Brian Cashman spoke on a few different things yesterday, so I thought I’d weight in.
First up from LoHud (H/T RAB):
On yesterday’s starter :
“Everybody was like, ‘This guy looks like he can help us,’ ” Cashman said. “I’m not afraid to take a chance.”
Sounds about right. It’s Cashman’s job to find guys who are going to help the Yankees win and for at least one day, he did that. I’ll say it again, the Yankees don’t hate their prospects.
On prospects and the catching situation:
The GM said he doesn’t want to rush prospects before their time.
Cashman was brutally honest as usual when it came to the backup catcher situation. is back in the lineup after missing seven of the last eight games. , who has struggled offensively and defensively, had subbed for him. Cashman wants top catching prospect Jesus Montero to play. That’s why he isn’t being brought up to back up Martin and get occasional DH at-bats.
“Is Montero better than Cervelli? Yes he is,” Cashman said.
I agree with Cashman on Montero. I’ve said all along that the only way I’d like Montero to be on the Yankees in 2011 is if he is going to play every day. Right now, I don’t see that happening unless Russell Martin aggravates his back enough that it requires time spent on the disabled list. While it would be nice for Montero to get tutelage at the Major League level, his bat needs constant PAs to keep his development up. The problem, of course, is that barring the aforementioned DL time for Russell Martin, it’s unclear when Montero will get everyday playing time with the Yankees. We could assume next year, but is that a safe bet? Martin still has an arbitration year left before free-agency and has played well. They could always trade Martin in the offseason. If he continues his re-establishment of a high level of play, the Yankees could sell high on him and transition Montero into the starting role. If Martin doesn’t play “well enough” for the rest of the year, the Yankees could move him to the backup role next year with Montero starting. Of course, the Yankees could always trade Montero, but I’m of the opinion that trading him isn’t likely to happen. Why? Because the types of players you trade him for are not likely to be available. Montero is a “for-top-talent-only” guy. I don’t see any top talent becoming available soon. If Russell Martin plays well for the rest of the year and Jesus Montero heats up with the bat, the Yankees are going to have some tough decisions to make regarding 2012. Frankly, I hope they have that problem if you catch my drift.
EDIT, 11:17 AM:
Friend of the blog just pointed
@mimbro1 you didn’t mention the possibility of Montero getting everyday ABs this season or next with a Posada injury/departure.
Next year, I highly doubt we’ll see Jorge Posada in pinstripes anymore. That, of course, will open up plate appearances for Jesus Montero. It may not be perfectly desirable to have a player so young at DH, but as long as it gets Montero’s bat in the lineup, I’m okay with it. If Russell Martin is back with the team, this could solve two problems: Montero could DH most of the time and catch when Martin needs a day off. This could keep a good bat and glove in the lineup in the person of Martin and allow a (probably) good bat in Montero to stay in the lineup while being eased into catching duties and saving wear-and-tear on him for 2013 and beyond when he, hopefully, is the full time catcher.
From via MLBTR:
Cashman said he hasn’t looked into the possibility of acquiring but will eventually. “I know he’s struggled,” he said. #yankees
I’ve been toying this idea around in my head for the last day, wondering if Kazmir is worth a shot. Of course he is. Everyone is worth a shot on a minor league deal. I know some people might cringe at the idea, but I’ll refer to what I wrote about the Yankees having contact with this offseason:
a GM’s gotta do what a GM’s gotta do. It would’ve been irresponsible for Yankee GM Brian Cashman to not at least look into the idea of re-acquiring Pavano.
It wouldn’t be franchise altering to bring in Scott Kazmir, but buried under all the awfulness of this season, there’s still talent there (somewhere) and that’s worth at least a thought. I’m not advocating the Yankees go out and sign Kazmir to an MiL deal ASAP, but they should see if he’s interested.
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“Everyone is worth a shot on a minor league deal.”
Indeed, but yet we hear so much complaining about supposedly awful players getting signed to them. If they were expected to be any good,they would get a major league deal, you guys (sorry, my inner Karl Welzein couldn’t resist).
I agree with those who think they could have brought up Montero and given him a lot of ABs. I think they could have done that a while ago, and our offense would have been better than it has been.
The idea is to win as many games as possible-having Cervelli play as many games as he has lowers that possibility. Having Jorge as the full time DH does the same.
As for Montero’s numbers so far this year, he’s already put up good numbers at AAA. I think using only his numbers for the first half of this year for him while using the past several seasons for guys like Swisher is inconsistent. Montero has shown he can hit, and it’s highly unlikely he’s going to be much worse than Cervelli defensively.
I think using only his past numbers and not his current numbers is irresponisble. Everyone loves a great prospect, and Yankee fans have been starving for one, but to ignore obvious holes in his offensive game is irrational. Montero has pretty much been limited to singles all year long, on top of that he has shown real lack of understanding of the strikezone. If he comes up swinging at everything as he currently is doing he is going to struggle mightily. Right now I wouldn’t be comfortable with him batting against anything but lefties, and that simply isn’t enough playing time for someone who clearly has growing to do at the plate. I also feel he is worse than Cervelli as a blocking catcher, and that’s saying something since Frankie isn’t the best blocker in the world. One huge advantage Frankie has is his game calling. No Yankee pitcher has ever complained about that part of his game, and from the first day he got here he has been praised for his handling of the pitching staff.
I think it would be a giant mistake to throw Montero in behind the plate until we have to. He currently isn’t forcing anyones hand with the bat, and as long as he is showing growing pains in Scranton both offensively and defensively he needs to stay in triple A.
Yes the idea is to win as much as possible, but we can’t be so overzelous that we retard the development of a top prospect. Montero has serious work to do behind the plate, and honestly I still believe he has quite a bit of work to do with pitch recogintion, and understanding and controling the strikezone. Would he add more wins than Cervelli? I think he probably would, but I don’t think it would be enough of a difference to warrant the callup, and set his development back. I also think there is a chance he could be called up and he could do worse than Cervelli. When he gets the call he is going to be the most scrutinized rokie in baseball, and if he struggles defensively out of the gate I think that the pressure to do more than he is capable of on both sides of the ball could in turn could cause his at bats to go badly. Because of that I think he could end up being a black hole in the lineup and a defensive liability.
The notion that he is going to come up, be ok behind the plate, and mash is very presumptive, and I think it’s just as likely he would be sent back down with his tail between his legs.
Do not get me wrong I think Montero has a bright future ahead of him, I just don’t think now is the right time to turn on the bulb.
I also don’t see how Posada is hurting the team at DH at the moment, in his 9 game hitting streak he is hitting well over .400, and for the entire month of June he has been a plus in the lineup.
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