Let's check out the latest from Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe….
- It's still up in the air whether Jose Bautista will go to arbitration this winter, or whether he'll sign either a one-year or multi-year deal with the Blue Jays. "Right now, there are no talks about a multiyear contract," said Bautista. "But I suppose we may hear something about that in December." MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith took an in-depth look at Bautista's arbitration case earlier this month.
- Cafardo speculates that the Brewers and Jason Varitek could be a good fit, since Milwaukee could use a veteran to mentor Jonathan Lucroy. Of course, the Brewers are probably hoping that the recently-signed Mike Rivera will fill that role.
- There is some doubt about whether Yankees prospect Jesus Montero will be able to handle a major league pitching staff. A "Yankee insider" tells Cafardo that he thinks Montero could be used in a big trade this winter, with Austin Romine waiting in the wings as a potential long-term backstop.
- Cafardo names a few candidates to replace Dave Eiland as the Yankees' pitching coach, noting that Scott Aldred appears to be the front-runner.
- Meanwhile, Curt Young looks like the favorite to become the Red Sox' next pitching coach. The Diamondbacks were "very interested" in Young, but ultimately ended up hiring Charles Nagy instead.
OMG. Stop trying to trade Montero, there’s no reason to. Why are they trying to trade him? Sure they’ll try to improve pitching, but I’m pretty sure that he’s gonna be a big part in the plan of Cashman to get “younger”. Austin Romine is at least another year away. Trading Montero is a no-no, and I don’t see anyone on the mark that’s worth him, that doesent have any question marks(like Zack Grienke). PLEASE Cashman do not trade him.
Henry, come on dude…Think about it, if Lee stays with Texas, which could very well happen, the Yankees WILL acquire a pitcher of caliber closest to Lee than anybody else on the trade of free agent market. That would be Zack Greinke…
Now I know I’ve made 46878596576 posts about potential trades for Greinke, but I am 100% certain that if Greinke becomes a Yankee, Montero becomes a Royal.
Now with that said, you have to think that pressure about his catching ability aside, and pressure in general aside, Montero can definetly catch the Royals pitching staff and definetly when the younger guys like Monty, Lamb, Dwyer, and Duffy come up.
I think there is a great shot that Montero catches in KC next season.
Why would Montero be able to catch the Royals staff and not the Yankees? I know the main pieces of KC’s future rotation are still in the minors, but just because they’re young doesn’t mean Montero will have an easier time catching them and calling the games. Scouts say that he will always be a below average defensive player, he’s not going to magically get better if he’s traded.
That being said, Montero is still a great prospect and the Royals would love to have him. They’d find a place to play him.
The point is the pressure about his catching abilities wont get to him as it would in NY, therefore there is a chance he’d be able to feel more confident defensively and do a better job. Just a thought.
That makes no sense, if you can’t field, you can’t field.
yeah practice doesnt make perfect…oh wait..if a young catcher and young pitching staff develop at the same time they click better, he would have to learn the Yankees way or the highway he would do great in KC, look at Buster Posey, he worked with Bumgarner, and they just absolutely clicked tonight in the world series
Really? That makes even less sense. Fielding behind the dish and receiving are the same thing?
Like hell! I’m sorry Span but I really don’t want to trade Montero, especially for Grienke who has question marks about his ability to perform. If I’m Cashman I make Montero untouchable. He’s gonna be our future and throwing away our future is not a way to go. And besides, there are other pitchers who are in or going to be in the market like Gavin Floyd and John Danks. I think the Yanks can get one of them two without giving up Montero or Betances.
Neither one of those is available. Neither.
Well, sorry Span, but your dream of Montero and Betances in Royals uniforms is not gonna come true. And Both of them will become available, IMO.
How in the world are both going to be available? Both are young, one of them is locked up to a team friendly deal. Both were great last season and the White Sox thrive with their pitching? Plus both are more important to the Sox than Buerhle, Peavy, and Jackson.
