Looking back at the Baseball America list we see that next on the list is Jesus Montero. He is the number 4 prospect according to the list.
Jesus Montero - C - New York Yankees
Injury and Health
The concern with Montero is his height and weight will quickly push him from behind the plate. At 6-4 and over 230 pounds he is not long for the catcher spot. With Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira around for the long haul the corner spots are full. Perhaps a few years at catcher can be completed, but a corner outfield or DH spot seems like his future as long as he is in New York.
There were also some rumors he lied about his age when his bonus was dropped from $2 million to $1.65 million. Those rumors were denied, but no reason for the decrease in bonus was given.
Skill Set
Much like last week with Mike Stanton we are looking at a huge power bat. Much like Stanton though I'm not sure he has a great eye. His walk rate has been below 8 percent in the minors including his short time in Double-A.
He is more of a contact hitter in his approach though as he has a much better strikeout rate than someone like Stanton. He is striking out less than 16 percent since rookie league. This combination is similar to Brian McCann who walks 8 percent of the time and strikes out 14 percent. Montero has the power to be better according to BA who rates his power at an 80 out of 80.
We're talking about someone who should be hitting at least .300 with 30 homers, but the OBP might not be everything we would like. This really does make him a good comparison to McCann with more power. The problem is has he already outgrown the catcher spot and will he be more of a Pablo Sandoval who also had to leave the catcher position.
Montero takes batting practice:
Major League ETA and Conclusion
With only 181 PA at Double-A he has a ticket back to Trenton Thunder or even Triple-A Scranton with a solid spring to start 2010 and with the Yankees having no opening for him the rest of the year seams very unlikely. Jorge Posada is signed through the end of 2011 making next season even a stretch. This rules out Montero from drafts except in leagues with a minor league system.
