Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times writes that Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik says he has "zero expectations" for former top prospect Jesus Montero, who arrived to Spring Training 40 pounds over the team's target weight for him. The Mariners assign each player such a figure prior to each offseason, but sources tell Divish that Montero has yet to meet one since joining the club in a 2012 trade. "After winter ball, all I did was eat," Montero admitted. It's another hurdle the DH will have to conquer after a 2013 season marred by injury and a Biogenesis-related suspension. Here's more out of the AL West:
- The Mariners' interest in Kendrys Morales may depend on the ability of Corey Hart to stick in the outfield, Greg Johns of MLB.com reports. Hart has logged time in the outfield in the early days of Spring Training, and if he can handle a job there, it could open up the DH spot for Morales.
- Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News hears that the Rangers aren't pursuing Ervin Santana (Twitter link). A recent report named Texas as one of three clubs with strong interest in the hurler.
- Sam Fuld may face long odds to make the Athletics' roster out of Spring Training, as the team already has four outfielders and probably won't carry another, reports MLB.com's Jane Lee. Fuld agreed to a minor league deal with the A's early this month.
- The Angels may rely heavily on their bullpen in 2014, as they enter the season with major question marks behind Jered Weaver and C.J. Wilson in the rotation, Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times writes.
Montero is just another example of all the hype the media puts on prospects that just do not pan out.
*Yankee prospects
Not just Yankees, the Red Sox franchise probably has a bigger media hype machine around their farm.
Red Sox prospects have been doing a LOT better than Yankees ones…but if you want another prospect-hype franchise look no further than the Mets.
Other than Milledge, who has been overhyped in the Mets system? The only other guy who comes to mind is Kazmir but he had 4 solid years before he fizzled out so that isn’t really being overhyped…
Every player in the Johan Santana trade, except for Gomez.
The concensus of that trade at the time was that the Mets fleeced the Twins and that there was no one of value in it…so I would say that there wasn’t really much “hype” at all to begin with. The Twins settled for sub-standard prospects because they wanted Major League ready players.
There were 4 players in the trade Carlos Gomez, Deolis Guerra, Philip Humber, and Kevin Mulvey. Gomez lived up to hype. Guerra was 18 at the time and is still only 24 and is probably going to make his MLB debut sometime this season. There never really was much hype around him to begin with. Humber had a lot of hype out of college, which was justified, but he had elbow issues that led to TJ surgery. The Twins were well aware that he was damaged goods at the time of the trade. That leaves Kevin Mulvey as the only prospect that was really “overhyped,” and quite frankly, there was never a scouting report that said Mulvey was ever going to be more than a mid rotation pitcher
The concensus of that trade at the time was that the Mets fleeced the Twins and that there was no one of value in it…so I would say that there wasn’t really much “hype” at all to begin with. The Twins settled for sub-standard prospects because they wanted Major League ready players.
There were 4 players in the trade Carlos Gomez, Deolis Guerra, Philip Humber, and Kevin Mulvey. Gomez lived up to hype. Guerra was 18 at the time and is still only 24 and is probably going to make his MLB debut sometime this season. There never really was much hype around him to begin with. Humber had a lot of hype out of college, which was justified, but he had elbow issues that led to TJ surgery. The Twins were well aware that he was damaged goods at the time of the trade. That leaves Kevin Mulvey as the only prospect that was really “overhyped,” and quite frankly, there was never a scouting report that said Mulvey was ever going to be more than a mid rotation pitcher
I believe every team & it’s fans over value their prospects. It’s part of what makes baseball fun. If you pay attention to a player once he enters the system & pay attention to their numbers & the players progression it’s pretty obvious that you can get a read on how good a player may be. If you look at the list of top 10-15 prospects on the Sox roster you can’t help but be excited about the future.
I believe every team & it’s fans over value their prospects. It’s part of what makes baseball fun. If you pay attention to a player once he enters the system & pay attention to their numbers & the players progression it’s pretty obvious that you can get a read on how good a player may be. If you look at the list of top 10-15 prospects on the Sox roster you can’t help but be excited about the future.
Jack Zduriencik and the Mariners took that bait hook, line, and sinker.
Pineda hasn’t exactly been a great catch for the Yankees either, but I hear ya.
At least Pineda has a chance to come back from his injury. Montero, on the other hand, never had a chance from the beginning. You can’t teach athleticism. But, you’re right, neither has worked out so far.
A guy coming off a lost season due to surgeries on both knees (Hart) seems like a long shot to play OF for a full season. If you can get 100 games tops you should be happy.
Would love to see the Mariners bring Morales back. After all the time Hart has missed it could take a while before before he gets used to swinging the big stick again. We all know that Morales was the best hitter last yr.