Explain why they will be available? Because both of them wont…
John Danks will be getting more expensive for the White Sox in the near future, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Floyd hit the market as well no matter the status of the contract.
Again, I don’t get it. Danks will he kept because of his quality and why do you expect Floyd to he shopped “regardles”
So what’s this dream about having Montero and Betances in royals uniforms I keep hearing about?
SPANdemonium wants the Yankees to trade for Grienke, so his Royals get Betances and Montero(who both need to be untouchable)in return.
We were talking about Floyd and Danks. I don’t have a bias
Montero won’t be the Yankee’s future…the Yankees are not about development. They are about buying top free agents, or trading away prospects for players like that. They have the money and thats the way they do it
In their recent history – guys like Bernie, Jeter, Mo, Pettitte, Posada …. all developed.
Sorry, but they’re all at the end of the road.
The Yankees need to develop more like Cano, Hughes and Gardner. They don’t need to go out and pillage the rest of MLB.
The Yankees have developed decent talent, and some elite talent. I guess that’s why Oppenheimer is so highly thought of. I think theyre probably gonna lean a littel bit more to their prospects since Cashman stated he has the desire to get younger.
I’m not saying they’re not – I’m saying that NY is about more than buying an entire team and trading top prospects.
Max I definately agree.
Henry-I would like to see them try to stay within, but who knows, they may trade highly touted prospects for young, proven players (ie Greinke).
Sure if 15-20 years ago is “recent”
there are teams that havnt been around as long as those guys careers
with Tex at 1st for the long term and the Yankees catching depth and Monteros struggles catching I can’t see the Yankees having room for him
wow, what a track record, now with simple mathmatics, tell me more Yankees, and where did they come from?
False. The Yankees have more homegrown talent on their team than any team in the majors, even the Red Sox. The Yankees are about balance, development, free agents and trades. You can’t be successful doing just one of those things.
False? Don’t make me laugh. The yankees have rode development they did 15-20 yrs ago and then bought the rest of their team off the development of other teams that could no longer afford the elite players they developed. Until the system is changed, they will be able to continue in this manner. Don’t kid yourself the Red Sox develop and retain more players than the Yankees. I am not a fan of either, but at least the Sox actually do have more of a “balanced” approach in the manner of what you suggested
Hughes, Gardner, Cano… where did we buy those guys from? I forgot. 🙁
yes—Every team will have SOME homegrown talent–obviously
Cano has turned into elite talent.
Gardner is the kind of player anyone would like on their team-but not above average.
Hughes–He is good, but a number 1 or number 2? no–the jury is still out on him. Didn’t perform that well in the second half of the season, nor the playoffs
Except they haven’t done that in the recent history and didn’t do so for Santana, Halladay and Lee.
Doesn’t Greinke have a no-trade clause to the Yankees?
At any rate, it is a bad idea simply because Greinke has a history of psychological problems (depression and social anxiety disorder) that have broken him down before.
Now, does it really sound wise to throw the guy in New York — on that stage with that pressure?
No guarantee he will fail. I don’t think he will
That Anxiety disorder is a red flag, I’m telling you.
Possibly, but you can’t be more than 50% sure.
He can’t be sure at all. No one who lacks his psychiatric records can be sure it means a thing.
One thing I’m sure of, if the Yankees trade for him they will have those records evaluated first.
I am so tired of hearing about Greinke going to New York. He has anxiety problems and has the yankees on his List of teams on his no trade clause, there is no way he would want to go play in new york with those kind of issues. You have to figure montero is the key piece in any trade for a big pitcher though.
The Yankees are in a tough position here. The general consensus is the Montero will be a great hitter when he gets to the Bigs, but they have no place for him. As it stands he’s a great trade chip, maybe the best in the game, so it’s a good problem to have. They could make a blockbuster deal centered around him, maybe for Greinke, Soria, hell maybe even Andre Eithier. You’d have to think that they’d pursue a pitcher. It’ll be interesting.
