A TRAGIC DEATH FOR JESUS MONTERO

Jesús Montero, once hailed as one of baseball’s most can’t-miss prospects, has died at the age of 35 in his native Venezuela.

The New York Yankees confirmed the heartbreaking news in a statement on Sunday, saying, “The Yankees are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Jesús Montero. We send our sincerest condolences to his family and loved ones.”

According to Venezuelan sports outlets, Montero had been involved in a serious traffic accident several weeks ago. 

Montero’s talent was undeniable from the start. Signed out of Venezuela by the Yankees as a teenager, he made his professional debut in 2007 at just 17 years old. His bat quickly turned heads across the minors. As MLB Trade Rumors noted:

“Montero is best known for having been one of the league’s most elite prospects in the early 2010s. Signed out of Venezuela by the Yankees as an amateur, Montero made his pro debut in 2007 at the age of 17. His second professional season saw him break out at the Single-A level, where he hit .326/.376/.491 with 17 homers and 34 doubles in 132 games. That strong performance earned Montero plenty of attention prior to the 2009 season, when he became a consensus top-50 prospect in the sport.”

The expectations were sky-high. Montero’s power in Triple-A — 21 home runs and a .517 slugging percentage in 2010 — made him the Yankees’ next supposed superstar, the heir apparent to the team’s aging core. But the raw numbers didn’t translate to big-league success.

After a trade to Seattle for pitcher Michael Pineda, Montero’s career took a sharp turn. His tenure with the Mariners was marked by inconsistency, diminished production, and a now-infamous 2014 incident in which he reportedly tried to confront a team scout during a minor league rehab game.   

Seattle eventually waived him in 2016, and while Montero had short-lived stints with the Blue Jays and Orioles organizations, his once-promising major league career never found its footing again.

Montero’s story — from prodigy to tragic figure — is a sobering reminder of how unpredictable baseball can be. For all the hype, the magazine covers, and the scouts’ glowing projections, the game still humbles even its most gifted players.

Jesús Montero was only 35. Gone far too soon, but forever remembered by Yankee fans who once believed they were watching the rise of a star.

JESUS MONTERO & THE ALMOST ALL-STAR

Once upon a time in the Yankees’ farm system, there was a thunderous bat that made scouts’ jaws drop and pitchers sweat: Jesús Montero. With the kind of raw power that drew comparisons to hitting legends like Manny Ramirez and Miguel Cabrera, Montero looked like the next big Bronx Bomber. But for all the fireworks at the plate, there was a catch—literally. His defense behind the dish was...well, let’s just say, less than gold glove-worthy. Some scouts doubted he'd stick at catcher at all, predicting his size would push him out of the squat sooner rather than later.

Still, the Yankees rolled the dice. On September 1, 2011, Montero got the call to the bigs. His first 18 games looked like a Hollywood debut: a .328 batting average, four home runs, and 28 RBIs. He burst onto the scene as a designated hitter at Fenway Park—no pressure—and soon became the first 21-year-old rookie since Manny himself to mash two home runs within his first five games. Yankees fans had stars in their eyes.

But just as quickly as the legend began, it hit a snag. With the team desperate for pitching, and Montero’s position still a question mark, the Yankees flipped their shiny new slugger to Seattle in a high-profile swap for Michael Pineda in the 2011-12 offseason. Part of the reasoning? The Yankees were already sitting on a stockpile of catching prospects like Austin Romine and a young Gary Sánchez, and Montero’s glove never quite caught up with his bat.

Unfortunately, the move to Seattle marked the beginning of Montero’s rapid unraveling. His promise dimmed under performance struggles, weight issues, and then the real kicker: PED suspensions.

The Downfall: Two Strikes, You’re Out

• Strike One (2013): Montero got a 50-game suspension for his role in the infamous Biogenesis scandal—the same Florida clinic that took down a chunk of MLB’s elite for performance-enhancing drugs.

• Strike Two (2016): He was hit with another 50-game suspension for testing positive for DMBA, a banned stimulant. At this point, the comeback trail had become a steep cliff.

By the time the dust settled, Montero had quietly played his final MLB game on October 3, 2015. Despite the fireworks early on, his career ended not with a bang, but a whimper. Official retirement came soon after—a sad, cautionary tale of potential unfulfilled and power squandered.

--Alvin Izzo
BYB Yankee History Contributor

UPDATE ON PINEDA... JUST BECAUSE

Michael Pineda is with the Twins now.

