WHY IT'S MONTERO'S TURN

(Photo: AP)
For the first week or two of the season, it looked like everything would be fine with the DH and catching positions as they were. Jorge Posada was hitting for great power and Russell Martin was our best player. Then Jorge began to slump, while Martin continued to succeed, and rumors and rumblings suggested that maybe Jesus Montero should get a crack at the DH role. No one however thought to suggest that the role of catcher should be Montero's though. At the time, Russell Martin was red hot and there was no way he was moving.(Photo: AP)
But, oh how times have changed.

If you read WHY HE'S STILL HERE, you know that since the middle of May, Jorge is well over .300 despite he slow start. Russell Martin, who upon returning from his back injury picked up right where he left off, extending his slump to 1 for 28, dropping his season average to .232. To add insult to injury, he hit into two double plays and allowed 5 stolen bases today. (Although to be fair, the soft-throwing Freddy Garcia makes stealing bases a bit easier). Martin's season OPS is still a respectable .767, but most of that production can be attributed to his hot start. But in June, his OPS is a pitiful .311.

So, what am I suggesting? How about the coming of Jesus. Because it IS the month of June, the arbitration clock for minor-league call ups has been extended by a year, which gives all 30 teams one extra year of control over any prospects they call up to the majors. Last year the Giants waited until about this time to call up top prospect Buster Posey for that very reason. (Get well soon Buster.) This begs the question: What are the Yankees waiting for?(Photo: Getty)
Now, Jesus Montero's numbers have declined considerably since I last checked in on him. His average is down to .289, he's still hit only 4 home runs, is up to 10 doubles, 1 triple, and his OPS has settled at .741. This isn't the first time he's had a sub-par start though. In fact, last year it took him an incredibly torrid second half of the 2010 season to even get his average up to where it stands now. Odds are if he stays in AAA, his average will end up somewhere in the .300's and he'll hit about 20 home runs, knowing how they tend to come in bunches from him and how many he hit last post-July. So, even though his stats seem to be dipping, performance isn't really an issue with Montero thus far. Hell, it'd be nice if all our prospects were considered to be having a worse than normal year with a .289 average.

Montero was recently out of the Scranton-Wilkes Barre lineup for 4 consecutive games with an eye infection and returned Friday, when he went 0 for 4. He definitely needs to get back in his groove by playing a few more games, which is why this next part raised my eyebrows. Jesus was out of the lineup Saturday in what was called a routine day off. He entered the game late and pinch hit, walked and then exited the game. Ok, weird, but fine. Then Sunday, there was another catcher behind the plate. Why? What does it mean? Cashman said Montero has an eye infection and that's why he didn't play but I'm suspicious. Could it be that this is the call up us Montero fans have been waiting for? It could be a non-story and I'm over thinking it, but I have a gut on this one.

I'm not demanding we throw Martin in the garbage bin and not give him a chance to bounce back. I'm simply suggesting we bring Montero up to split time with him for a couple weeks. Make them co-starters and let Montero learn the ropes. We can have them compete with one another. Then, if he appears ready, give Jesus the starting spot. The question of when Russell would exit and Montero would enter has been looming all season, whether it was May, June, July, August, or even never, and it's getting to that point in time where any day could be the day he gets the call.

Look, Francisco Cervelli certainly hasn't done anything special outside that Grand Slam earlier in the season, and the fact that Frankie, a backup catcher, had the most errors of any AL catcher in 2010 and thus far in 2011, is frankly, a little embarrassing. Montero's defense has been brought into question, but certainly it couldn't be worse than Cervelli's has been, and if everything goes according to plan, he should be able to out-hit both Frankie and Russell.

Is demoting Cervelli to call up Montero out of the question? Or should someone like Lance Pendleton go down to make room for Jesus? I can't tell you how they'll do it, or if he'll get the call up, but there's no reason for him to be stuck down there any longer, in my opinion. I say his day is coming. What about you?




--Grant Cederquist, BYB Staff Writer

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