-I know many folks are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Jesus Montero. Buster Olney speculated about it this morning. Martin and Cervelli haven’t hit much as Catchers, neither has Posada as the DH. Seems like there’s an obvious fit in terms of need. But when you look at the 25 roster, you quickly realize why he’s not here. As things stand now with the 6 man rotation they’re carrying 13 pitchers and only 3 bench players in Nunez, Cervelli and Jones. That’s the bare minimum a manager can have, it often ties his hands in late inning situations. We recently saw Cervelli playing the infield because of this lack of depth. Cervelli has become CC’s personal Catcher, and with the year CC’s having that pairing will not be undone, particularly not for someone with suspect catching skills. Brian Cashman was recently interviewed and said that he thinks the reason why his pitching staff has been so good this year is in part due to having two fine defensive catchers on his roster. The only way to get Montero here is to cut Posada, and with a few weeks to go until the rosters expand I think they’ll avoid the ugliness that move will certainly cause. I don’t see it happening September 1st, but fully expect to see Jesus and Manny Banny called at that point. I would also caution fans to temper their expectations. Many hitters struggle in their initial call up to the show. Rookie pitchers often have an edge since MLB hitters haven’t seen them before. Hitters find themselves facing much higher level of pitcher much more often. Once in a while you get a Kevin Maas or Shane Spencer, but they’re the exceptions.
-Must read column by Joel Sherman this morning. Cashman lieutenant Gordon Blakley explains why the team chose to stand pat at this year’s trade deadline. I was opposed to this strategy, but he makes a compelling case as to why they chose the direction they did. Wherever you stood on the topic, give it a look. Here’s a taste:
“We had a lot of people see Jimenez, we had as much coverage on him as anybody,” Blakeley said. “We had a conference call with our entire pro scouting staff. We’ve always liked him, but he is not as good as the first half last year. And my personal feeling is Ivan Nova is as good as this version of Jimenez. He has a better fastball, a better curveball, a better slider, a better changeup, he is cheaper, he has won nine games [he won his 10th on Thursday after this conversation] in New York and in the American League East. I am not sure Jimenez can do that.
“The hype says one thing about what we should do, but is Jimenez really going to meet that hype? Look, a year ago, no doubt, Jimenez had a better fastball. But as of this moment, Jimenez does not have a better fastball than Nova.”
-Derek Jeter sure looks like the player we all knew and loved since coming off the DL on July4th. He went on the DL with a strained quad on June 14 hitting .260/.324/.324. Since then he’s 34-106 (.320) with a.358 OBP.
-This is a fun read. A former batboy gives us a peek inside the Yankee clubhouse from 1998-2005. Some of these are stories we’ve heard elsewhere, others aren’t. But I always enjoy pieces that show the personalities and human side of the players we watch on a daily basis.
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5 Responses to Sunday Notes and Commentary (Montero update)
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TIQ IQ
If Montero is on the roster prior to Sept. 1st he would be eligible for the playoffs, correct? Wouldn’t it benefit the team to do so should he prove to be a monster DH?
I believe you have to be on the 40 man to be on a playoff roster, and Montero is already there. So that’s really not an issue. If he destroys the league in September and Jorge continues to flounder, they’ll have a decision to make. But let’s see him get a few ABs under his belt before we even go there.
According to yankees.com Montero is not on the 40-man roster. That’s what making me wonder if he gets added before Sept. 1st.
Good catch, I could have sworn he was there. Then yes, he’d have to be added to the 40 man in order to be on a playoff roster.
The obvious candidate is Gustavo Molina, and that’s someone they won’t ever miss. They probably haven’t added him since they didn’t have to yet to protect him from the Rule 5.
I’m still not thrilled about Banuelos being called up this year. He had another good start today in Scranton, and he would probably be effective as a LOOGY I just don’t like the idea. I’m not sure if he is ready to face MLB right handed hitting yet, and I don’t love the idea of a 20 year old warming up to throw as hard as he can to impress people at the end of the year. the adrenaline he is going to have is going to be more than he’s ever had in his professional career, and I think there is a chance for him to go overboard and injure himself. I’m also a little worried about the way the organization might handle it going forward. It’s not likely, but I don’t think we can rule out the Yankees loving what he does out of the pen, and deciding they want him in that role for next year. Then you end up with another debacle, another starter being “temporarily” used out of the pen, and another pitchers development curbed.