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The Yankees sent Jesus Montero to the Mariners for Michael Pineda in a four-player deal.
Jan 13, 2012 - The Yankees have held on to Jesus Montero through every offseason and trade deadline. No matter what star player was dangled in their faces, they kept the young catcher (but soon-to-be first baseman or DH, according to most reports) close. Considering the age of the Yankees' lineup and their desire to get under the luxury tax at some point, you could understand why.
But they almost dealt Montero once. They actually thought they did, believing that a deal to send him to the Mariners for Cliff Lee was imminent. At the last second, the Mariners decided they liked Justin Smoak better, and pulled out of the deal. Now the Mariners have both, sending 22-year-old wunderkind Michael Pineda over for the offense they desperately need. From the official MLB.com Twitter feed:
BREAKING: @Yankees and @Mariners finalizing 4-player trade involving young studs Jesus Montero and Michael Pineda.
Some Yankees fans and some Mariners fans are going to hate this deal. Yankees fans will hate it because they've spent the last three years picturing Montero as a life-long Yankee, racking up 2,500 hits, and staying eerily effective into his late 30s, like the other creepy homegrown Yankees.
Mariners fans will hate this because they just had a miserable season in which Pineda was one of the team's only bright lights: a young, electric arm with plus control. When a pitcher throws as hard as Pineda, the control usually doesn't show up when he's 22. He already had it, with the promise of getting better. And he was traded for a first base/DH type when they already had Smoak playing first base for the foreseeable future.
But stripped down to its core: the Yankees wanted cheap pitching, and the Mariners wanted cheap hitting. Montero is one of the best young hitting prospects in the game, and he'll be under club control for another six years. Pineda is one of the best young pitchers in baseball, and he's under club control for the next five years.
Greg Johns of MLB.com writes that the deal isn't just a straight swap.
No confirmation from team, but source says Mariners sending Pineda and Jose Campos to Yankees for Jesus Montero/Hector Noesi.
Campos is an 18-year-old who dominated the Northwest League ahead of schedule, and he ranked fifth on John Sickels' list of Mariner prospects. Sickels says that Noesi is more of a fourth/fifth starter type, but he is close to ready, and he has a good chance of helping the Mariners next year.
But the principals of the deal are Montero and Pineda. It's rare to see players with this much talent and remaining service time switching teams. It's a risk for each team, not unlike the Roberto Alomar-for-Fred McGriff deal in 1990. We'll know more in about a decade. Check back.
23 comments
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Comments
Woah.
Didn’t expect that. Not sure the Mariners made out all that well, either.
by Phrozen on Jan 13, 2012 8:07 PM EST reply actions
I like Montero a lot.
A lot a lot. But I feel the same way about Pineda. There’s no way to evaluate this one right now. It’s like Deshields for Pedro.
by Grant Brisbee on Jan 13, 2012 8:14 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Deshields for Pedro?
Uncool, Giant fan. Here I am, reading a good article on an interesting trade, and you stick a knife in my face by acknowledging Ramon’s brother. One day, I’m going to write an interesting comment, wait til you’re done reading, and then write about your childhood pet dying.
But yeah, I am surprised the Mariners can give up Pineda after trading Fister. I really don’t know if Montero was the answer.
by Real Tom on Jan 13, 2012 8:37 PM EST up reply actions
:(
DON’T YOU DARE WRITE ABOUT CLAWED LIKE THAT.
by Grant Brisbee on Jan 13, 2012 9:34 PM EST up reply actions
Yeah, Montero’s no chopped liver, certainly, but young, cost-controlled pitching is perhaps more valuable, long-term, than a 1B/DH, no matter how good his bat.
by Phrozen on Jan 14, 2012 1:44 AM EST up reply actions
Depends.
You also have to factor in the reliability of a young pitcher vs. young hitter. And while I understand the bias against 1B/DH-types, I think they can be overstated. If you believe that Montero’s bat can be special — like Carlos Delgado, just to pull a C-turned-1B out of my butt — you’re right to be excited about him no matter where he plays.
by Grant Brisbee on Jan 14, 2012 2:59 PM EST up reply actions
I think this turns out bad for the Mariners.
But I am used to disappointment.
Ross on Halladay: "I’d tried everything against him…going the other way, taking pitches, trying to walk…and nothing worked. I’d never tried going up there and just trying to hit a home run off him."
My boy has mad hops
I rant on Twitter
by scout6 on Jan 13, 2012 8:17 PM EST reply actions
How could this have happened?? According to the always authorative NYC sports media ...
… the Mariners made a mockery of baseball by pulling out of the Montero for Cliff Lee. And Cashman and the Yankees would suitably punish the Mariners by never giving them the opportunity to trade with the Yankees.
Of course there were other voices that said that as soon as there was a deal between the teams that made sense the two teams would be back at the table together, as always.