Photo: SI.com

I've always rooted for this guy because when we traded with the Mariners and got him for Jesus Montero all those years ago, Pineda was supposed to be the next big thing.  Well he wasn't exactly. Then he got hurt... and then the Twins grabbed him, and there we have it.

Here's a Pineda update, brought to us by MLB Trade Rumors... just because. What happens next is cute.

(Frank Franklin II/AP)

"...the Twins have a few other pitchers whose injury situations bear watching. Among them is Michael Pineda, who is also working back after receiving a fresh ulnar collateral ligament. Minnesota placed a $10MM bet on his ability to get back to the mound and provide value late this year and (mostly) in 2019. Pineda, Berardino writes, has just begun a throwing program. He says it "feels great' to be throwing again, though of course this is just one step in a laborious process. Pineda’s surgery took place in the middle of July of last year, so he’s well behind May in the process."

Now "feeling great" is Pineda's go-to. We've seen it for years in New York.

Back in 2013...
(Newsday)

"'Feeling great tonight,' Pineda said after pitching for the Class-A advanced Tampa Yankees in Florida State League play against the Brevard County Manatees at Steinbrenner Field. "

He down graded to only feeling "very good" in September 2015:
(NJ.com)

"'I feel very good right now and everything is working good so sometimes you have a good game, sometimes you have a bad game,' he said."

Photo: New York Post

And in May of 2017:
(Newsday)

"'We feel great when the rotation is doing its job,' Pineda said. 'We work to every day give the team the opportunity to win a big game.'”

Whatever the case... I still like Pineda and pulling for him.  I hope he has a great season with the Twins.  He needs that.

And by the way... Jesus Montero? Hasn't been on a pro field since the Seattle Mariners in 2015.  In the 2017-2018 season he plays for the Cardenales de Lara. 

Venezuelan Winter League.  I found that interesting.

STARTING PITCHING: A HISTORICAL YANKEE BLUNDER

Photo: New York Daily News

Okay, maybe not a blunder but it certainly hasn't been a "win" for the Yankees when it comes to recent free agent signings. It's certainly not exciting but it is accurate. Think about it...

The last time the Yankees decided to spend big money on starting pitching was the year we last won the World Series. Not to say that we need to spend big again on a starter or two to win, but we haven't made a big splash on a starter since.

Now do you miss the days of not only CC Sabathia but AJ Burnett? Yeah, there is a name you haven't heard in a while.

The Yankees haven't signed any big name starters since and have since signed one or two guys that they expected to make significant contributions to the rotation. Going back this far is going to sound like a history lesson but maybe it's an important one. Maybe the Yankees are about to do it again?

2009-10: Yankees acquire Javier Vazquez (again)
The Yankees reunited with Vazquez for a second time with Boone Logan after trading with the Braves. The Yankees were getting him back when his stock was high. Some baseball experts considered him to be one of the best starters in the game and was coming off one of his best seasons. It didn't continue with the Yankees though. I still remember the bad appearances, the 10-10 record with the bullpen demotion and the eventual release after the season ended.

2010-11: Yankees lose out on Cliff Lee
And now it doesn't seem so bad. At the time it sucked but the Yankees signed veteran pitchers Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia to minor league contracts but it paid off big. At the time Ivan Nova was a rookie and had an impressive year. The Yankees got results out of three unexpected arms that helped them win the division.

Photo: New York Daily News

2012-13: Aces and failures
Yankee fans were happy to have Andy Pettitte and Hiroki Kuroda return but even back then the Yankees were trying to get under the luxury tax so their pitching additions stopped there and so did their postseason success. The lack of depth with CC's struggles and Phil Hughes failures ultimately made the miss the postseason for the first time in five years. Pitching wins (or looses) ballgames. You can never have enough pitching.....

Photo: NJ.com

2015-16: A risky move
With no rotation improvements the Yankees try to bolster the bullpen to make up for their starting weakness. The idea of a super bullpen of Aroldis Chapman, Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller didn't work as hoped though. The lackluster performances of Nathan Eovaldi, Ivan Nova, Michael Pineda and Luis Severino's sophomore slump doomed the Yankees. The offense didn't score enough runs so the super bullpen fell flat and Chapman was traded. The Yankees also sat home in October for the third time in four years.

Photo: Getty Images

2016-17: Saving it for the end
Chapman came back to the Yankees as a free agent but once again the Yankees made improvements to the bullpen while the starting rotation was still in need of help. Finally in July they traded for Sonny Gray and Jaime Garcia which helped the Yankees get within one game of a World Series berth.

