Jesus Montero: BA's hottest prospect of the week

Written by Greg Fertel | 29 May 2009

In my last post, I noted how hot Montero has been the past week, and here is what BA had to say about him in their latest Prospect Hot Sheet:

When the Yankees signed Jesus Montero to a seven-figure bonus in 2006 out of Venezuela, scouts were skeptical about his ability to remain at catcher. But right now, it doesn't look like it matters whether he can catch--his bat is that good.

While most 19-year-olds are either in low Class A or awaiting an assignment to a short-season club, Montero is pushing for a promotion to Double-A with his work at the plate. The track record of Latin American prospects signed to huge July 2 bonuses is filled with flameouts, but Montero looks like he'll be filed away in the success column.

That's a pretty big indication of Montero's hitting prowess, that they are already confident that he'll eventually be filed away as successful. This just verifies what we all know; Montero can hit.

Whether the defensively challenged Montero would remain behind the plate in the long term was his biggest question entering the season, and he has split time between catcher and DH. He's hit better when serving as the DH compared to when he has to play the field, but there doesn't seem to be much than can slow down Montero's bat.

That last part is interesting, and EJ Fagan over at The Yankee Universe noted the same thing:

Jesus Montero hit two more home runs last night while serving as Tampa's designated hitter. Those shots bring his season total as a DH to .415/.456/.789 with 14 extra base hits in just 73 at bats. As a catcher, Montero is down to .265/.351/.337. The Yankees have to be asking themselves at this point if keeping Montero at the position is hurting his development. Eventually, I think you have to try to guy on in left field.

I definitely don't agree with EJ on this. Montero has had around 80 ABs from each spot. That does not make a significant sample size. As I commented on their post, he showed a similar split last season, but not as drastic, while he was maintaining his ISOs. To me, it looks like he was a little luckier as a DH last season; this season, the sample is way too small from both DH and catcher to give it significant merit.

There's no reason to think that Montero will be an above average defensive outfielder, and having a catcher who can hit is one of the most valuable assets in baseball. The Yankees have been blessed with Posada over the past decade, and us, as fans, have taken an offensive catcher for granted(as we realized last year with Molina starting regularly). That being said, having a catcher who can hit for power and get on base is a tremendous asset and because of this, I think he should get every chance to prove he can be a mediocre defensive catcher. If he can do this, the Yankees have quite the prospect on their hands. I think that the Yankees agree with me here, and will give Montero a lot more time before deciding to move him off of Catcher.