This. Plus, his range in 2011 in RF was awful I can’t imagine it’s any better now. Hart is a 1b/DH.
I can remember going into the 2007 season, the Angels had the same problem, if you can really call it that. It’s young starting pitching. I’d rather be a bit in the dark with young starting pitching with plenty of upside (like 2007), than having to go into the season with another rotation like last season’s rotation. I don’t expect it to be a great back end of the rotation, but there’s every reason to think they can hold their own.
At least you have solid (sorta) anchors in Wilson and Weaver. The Angels should be better this season
at least they will finish above the astros
True. And there have been rotations in the past where the 1-2 punch carried a whole pitching staff to the World Series. One obvious example is the 2001 Diamondbacks (Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling). It could happen. But I’m not expecting it, nor would I want to lean that much on them. Should still be a much better rotation than last season.
Going into Spring Training last season, I thought the Angels were way overhyped and we actually in a worse position than the year before. The rotation was obviously better in 2012 and the difference in the offense was Hamilton and Bourjos instead of Hunter and Morales. Hunter alone had a higher WAR than Hamilton and Bourjos combined
The Mariners have to have had the most shocking and disappointing off season. They go out and sign Cano to a stupidly massive contract and follow it up by getting more of their typical cheap project/maybe-this-guy-will-return-to-his-old-form players. Knowing they’re more than one piece away from contending for a World Series, why not go for 2-3 all star caliber players instead of one super star player if you are working with a finite amount of money? Makes absolutely no sense. It really does feel like this organization only cares about having one or two notable players to sell jerseys and tickets and that’s it. As a lifelong fan I’m predicting another 70-80 win season hopefully followed by the firing of Jack Z. End rant.
I think the signings of Buck and Rodney are OK. But they sure need to do a lot more than what they’ve done if they want to put the best possible product on the field and improve enough to get into 2nd or 3rd place. They can still make themselves better if they bring Morales back and sign Ervin Santana. But they still have a lot of holes… They could still use a good outfielder. I’m not sure I trust Zduriencik to make a trade for an outfielder and get good value in return, and I fear the fewer holes they fill by signing guys, the greater the likelihood we see a disastrous trade or two.
Bullpen is still really bad and if they were going to spend, Ellsbury was a much better fit. They already have Nick Franklin at 2B who is pretty good with a decent ceiling, but Ellsbury in CF makes so much more sense for them. Logan Morrison & Corey Hart were not the right guys for this team. There clearly is no front office plan in place here. That said, starting rotation is going to be one of the best in baseball by 2015. Do they have the depth to run with Oakland and Texas? Not yet, but they luckily have enough good players to make a run in 2-3 years. Hopefully they can figure out how to build a team before then.
To be fair, we don’t know if they made a legitimate effort to land multiple all-star types. There was a report out that they had offered Ellsbury a 9 year contract before eventually landing Cano, but Ellsbury rejected it. All you can do is try with some people.
The Hart signing was understandable and likable. Even Baker could prove to be a great sign. But I don’t disagree with your general point. In my opinion, it really appears that they upgraded areas where they already had good (possibly great) talent, while ignoring the greatest areas of need. The fact that they haven’t come up with a solid center fielder–despite that being the most glaring need for several years now, and at least one starter without durability concerns, is really disappointing.
I do believe the organization cares more than they get credit for. I just question whether or not they have the competence to assemble a winning team. At this point, the answer seems to be a clear “no”.
I disagree with your argument that the team hasn’t done much to change or improve. I count 16 players from last years Opening Day roster that likely will not be on this years (Saunders, Capps, Loe, Perez, Kinney, Beavan, Luetge, Montero, Shoppach, Andino, Ryan, Morales, Bay, Gutierrez, Ibanez, Morse). Given the roster turnover, I would predict a more successful season. I think the most important changes are in the rotation. Having Walker, Paxton, and Ramirez instead of Saunders, Harang, and Maurer/Bonderman is a major improvement. The pen will be better with full seasons of Farquar and Medina and the addition of Rodney.
jesus, montero.
Dude…too funny.
I am going to defend Montero as a hitter not as a Weight Watcher future spokesperson. I know he used drugs, and he is not catcher material but I still think he can hit. And if you can hit you can play. In 2013 Seattle had him in and out of the lineup too much. A guy like Montero you have to play him. Use him as the DH instead of spending a pile on Morales. I know PED help on the homers but they do not help on the BA , and there Montero showed very well in his first 500 AB.
He couldn’t hit right handed pitching. Combine that with bad defense, and it’s hard to make a case for playing time. His first 500 AB’s showed inconsistency, and while that’s normal for a rookie/young player, he never appeared to be getting on-track. If he can do that in Tacoma this year, he may very well find himself as the future DH here. Hopefully he’ll pull himself together.