(Photo by Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire)

Garcia will be long gone, but Gray is back to see what this season will bring. If history teaches us anything it's that if we don't land a starter before spring training kicks off it's "normal" for the Yankees and it's not time to panic. There's still time though. Just like Cashman says the market could change and a deal can still be done.

Anything is possible, but if a deal doesn't happen the Yankees still have a long season and a lot of pieces to pull off a successful season. History doesn't scare me. We've still got this.

--Jeana Bellezza
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @nyprincessj

THIS GUY COULD BE THE NEXT YANKEE PITCHER

Photo: Getty Images

I can't believe it is September already, and soon we will be writing about signings and rumors, not games. I am going to milk what is left of this last bit of baseball but rumors are already out there. The Yankees will have to address the starting rotation during the off-season and we will need at least one if not two more starters and they are wasting no time.

(Sept. 18, 2017 - Source: Adam Hunger/Getty Images North America)     

If we assume that CC Sabathia does not sign a new deal with the Yankees and Masahiro Tanaka opts out of his contract and plays elsewhere and Michael Pineda is likely done in a Yankees uniform too. The Yankees have some serious holes to fill. As always the Yankees will be tied to the big free agent pitchers in the off-season like Yu Darvish and Jake Arrieta but I don't think the Yankees will sign either one of those guys. I see the Yankees going after a more affordable option to help solidify the back of the rotation.

(Sept. 9, 2017 - Source: Adam Glanzman/Getty Images North America)     

Enter familiar AL East opponent Alex Cobb. We have seen Cobb many times in a Rays uniform but he may trade uniforms and stay in the AL East. The Yankees are rumored to be interested in him and on paper he makes sense. He could be a great back end starter and he is battle tested in our division. At first, I was not sold on the idea of Cobb in a Yankee uniform, but now I think I am surprisingly.

Just like anyone else, Cobb would come with some concern. This was his first season back after Tommy John surgery, but he hasn't missed a start. His ground ball rate was good before surgery and now it has dropped but it's still respectable. When hitters make contact they seem to be hitting him harder and that is proven by his career high 21 home runs allowed this year but, with more work now that he is healthy and some good coaching the Yankees could really make him a reliable back end guy.

I like the idea of Cobb for a few reasons.

Photo: Getty Images

1) He's consistent and has the experience. He has a 3.63 ERA this season and a career 3.49 ERA and he is an innings eater. Despite this is his first year back from surgery he has still pitched 173 innings and has a winning record. He hasn't missed a start all season long and he knows how to pitch in the AL East.

2) By some of his numbers you can argue this is a down season for him. If an 11-10 season with a 3.63 ERA is a down season then he is doing pretty damn well and there is room for improvement. Based on what he has done this season I think he will only get better as he gets further away from his surgery and maybe going to a competitive team in the AL East will light that fire under him to win more games.

Photo: Getty Images

3) Cobb is still pretty young. He's about to turn 30 years old. He still fits in with the Yankees vision of getting younger. He still has a few years left of peak or close to peak performance. As long as the Yankees don't overwork him and he stays healthy Cobb could continue to be an innings eater.

4) He fits the Yankees spending plans. The Yankees are still determined to get under that luxury tax. He will still cost a nice chunk of change, but the Yankees would be able to afford him and not break the bank unlike with the other big names.

I think Cobb comes with some risk, but also some potential high reward. There are certainly other targets out there like Shohei Otani but they don't have the affordable price tag. Pretty soon Cobb is going to be one of the most popular free agents this season and many teams will be trying to sign him. It will be interesting to see if the Yankees decide to make a serious offer, or just drive up the price.

Would you take a chance on Cobb?



--Jeana Bellezza

BYB Managing Editor 
Follow me on Twitter: @NYPrincessJ

PINEDA & BIRD GO UNDER THE KNIFE...

And not at the same time, because that would be weird.

(April 12, 2017 - Source: Elsa/Getty Images North America)     

But it is the same day. Today.

That's right, both Greg Bird and Michael Pineda will have season ending surgery.  For Bird it's his ankle. For Pineda, it's Tommy John surgery.

ESPN has the Bird info:

(April 6, 2017 - Source: Patrick Smith/Getty Images North America)

"...he will need surgery to remove a bone in his foot.  After missing all of 2016 following shoulder surgery, Bird has played in only 19 games this season, batting only .100.

'It's really tough to get on track when you missed two really whole years,' Girardi said before the Yankees lost 4-2 to the Twins Monday."

And then there is Pineda, and the New York Daily News has that:

Photo: Getty Images

"Michael Pineda’s career in pinstripes may be over as the righthander will undergo Tommy John surgery on Tuesday in Cincinnati, the Yankees announced on Monday afternoon.

