WOULD YOU BRING JESUS MONTERO BACK?

It's funny how things change over time. In 2011 we had a surplus of catching and we had the depth that other teams dreamed of. Now it is two years later and we don't have that big name catcher anymore and our prospects aren't ready. We also don't have our former top prospect, Jesus Montero. I don't like to look back and wonder about what could have been because it's done. Normally we wouldn't do that here....but in this case we are going to.

We wanted to know who you would bring back to the Bronx if you could go back in a time machine and change history. Considering all of the drama we have had related to out catching situation I wasn't surprised to see that Montero won the poll we made with 31 votes, you can read the rest of the results in BYB READERS WANT JESUS MONTERO BACK if you missed it. It really makes you wonder if he was still with the Yankees how the starting catcher race would look like right now. What role would Francisco Cervelli have? Or would Chris Stewart even be here?

Obviously, the starting  catching position is on everyones mind. If Montero was still here, would he be our starting catcher? Some say that he "can't catch" and maybe he isn't the best catcher out there, but he did pretty good for the Mariners last year. Montero did well offensively, but we always knew that was not a concern for him. In 515 at bats, Montero  had a .260BA and drove in 62 runs and hit 15 home runs. Considering that the Mariners have been starving for offense in recent years that is a huge help for their team. When the Mariners traded for him they were more interested in his bat than his defensive skills, he gave the team an offensive upgrade and he was a big contributor.

Defensively, Montero still needs some work but until he gets more time behind the plate no one will ever know if he can be a good catcher. Last year Montero caught in 56 games for the Mariners. It was probably a big adjustment for him. On paper, his 54 stolen bases allowed look troubling, and so does the 17% caught stealing rate but that could come in time. The stats didn't give him a Rookie of the Year award but he was durable for the team. The life of a catcher isn't easy, you get banged up a lot. So for him to be productive as a DH and a part time catcher was good for his development. Maybe he can expand on that in 2013, it will at least be interesting to watch.

There is a lot to like about Montero, we can see why a lot of people voted for him. I can't help but wonder how Montero would contribute to our team if he was still here. If he were here, maybe he would give some added confidence in our offense considering a lot of our big bats are not playing right now. No disrespect to Cervelli or Stewart, but they don't have the same kind of pop that he does. I think back to September of 2011 games where he hit his first home runs in the same game and then in a different game was just a triple short of the cycle. He had several highlights in a short amount of time here.

Maybe Montero would have excelled in New York, but since we can't go back in time I guess we will never know. For now we can sit and watch and see what happens for him in 2013. You guys definitely have the catching situation on the brain. Maybe your opinion has changed about the trade, maybe you like it and and maybe you don't. Either way, Montero's contributions have not been forgotten. If you could have a "re-do" would you bring him back? Comment and let us know!

--Jeana Bellezza, BYB Writer and Editor

Twitter: @NyPrincessJ




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