Montero's Future As Catcher?

Written by Greg Fertel | 09 March 2009

The other day, Peter Abraham wrote a piece on the prospects of Jesus Montero making the big leagues as catcher. According to Tony Pena and Joe Girardi, two excellent backstops in their own right, Montero has made significant strides at the position and realistically has a shot at one day calling the signals for the big league team. While others might believe Montero is more valuable as a hitting everyday catcher, I vehemently disagree. Montero is the Yankees #1 prospect for a reason: his hitting ability. Montero's power potential is enormous and in order to maximize that potential, I'd rather Montero make the big leagues as a DH so we don't have to worry about him breaking down and falling prey to injury. After all, the catching position is by far the most taxing position a baseball hitter plays. Why risk it? It's nice that he blocks balls better than anybody and loves catching, but no. He should DH hopefully when he makes it to the majors.

In other news, the Yankees sent J.B. Cox, George Kontos and Kanekoa Texiera down to minor league camp while optioning Andrew Brackman to Low-A Charleston. Barring injury, I think we will see Cox in the majors some time this year.

Speaking of Yankees catchers, Team Italy will be taking on Team Canada at 6:30 on MLB Network. Frankie Cervelli is on Italy's roster, and he might get in on all the fun. In the meantime, go Team USA!