Pineda received the initial recommendation to receive the season-ending surgery, but it was confirmed Monday by Reds medical director Dr. Timothy Kremchek, the team said.

The starter has a partial tear of the UCL in his right elbow and a flexor tendon strain...."

All of it sucks, and the Yankees just keep slowing down due to losses, injury, and surgery all over the place.  You gotta wish these guys well, but to be honest, things just keep getting worse, not better.

Get well soon.

CHANCE COULD HAVE A CHANCE

Photo: Presswire

We knew it would happen, it was just a matter of when.

Good news in Yankeeland, even though Michael Pineda is hurt.  Chance Adams could have an opportunity to play with the Bombers.  This comes from our pal Jack Curry from YES who just tweeted this:

Cashman said Chance Adams "could be" an option to join rotation. For now, Yanks are using Mitchell in Sunday DH and will add Cessa vs Minn.

— Jack Curry (@JackCurryYES) July 14, 2017

We will keep an eye on this for you.  For now, cross your fingers...

ANOTHER ONE... PROBABLY... BITES THE DUST

(Elsa/Getty Images) 

Michael Pineda has a torn elbow... how you doing?

The New York Post writes:

"Michael Pineda has been diagnosed with a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow and is headed to Tommy John surgery, general manager Brian Cashman said Friday on a conference call.

Pineda is getting a second opinion, Cashman added. Surgery would keep Pineda sidelined possibly until 2019. The 28-year-old will become a free agent after this season, meaning his stint in pinstripes is likely over."

We already have enough trouble in the starting rotation.

Sure... kick me while I'm down.

THANKS FOR THE HE-MAN, BRIAN...

"Ji-Man is a He-Man! Oh boy, oh Choi!"

Photo: Getty Images

So went John Sterling's home run call for Ji-Man Choi's first hit as a New York Yankee,  a 457-foot two-run mortar round to the right field bleachers that, according to the Daily News, "even astonished slugger Aaron Judge."

"That was awesome. You see how far he hit that ball?” said Judge, who also homered in the Yankees’ 7-6 loss to the Jays. “That was incredible. He had some good at-bats. He was battling. He just kept putting the ball in play, and there’s nothing more you can ask for.”

“I’m happy with the start I had,” Choi said after the game. “I’m looking forward to building on what I did.”

(July 4, 2017 - Source: Jim McIsaac/Getty Images North America)     

When informed of MLB's Statcast distance for the return trip he'd sent Jays starter Marco Estrada's  fastball on, Choi simply said: "As long as it goes over the wall, it all counts the same.”

Choi made solid contact in all four of his plate appearances, just missing a likely single on a hard comebacker in the sixth inning off reliever Aaron Loup.

"He did fine. He had good at-bats,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "He hit a ball hard off a lefty, as well, up the middle. If it’s not kicked by the pitcher, it’s probably another base hit.”

Photo: Getty Images

Choi, who was brought up from the Triple A RailRiders on Tuesday to replace the now twice-cut Chris Carter, became the seventh different first baseman to start for the Yankees this season, and  joined Clint Frazier as the second Yankee to homer in his pinstripe debut this week.

Whether Choi is just a bridge until the return of the injured Tyler Austin, a placeholder until a deadline deal can be made for someone outside the organization or an unexpected diamond in the rough who  turns out to be the Yankees' first baseman the rest of the way  this season, nobody can say for certain right now.

All I know for sure is I wrote THIS on Monday, the next day the Yankees bounced Carter and brought up Choi, and the day after that Choi stepped right into his new role, didn't make an error and  made a major contribution to a gritty team comeback.

It's really gratifying when your team responds to your fan mail so promptly. It almost makes you feel like they're actually listening to you.

Hmm.

"Dear Brian, Thank you for the Ji-Man call up. So far so good.

(Source: Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images North America)    

"When you have a minute or two to spare, I've got some thoughts about Michael Pineda..."

--Barry Millman
BYB Writer
Follow me on Twitter: @nyyankeefanfore

THE WHEELS ARE COMING OFF THE YANKEE ROTATION

Source: Elsa/Getty Images North America

"Michael Pineda has Cy Young-caliber stuff.

"His fastball. His slider. His changeup. All potentially dominant pitches.

"CC Sabathia knows it. Pineda knows it, too.

“I always come in and say this is the year he’s going to win the Cy Young,” Sabathia said Tuesday. “He’s got so much talent, and he just needs to put it all together but he’s right there.”

"Told of Sabathia’s praise a day later, Pineda laughed and smiled. “Yeah, I know I have that ability,” he said."

