Jesus Montero at the 2009 XM Futures Game
Jesus Montero is not only the Yanks #1 prospect according to Baseball America, he may very well be their #1 Catcher next season, ahead of Jorge Posada and Francisco Cervelli. Mark Feinsand of The Daily News has the details:
Back in July, the Yankees were willing to deal Jesus Montero for Cliff Lee. When the 2011 season starts, Montero could be catching Lee in the Bronx.
The consensus among the Yankees’ high command is that Montero who turns 21 on Nov. 28 – is ready to assume the starting catcher’s job, according to a source with knowledge of the team’s thinking.
The consensus among the Yankees’ high command is that Montero who turns 21 on Nov. 28 – is ready to assume the starting catcher’s job, according to a source with knowledge of the team’s thinking.
Montero’s future was among the topics of discussion during the Yankee meetings at the Stadium over the past two days, with Lee and the free-agent and trade markets dominating the conversation.
Montero’s defense has been scrutinized, but team brass believes he made enough strides this season to assume the bulk of the workload in 2011.
He will likely be given the chance to win the starting job during spring training, turning over a position that has belonged to Jorge Posada since 1998. The front office believes that Montero is already a better defensive catcher than the 39-year-old Posada, who has struggled behind the plate – and to stay healthy.
If Montero comes through, Posada would likely be shifted to the designated hitter spot, with some backup catching duties mixed in.
The plan would be for Montero to catch roughly 100 games, said a source, with Posada and Francisco Cervelli sharing the rest of the duties. Austin Romine, the Yank’s other blue-chip catching prospect, would start at Triple-A, potentially taking over Cervelli’s spot by midseason if he shows he is ready.
Many industry experts believe that the Yankees have tried to inflate Montero’s value in order to use him in a trade for a starting pitcher if they’re unable to sign Lee, but as the source noted, “There really aren’t any pitchers of that caliber out there to trade for.”
Lots of stuff to react to there. First, this addresses the obvious problem the Yanks would have in 2011 of not being able to play both Romine and Montero in AAA next year. Romine played well enough to earn a promotion, but if Montero repeats AAA you obviously can’t start both of them. It appears the Yanks are taking the same path they did with Posada from 1996-1999, putting him on the 25 man roster and having him polish off his defensive game at the big league level. Tony Pena is an outstanding Catcher’s coach and was a excellent defensive catcher in his own right, so if anyone can get Jesus to take that final step defensively, it’s him. He has a series of exercises he makes his catchers perform and a reputation for being somewhat of a Drill Sargent.
But this could also be posturing by the Yanks. The Yanks have often said in recent Novembers that they wanted to cut payroll for the following year, then always wound up spending the same amount, if not more. Brian Cashman called signing Mark Teixeira “fantasy land” in November of 2009 and had him signed by Christmas. We can take this report at face value, or read into it that they may see a deal out there to be had and they want to inflate his value. It’s very possible that both could be true. There have been numerous reports recently bashing Montero’s defense, this may be an attempt to counter that perception.
But where’s the deal? Looking at MLBTR’s recent Righty and Lefty trade market posts, there doesn’t appear to be anything exciting on the horizon. The few pitchers who are any good on those lists are mostly in the Yanks division, so a deal is unlikely. But one portion stood out. The Giants are said to be in on the upcoming Prince Fielder talks and would be willing to trade off one of their starting pitchers in order to get him. If the consensus among scouts is that Montero belongs at 1B, could he be offered as a cheaper alternative to the soon to be expensive Fielder? Perhaps. Both players possess the kind of light tower power that could play at the spacious AT&T Park. Brian Sabean and Brian Cashman know each other from their days when Sabean was with the Yanks, so they should have a comfort level there. But in reality, none of this is even discussed unless the Yanks fail to sign Cliff Lee and it’s hard to imagine the Yanks being outbid for any player they really want. Even if, as Mo pointed out recently, the math doesn’t add up with Hal’s statements.
In essence, what the Yanks appear to be doing here is replacing one offensive Catcher with another, and hopefully extending Posada’s career a bit by making him a full-time DH. Jorge has clearly shown in the past few years that he cannot hold up physically to the daily grind of catching. This could be the changing of the guard, and Montero’s offensive potential could be greater than that of Posada.
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12 Responses to Report-Montero may be Yanks 1st string Catcher in 2011
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TIQ IQ
Good move.
Posada’s last season, he plays some and acts as a teacher.
Sad but core 4 are almost done.
This is their transition year, all except Jeter who will bounce back and have a great season.
So, are we cool carrying three catchers on the 25 all year? Do many other teams do that?
If they don’t have a primary DH, then it is really only 2 atchers and a DH.
Pretty much… Montero and Posada are in the lineup almost everyday at DH\C bouncing back and forth and Cervelli backs both up on the bench. If you don’t carry the 3rd catcher you never have one on the bench in case of injury.
it is a great move by the yankees
My brain says “wait until June!” but my heart says “break ST with the team!!!” and even a part of my brain says “550 PA in the bigs is just what Montero needs in 2011.” I don’t know what the best move is, but I’ll be so excited if he’s with the big league club in April.
[...] Steve S. at TYU has the more interesting angle to this, I think: it’s possibly a bluff by the Yankees in an effort to inflate Montero’s trade value. His argument basically boils down to “Brian Cashman and the Yankees are always lying about their offseason plans in early November, so don’t be shocked if they shop Montero.” Pretty compelling argument, actually! [...]
To me, this is a no-brainer move. There’s no reason to keep Montero at Triple-A after his second half. Posada needs the rest, Montero needs the experience, and Cervelli needs to play a lot less.
But the Yankees need to be prepared for Jesus to take some adjustment time in the majors, if Triple-A is any indication. That’ll require some patience.
Unfortunately the Yankees have shown they have little patience when it comes to young players
I disagree. They waited out Robbie Cano’s lack of discipline when people were yelling ‘trade him’ and they put up with a whole lot of Melky hoping he would become more than he was. They pulled the trigger on IPK and AJax but overall I’d say the old-time trade ‘em quick and early philosophy is fading.
With Melky I don’t think they ever thought he was going to become a star they just played him while he was chaep and more productive than his price tag and shipped him when he came up for a raise.
IPK profiles as a NL starter so I always expected that to happen and Ajax got traded for his “best case scenario” so that trade makes a lot of sense all around.
They have done a good job of holding on to young talent and outside of the reported deal for Lee they haven’t dangled a lot of young top flight guys in front of teams like they use too.
They also are waiting on Phil Hughes to develop. They showed patience with Jesus too. The old regime would have called him up or traded him when he was wrecking house Double-A