Andre Either is on the Dodgers…
Do the yankees only trade with the Royals now? Sorry if I confused you but I was just listing possible Yankee targets off the top of my head and two of the three happened to be Royals.
They do have a place for him. Please note that Posada is retiring after his deal expires, which will be after 2011, and Montero will get to catch a handful
l of games, and the ones he doesen’t, he will DH. And afte one of our more defensively accomplished catchers take the spot, Montero will be moved to DH.
I don’t think it’s best for Montero to DH in his rookie year. See Billy Butler.
He’s not going to be the full-time DH. He’ll catch a couple of days and play first when Tex gets a day off or DHs.
Montero’s numbers are going up and Romine’s numbers are going down. Regardless of how crappy Montero is as a catcher (@jsnorris427 told me a pitcher told him montero was, “the worst catcher he’d ever seen,” and norris himself says that montero is worse than present-day Posada – no mean feat), the Yankees are going to need power bats. Montero would be a great compliment to New and Improved Granderson (now hitting lefties!), Swisher, Teixeira and Cano. And with the aging of some of the sluggers we had in the 00’s – Rodriguez, Posada, Jeter, and so forth – we need that power. Maybe trading him for a really good SP wouldn’t be the biggest pill to swallow, but quite frankly I’m willing to wait a year or two to see how the Yankees killer b’s (Banuelos, Brackman, and Betances) evolve before we start throwing Montero away.Really, catching is the only the option, and if we means we have to deal with a couple more passed balls every season, whatever, okay. If we did fine with powerless, fistpumping Cervelli and aging Posada, we can handle another crappy catcher who might slug 20-30 (40?) home runs for quite some time. Our only real option would be to move him to 1B, and I don’t think Tex is going anywhere. Behind the dish it is.
What about DH? Sure one of Jeter or A-Rod is gonna have to move there, but I think Montero can learn to play other positions.
I don’t think it’s good for the guy’s career (as a whole) to stick him as a permanent DH, but this isn’t the reason the Yankees won’t do it. A-Rod is gonna need to DH plenty this year, as well as Posada, simply due to age. While Montero might DH PART of the time – both not to wear him down in his first year and to give him some major league confidence – I don’t think he’s going to be a permanent feature there. Considering that A-Rod is going to be our pure DH in a couple years, grooming Montero for it doesn’t seem very bright, unless he has a down year and becomes a trade chip (which is obviously not the goal).
If Cashman trades Montero for anyone other a world class pitcher like King Felix he is just being a hypocrite and falling into the vicious cycle of trading away young talent for mediocre players. After all his talk of “getting younger” he better keep Montero. Keep him for his bat. I know his defense is crappy but look at Brian McCann. He’s pretty crappy defensive wise but he’s one of the big bats on that team. Give our farm a chance!
Montero isn’t just any prospect! He’s in that Miguel Cabrera/Frank Thomas level. There may be doubts about his defense but there surely are no doubts about his bat.
My Dream 2011 lineup:
Jeter-SS
Crawford-LF
Teixeira-1B
A-Rod-3B
Cano-2B
Posada-DH/C
Montero-DH/C
Swisher-RF
Granderson-CF
Not specifically in that order. I did my best to try to imagine how Joe Girardi would go about constructing a lineup with those players.
Oh BTW, I know I’m just a spoiled Yankee fan dreaming but I would love for the Yanks to somehow aquire Colby Rasmus!
Manny Banuelos, David Phelps (St. Louis Native), and Brandon Laird for Colby Rasmus. I was also thinking that the Yanks could do a three way trade in which they send Granderson (Chicago Native) to the White Sox and the Yanks and White Sox send prospects to St. Louis in order for the Cards to send Colby to NY. Then they could sign Crawford! Under K-Long’s guidance he could easily become one of the best Yankee centerfielders ever. Any thoughts MLBTR readers?