Those were the days, huh? That was the Daily News, folks.

(June 6, 2017 - Source: Elsa/Getty Images North America)     

Those days were only four months ago, to be exact, and if you were buying it then congratulations. Your official pinstripe rose-colored glasses should be in the mail to you right about now.

That was pretty bold talk from both CC and Big Mike after three seasons that saw the latter go 23-27 with a 4.10 ERA and coming off a year he went 6-12 with a 4.82 ERA while coughing up 27 dingers.

Source: New York Daily News

Of course, there were those 207 strikeouts over 175 innings to dream on. Like AJ Burnett before him, the stuff to make bats miss has always been part of Mike's resume. And also like Burnett, there's always been a scary instability  to blow up like a vial of fulminated mercury at a moment's notice in his makeup as well.

In this, his walk year, though, he's proving to be who he always was: Burnett.

Burnett's Yankee years: 34-35  4.79 ERA  99 starts

Pineda's Yankee years: 30-30 4.01 ERA 86 starts

(May 21, 2017 - Source: Elsa/Getty Images North America)     

Following Sunday's four-inning, seven-run stink bomb that once again saw the Yankees' bullpen burned up in a losing effort, per the Post's Joel Sherman: "Girardi said he “didn’t want to make a bigger deal than it is” about Pineda’s poor pitching because the manager described it as “the first time” that the righty did not do well in minimizing damage this year. But after the first two months, when he was 6-2 with a 3.32 ERA, Pineda went 1-2 in June with a 5.85 ERA and .316 average against."

"This dichotomy played to who Pineda has been as a Yankee — the stuff is there to tease that consistent excellence is possible. But the track record is pretty well established that Pineda will not sustain that level. His constant is inconsistency.

"And these Yankees really do need the best version of Pineda for 2017 to be more than just seeing silver linings.

"Luis Severino and Jordan Montgomery actually have been the Yankees’ best starters. But it should be remembered that they have never pitched a full major league season in a rotation, and that both probably have innings caps to which the Yankees will adhere.

"That duo won the Nos. 4 and 5 jobs in spring with the Yanks hoping Masahiro Tanaka, CC Sabathia and Pineda could form a sturdy top 3. Sabathia is on the DL, though getting closer to a return. Tanaka had a terrific start Friday, and the Yankees want to believe again that is a trigger — with him working up in the zone a little more with his fastball — that top-of-the-rotation results will regularly follow.

"And then there is Pineda, who Sunday became the first Yankees starter in 2017 not named Tanaka to allow three homers in a game. The skill is in there, but his June of bad start, good start, bad start, good start, bad start felt like a familiar one-step-forward, one-back pattern for him while in pinstripes.

"The Yankees could conceivably try to upgrade the rotation by promoting Chance Adams or finding a trade. But that would mean counting on another youngster and/or unearthing an available quality rotation arm and being able to complete a trade for it when other contenders, notably the Astros, will be hunting the same species.

"For now, the rotation you see is the rotation you get. Which means the Yankees remain in that most uncomfortable of positions — needing to depend on the undependable Michael Pineda."

In other words, this team needs more than a trade and a Chance to fix what ails its rotation if it hopes to lock up the division and make a deep, meaningful run at a ring.

It needs to be rebuilt from the top down.

That'll be costly and not likely compatible with the season's primary objective of constructing a self-sustaining  winning franchise for the future.

Quality pitching is never more expensive than it is at the trade deadline. And as much as I've been a believer in going all in this year when there was still a chance to bury the competition, some poor luck combined with some poor arms management in the dugout have combined to allow too many wounded rivals to recover from early knockout blows and get back into the postseason race.

Now with injuries piling up for the Yankees, their flawed rotation exposed and burning up their bullpen and blunting their momentum, and innings limits looming for their only two remaining "dependable" starters (an ironic and bittersweet label for the back end of the Opening Day rotation), I'm just hoping  Brian and Hal aren't persuaded by public pressure to deviate from their original blueprint and will only make deadline moves that make sense for the future.

If that means Brian dusting off his for-sale sign again and collecting more trade chips by dealing short-timers like Pineda and others instead of renting some for a playoff run, so be it.

I'll still enjoy the stretch run just as much as I did last year's after everyone wrote this team off. That's because the more invested in the future this team gets, the more they refuse to give up, entertain and surprise. That's why this team has been so much fun to watch this season.

They're already winners. We want a winner that lasts though, not another one-and-done batch of band-aids.

--Barry Millman
BYB Writer
Follow me on Twitter: @nyyankeefanfore