Happy Birthday Jesus Montero

by Freneau on Nov 28, 2011 10:21 PM EST in Events

Yankee "catcher" Jesus Montero turned 22 today. Montero emerged as one of the top rated prospects in baseball over the last three seasons, reaching #3 in Baseball America's rankings this last spring. (Of course, this would actually make him just #7 in the Royals system, Dayton Moore is that good.) In two seasons at AAA, Montero has hit .289/.351/.493. Last year in 69 PAs with the Yankees, he posted a .996 OPS.

Montero was famously almost traded to the Mariners for Cliff Lee. Supposedly. Allegedly. A few months later, he was frequently linked to the Royals as part of a Joakim Soria (mostly) or even a Zack Greinke trade (more rarely). It never happened.

Anyway, today was his birthday.

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I also thought he would be bigger.

Chunkier at the least.

Do these effectively hide my thunder?

by splitty on Nov 28, 2011 10:24 PM EST reply actions

I really wonder what Jayson Stark bought him.

I'm waiting for my wave of talent to arrive.

by mitchfreakingmaier! on Nov 28, 2011 11:25 PM EST via iPhone app reply actions

For some reason, after I read this, I immediately screamed

“MY PRECIOUSSSS” in my head, like Gollum.

…

I’m gonna go drink.

by KyleM on Nov 29, 2011 12:26 AM EST reply actions

It was also Jon Stewarts birthday

and way less importantly, mine

by Connor Moylan on Nov 29, 2011 1:24 AM EST reply actions

After 21 you don't get another birthday until 30

Regardless, the Yankees are cool and I want to know everything about them. Great post!

by YouDon'tPhaseMeGobble on Nov 29, 2011 1:40 AM EST via mobile reply actions

25 is the key age.

Insurance rates go down quite a bit.

- .-. ..- … – / – …. . / .—. .-. - .. . … …

by Jeff Zimmerman on Nov 29, 2011 9:17 AM EST up reply actions

True

by YouDon'tPhaseMeGobble on Nov 29, 2011 1:59 PM EST via mobile up reply actions

After 21 you get 25. After that you only get a birthday every 10 years. My point is no one should care about anybody elses 22nd birthday. That is unless they are a top prospect for the New York Yankees and you are a Kansas City Royals fan.

by YouDon'tPhaseMeGobble on Nov 29, 2011 2:04 PM EST via mobile up reply actions

I sorta fail to see the hype

The guy had less than an .850 OPS in AAA and seems unlikely to stay at catcher permanently…so can someone explain to me why he was a better prospect than Eric Hosmer and/or is a big deal?

by Yodazilla on Nov 29, 2011 8:35 AM EST reply actions

scouts loved him + fairly young + yankee

by Freneau on Nov 29, 2011 10:02 AM EST up reply actions

with the yankee part being the least important of the three by far...

dudes gonna rake

Fire Everyone

by billybeingbilly on Nov 29, 2011 3:45 PM EST up reply actions

the belief that Yankee prospects get overhyped by PR

Making watching baseball as fun as doing your taxes.
My Twitter feed.
Before getting tweaked, read up on regression.

by Matt Klaassen on Nov 29, 2011 5:21 PM EST via mobile up reply actions

the belief that Yankee prospects get overhyped by scouts

Is right up there with Selig deliberately trying to screw over [INSERT YOUR TEAM’S NAME HERE] and Obama not “really” being an American.

He also was hitting in very pitcher-friendly AA and AAA environments.

Making watching baseball as fun as doing your taxes.
My Twitter feed.
Before getting tweaked, read up on regression.

by Matt Klaassen on Nov 29, 2011 5:25 PM EST via mobile up reply actions

This reminds me

Is there any site that has easy comparisons between leagues? I usually look at B-R for the league-wide ERA and then statcorner for the park factor for the team I’m interested in (looks like Scranton Wilkes-Barre would be about MLB average, which is to say pitcher-friendly relative to the AL, Trenton closer to AL average). It seems like there ought to be a place that has everything, but I just haven’t found it. Anybody know of such a place?

by KSinDC on Nov 29, 2011 5:55 PM EST up reply actions