“Sources” believe Jesus is coming

Now, much has been made about Montero’s defense and the reports are all over the place. ?Some state his defense is terrible, other’s say that it’s improving. BaseballAmerica is about to put their 2011 prospect rankings out and Montero’s upside is in line with Mike Piazza. Sign me up, please. ?So long as his defense is no worse than Posada’s declining receiving skills, that’s fine by me. I admire and respect Posada as much as Jeter and Mo, but the rigors of the position have clearly taken its toll.

Brien recently took a look at Montero’s value as a trade chip and Mark dug into Zack Greinke a bit too. ?Heck, Brien was asking for Montero earlier this season! We know the issues surrounding Greinke (noted anxiety problem, inclusion of Yanks and RedSox on his No Trade list), so that’s probably out. ?So aside from a guy like King Felix (ain’t gonna happen despite all of my bedside prayers), the Yanks don’t think there’s a guy out there to trade Montero for, right now:

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.”

There very well might be a group of pitchers worth trading for, but it takes two to tango… Unless you’re going to tell me that upper-echelon guys Adam Wainwright, Justin Verlander, Dan Haren, Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum are available, I’m OK with seeing what this kid can do. ?And for the record, I do not think any of those guys (aside from maybe Dan Haren) is even within the realm of possibility. ?I retain the right to be stunned, however.

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Potential Trade Chip: Jesus Montero

So will the Yankees trade Montero? They have reportedly made him available at least 3 times in the past year, twice for Cliff Lee and once for Roy Halladay, but that obscures as much as it reveals. Halladay and Lee are two of the very best pitchers in baseball, so the fact that the Yankees were willing to deal their best prospect for them isn’t exactly Earth-shattering news. It does, however, suggest something we should certainly know by now; Brian Cashman really values starting pitching, and to that end, if Montero is traded, it would almost certainly be for a starting pitcher.

Ultimately I think Montero’s fate with the organization will come down to how the team’s scouts see his defensive ability. If they think he can make it as a Major League catcher, at least until Teixeira’s contract expires and Montero could move to first base if need be, then I really doubt he goes anyway. The bat simply looks too good to trade that away. If, on the other hand, they don’t think he can catch, or will take too long to develop as a catcher, the team may be willing to move him now, while he hasn’t the highest trade value. The catch will be the return though. The team is set in the infield, getting a better catcher won’t happen, and I don’t see them trading for an outfielder or relief pitcher. So any trade for Montero would have to return a starting pitcher. A very good starting pitcher. And while nothing would really surprise me, I don’t see anyone who is particularly likely to be made available that the Yankees would be willing to part with Montero for.

In a vacuum, I’d put the odds of Montero being traded at almost 50-50 on the nose. Considering that the Yankees are pretty set roster wise, and would have to get a substantial return to make trading Montero worthwhile, I’d say it’s probably closer to 80-20 that Montero is still with the Yankees this Spring.

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