Cincinnati faithful would be calling for Krall's jon had the A's send Montas to Seattle for Noelvi Marte, Edwin Arroyo, Levi Stoudt, and Andrew Moore only to see the Reds turn around and snag the subpar return from the Yankees.

This is Oakland's mess and they're the ones who have to clean it up. This does, however, cloud the market for Cincinnati Reds starter Tyler Mahle. It's hard to imagine the Reds getting the type of value they'd have hoped after seeing the A's sell so low on Frankie Montas.

Tyler Mahle has drawn trade interest in recent days from the Philadelphia Phillies and the St. Louis Cardinals. The Texas Rangers are said to be in the mix as well. This will be an interesting story to follow for the next day or so.