Ya, and then they could have Rasmus, Swisher, Gardner, and Crawford man all of the 4 OF positions. What?EDIT: Comparisons to Crabrera and Thomas are unfair. That’s how younger players turn out to be busts, it’s an unfair prediction and they can’t handle the pressure.
DOUBLE EDIT: The trade Granderson ship has sailed. He isn’t being traded, and had a monster second half of the season and ended up with 25 HR and is now hitting left handers, and takes more walks. He’s primed for a monster season next year.
No offense but I think you are overvaluing Rasmus a bit. At worst you’re being very optimistic about his long term ability.
Manny Banuelos has a long way to go but a lefty who throws in the mid 90’s and is already at AA at age 19 is highly valuable. In two years his line is…
215 IP, w/ 228 KO and 66 walks, 2.59 era and 1.13 whip.
That’s “potential” front of the rotation stuff from a lefty.
The other two, Phelps and Laird, have questionable value and may or may not be full time big leaguers. However, Colby hasn’t yet proven himself to be an elite hitter.
2010 MLB 464 AB, .276/.361 w/ 23 hrs and 11 SB
AAA career- 387 AB, .251/.346 w/ 11 hrs and 15 SB
AA career- 556 AB, .275/.381 w/ 29 hrs and 18 SB
I think Colby will improve with age but they are more of his “type” than their are of Manny Banuelos type if he fils his potnetial. Slugging OF’ers are a lot easier to come by than elite pitchers. Plus Yanks aren’t in any immediate need of an OF/ w/ Gardner, Swisher and Grandy under contract for the next 2 or 3 years.
Montero’s defense can’t be THAT bad?! This is a team who has Jorge Posada catching in the playoffs. Watching him trying to block a ball in the dirt makes me ache. Here’s what they do: Call up Montero and let him catch a game or two per week next year. That way, when Posada retires, he’ll understand the pitching staff a bit more to handle full time duties.
Why is everyone so worried about Montero’s defense? With his bat and the Yankee potential pitching, does it really matter?
I don’t see Montero going anywhere this year for three reasons.
a) The Yanks biggest needs for the near future (2011-2012) are starting pitching, infusion of offensive power and a replacement for Posada. Every other position is filled for the most part. Mo will probably hold down the closer role for another 2 years. The veteran positions such as SS, 3B and closer will demand preparation in terms of development in the farm and if that fails, you look at the trade or free agent market when the time comes.
Montero can provide the infusion of offensive power than might offset regression from Arod and Jeter on the right hand side and he can at least be a short-term solution to Posada.
b) Romine might very well become the ultimate long-term solution @ C and is closer to being mlb ready than Sanchez and Murphy. However, if Montero can hit then I don’t see why both Montero and Romine can’t be accomodated. Certainly Arod’s eventual move to DH might cause an issue but I would assume a Montero performing well at the mlb level would be more of valuable trade chip than one w/o the mlb success. If they have confidence in his bat then 1 or 2 years to showcase that is to the Yanks benefit even if he might be a DH/1B only player. If he can be Adam Dunn w/ better contact ability then teams will find a place for him.
c) Who would the Yanks trade him for this winter? As mentioned the Yanks needs are small. Pitching and a replacement for Posada. Yanks are not going to trade Montero away for prospects and Jeter isn’t going anywhere. Yanks were willing to trade Montero for Halladay, Lee and supposedly, Soria. I can’t see the Yanks trading for an 8th inning guy so let’s explore starting pitchers. If the Yanks were to trade Montero it would have to be for FOR type starters, not mediocre over the hill guys that they’ve traded for back in the 80’s. For the sake of brevity I’m not going to explore all FOR types because most teams aren’t going to put those guys on the market. I’ll also avoid teams w/o a need for a DH or 1B. Doesn’t make sense to look at teams in need of a C because if the Yanks have him on the block because they feel he can’t be their everday C then chances are no other team will view him as their potential C either. I’ll also dismiss all AL East teams. Instead let’s look at guys who might be moved because of impending free agency or because of salary relief a team might benefit from.