"Most all good Americans hate the Yankees. It is a value we cherish and pass on to our children like decency and democracy and the importance of a good breakfast." - William B. Mead
by Steve Nelson on Jan 13, 2012 8:51 PM EST reply actions
Interesting
Well, that’s fun!
by aronofsky40 on Jan 13, 2012 9:11 PM EST reply actions
SSA Alert - but looks as if Montero's power is to left field
"Most all good Americans hate the Yankees. It is a value we cherish and pass on to our children like decency and democracy and the importance of a good breakfast." - William B. Mead
by Steve Nelson on Jan 13, 2012 9:35 PM EST reply actions
right field!!!!
"Most all good Americans hate the Yankees. It is a value we cherish and pass on to our children like decency and democracy and the importance of a good breakfast." - William B. Mead
by Steve Nelson on Jan 13, 2012 9:37 PM EST up reply actions
sample
size
The 2008 Rogelio Moret League Fantasy Baseball Champions!
by The Congo Hammer on Jan 13, 2012 10:09 PM EST up reply actions
Check Jose Bautista
"Some guy on the net thinks I suck, and he should know - he's got his own blog." - Nick Hornby
"Lex clavatoris designati rescindenda est"
"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." - Albert Einstein
by Andrew T. Fisher on Jan 14, 2012 10:39 AM EST via Android app up reply actions
I think that might not be a problem
Two of those RF HRs were the first ones he hit in his ML career, ever — both in the same game. Yankees stadium has a RF that rewards hitters just as Safeco does, and he seemed to be doing alright there.
by J0SER on Jan 14, 2012 2:35 PM EST up reply actions
creepy homegrown Yankees
hahahaha
The beard abides.
by Jason Kubel's Beard on Jan 13, 2012 9:43 PM EST reply actions
Between this and Kuroda....
…I guess you can delete the “Yankees will get pitching” post.
Good for Cashman.
by jdscott on Jan 13, 2012 10:17 PM EST reply actions
THIS IS BASEBALL
A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way. - SLC
by mhad on Jan 13, 2012 10:29 PM EST reply actions
Craziness!
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by McCutchenIsTheTruth on Jan 14, 2012 1:08 AM EST reply actions
But what do the M's do now?
Pineda looked like a younger version of Felix and now they have three guys, Smoak, Carp, and Montero. For 2 positions DH/1B. Unless you want to put Carp in LF, where their are a number of OF prospects. Put Ichiro on the bench, or put Montero behind the plate where by all accounts he’s terrible.
I don’t see how this works for the M’s.
by robert.sellers2 on Jan 14, 2012 1:56 AM EST reply actions
it works for the Ms because
Paxson AND Hultzen are viewed as “ready” (based on Hultzen’s AFL results). The Ms have a glut of pitching and no real impact bats close to ready. It’s dealing from a position of strength to get a need. Pineda also tired down the stretch and Montero’s bat is just too good. It will play in Seattle. I don’t like it from my fantasy perspective (as I own Montero), but in a pure baseball sense, the Mariners did pretty well in getting Montero. They shouldn’t have had to give up Campos, but the deal, in my eyes, works for them.
by JoelGuzman'sScout on Jan 14, 2012 2:57 AM EST up reply actions
Carp may not be the real deal, Smoak may be hurt
And Montero could potentially still catch once in a while (probably not, but you never know). There are plenty of ABs available for all three, even if you’re just talking 1B/DH. But there are a lot more if Wedge gets even minimally creative about maximizing the lineup. Carp can also platoon with Casper Wells in LF (Trayvon Robinson could use more time in Tacoma, though he’s also a useful defensive replacement / 4th OF since he can spell Guti in CF; none of the other cast-of-thousands LFs the M’s tried last year would be worth trying again, except maybe Halman, who is no longer with us.)
Meanwhile, Smoak is a switch hitter while Montero is still learning to hit tough RHP (a fact the Yankees did a good job of hiding when they called him up in September, putting him in only against pitchers he was likely to hit well), so there may be days when Montero is a bench bat waiting for a lefty reliever.
A think a bigger question / hole is 3B. Seager isn’t going to set the world on fire, but he’s a monster compared to Figgins (who is a monster of a completely different sort). That’s the spot that really needs an upgrade (if only Fielder was a Beltre-like 3B.)
by J0SER on Jan 14, 2012 2:51 PM EST up reply actions
good deal for the mariners bad deal for yankees and hears why yes yankees got power arm with a great fastball but power arms burn out fast and he playing in asmaller ballpark then the mariners play in . plus you our give up a young catcher who our hard to find in baseball .
by kwfords on Jan 14, 2012 2:54 PM EST reply actions
Pineda has the happiest pitchface I've ever seen
"Some guy on the net thinks I suck, and he should know - he's got his own blog." - Nick Hornby
"Lex clavatoris designati rescindenda est"
"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." - Albert Einstein
by Andrew T. Fisher on Jan 14, 2012 6:23 PM EST via Android app reply actions
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