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.