Zack Greinke, Chris Carpenter, Josh Johnson, Matt Cain, Gavin Floyd and Gio Gonzales/Trevor Cahil.
Greinke has been covered. Carpenter might hit the block if the Cards need salary space to keep Pujols and Molina (FA in 2012). Carpenter though is probably older than the Yanks would want for a SP @ age 36 and injury prone. Josh Johnson is on the list because of the Marlins MO and he gets expensive in 2012 when he and Ham will be earning a total of $27 mil. They might feel like it’s easier to replace JJ than it is Ham and could probably pluck a Betances, Banuelos or Brackman in the deal too (not saying they are on JJ’s level). Cain is on the list because they might value Montero’s cheap but valuable bat @ 1B and might feel like $15 mil for Cain in 2010 is too much and could get by with Lincecum (who deserves an extention), Bumgarner, Sanchez and ????. Gavin Floyd isn’t a FOR and ChiSox would have to kick in w/ someone but they could definetly use Montero’s bat at 1B. That other piece would be the key to a potential deal. Gio and Trevor are not really FOR’s either but would probably be #2’s or 3’s on the Yanks and are listed because the A’s seem to have an endless supply of pitching prospects who get used as trade bait and Montero could be a game changing bat for them @ 1B even though they have Barton. Barton is a great OBP guy but offers little power. Cahill and Gio might be part of a larger package involving more players on both sides too.
Of those mentioned Cain I think would have some legs considering the relationship between Cashman and Sabean. Also, the Yanks seem to hunger for 1 of two types. Those that have beaten them in big games and those that perform well in big games in the playoffs against others.
Unless the Yanks can get one of those mentioned then I don’t see an offseason trade involving Montero. The writer Cafardo makes it seem like the Yanks are going to toss away Montero just because Austin Romine might be the full-time C of the future. Because we all know guys with .300/.380 40 hr potential grow on trees right? Who needs one of those hanging around?
Yeah its not happening but a rotation of CC, King Felix and Lee would make any Yankee fan myself included drool. That would be deadly.
IF the Mariners agreed to trade King Felix for Montero, Cano and Hughes are you still drooling???
Cano? That’s a huge overpayment. Montero, Hughes, Joba, and B prospect is enough. King Felix isn’t even going to be traded anyway.
Exactly that package I could live with especially for one of if not the best pitcher in baseball and only gonna be 25 years old next year. If they traded Montero, Cano and Hughes however I’m drinking a whole bottle of Yeagermeister grabbing a wooden baseball bat and am hunting down Brian Cashman lol.
If they even dared to trade Cano I would have to call a hit on him.
IF the Mariners agreed to trade King Felix for Montero, Cano and Hughes are you still drooling???
I think the Yanks will explore trading Montero for young pitching like Leake,Minor, Hudson, Montgomery, or Crow. It is said, that they like Romine as a catcher in 2012, and you move Jeter to third Nunez to short and A-Rod to DH.
Montero for any of those guys is a huge overpayment.
Look Henry, I know you like Montero but if he is not the answer at catcher he will be traded for pitching. If the Yanks sign Lee then they might keep him next year and see what he can do with the big club in June; but if they don’t sign Lee he’s gone.
Funny how Ryan clamoring against the DH. In his time as a pitcher, he loved it, especially when HE would routinely throw upper 90’s fastballs BEHIND a hitter’s head and not have to come to the plate after the DH was implemented. Some batters would sit out games he pitched in, kid you not, like Dwight Evans they were shaken up so bad this happened so bad after being HIT in the head one time by this tactic of Ryan’s.
The non use of the DH was good for one thing.. After being hit. Now the only way to retaliate is to lay down a bunt on the 1B line and force the pitcher to field it and lay them flat running to the bag and very few players now are capable of small ball anymore.
I’m not a mindreader, and I know this has been speculated by many, but I’m pretty damn sure Zach Greinke does not want to pitch in New York.