The Official New York Yankees Thread

Cliffy6745 wrote:

Montero 5th on another top 100 prospect list.

5. JESUS MONTERO (C), YANKEES

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Age: 20 | Bats: R | Height: 6-4 | Weight: 225
2009 Stats: .337 AVG | 17 HR | 70 RBI | .389 OBP | 0 SB
Finished '09: Trenton (Double-A Eastern League)

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The Skinny: Can he catch? Yes. Will he catch? It doesn't matter much. His bat is that potent. Much debate surrounds Montero's ability to stick behind the plate, but the bat is going to be special. He has a potential 40-homer bat with the offensive upside of Miguel Cabrera. We could see the Venezuelan slugger as early as midseason in 2010 if all goes well in Triple-A.

http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2010/01/25/the- ... 2010-1-25/

singularity wrote:

Cliffy6745 wrote:

Montero 5th on another top 100 prospect list.

5. JESUS MONTERO (C), YANKEES

---

Age: 20 | Bats: R | Height: 6-4 | Weight: 225
2009 Stats: .337 AVG | 17 HR | 70 RBI | .389 OBP | 0 SB
Finished '09: Trenton (Double-A Eastern League)

---

The Skinny: Can he catch? Yes. Will he catch? It doesn't matter much. His bat is that potent. Much debate surrounds Montero's ability to stick behind the plate, but the bat is going to be special. He has a potential 40-homer bat with the offensive upside of Miguel Cabrera. We could see the Venezuelan slugger as early as midseason in 2010 if all goes well in Triple-A.

http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2010/01/25/the- ... 2010-1-25/

i don't like how they are writing off / underminding the importance of having a strong defensive catcher. or am i just reading this wrong?

sure the kid can hit, but you can't have every team running on the yank's pitchers night in night out.

neilybabes86 wrote:

singularity wrote:

Cliffy6745 wrote:

Montero 5th on another top 100 prospect list.

5. JESUS MONTERO (C), YANKEES

---

Age: 20 | Bats: R | Height: 6-4 | Weight: 225
2009 Stats: .337 AVG | 17 HR | 70 RBI | .389 OBP | 0 SB
Finished '09: Trenton (Double-A Eastern League)

---

The Skinny: Can he catch? Yes. Will he catch? It doesn't matter much. His bat is that potent. Much debate surrounds Montero's ability to stick behind the plate, but the bat is going to be special. He has a potential 40-homer bat with the offensive upside of Miguel Cabrera. We could see the Venezuelan slugger as early as midseason in 2010 if all goes well in Triple-A.

http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2010/01/25/the- ... 2010-1-25/

i don't like how they are writing off / underminding the importance of having a strong defensive catcher. or am i just reading this wrong?

sure the kid can hit, but you can't have every team running on the yank's pitchers night in night out.

totally but it did say he can catch

im sure they are working with him big time

Cliffy6745 wrote:

Sheets signs with A's and Nady with the Cubs. My oh my Damon, what have you done to yourself? I would say it's about time you come crawling back.

After four seasons and one championship, Johnny Damon won't be returning to the New York Yankees unless he slashes his asking price.

"I'm not having any discussions on him," general manager Brian Cashman said, according to MLB.com. "His abilities exceed the money that I have."

Cashman told the Web site that his priority is finding a right-handed bat for the outfield.

Damon, a left-handed hitter, batted .282 with a career-high tying 24 home runs and 82 RBIs, but he is 36 years old.

He earned $13 million last season. After back and forth in negotiations yielded little, ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney reported that the Yankees offered Damon a one-year deal last weekend. Now, they appear to be backing off.

"He's a valuable player that a lot of teams are talking to, I'm sure," Cashman said, according to MLB.com. "His abilities exceed my physical ability to keep my finances afloat."

The Yankees continuously lead the league in payroll, but there are indications that they aren't willing to go higher than their 2009 levels.

"I'll always try to get the budget pushed, but you're not always successful," Cashman said, according to the Web site. "The Steinbrenner family has been extremely generous for adding talent, but you can't do everything."

Boras and Damon are trying to engage the Detroit Tigers and Cincinnati Reds as possible alternatives, a baseball source told ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick.

Boras has been successful placing many of his clients in Detroit, and the addition of Damon in left field would allow the Tigers to give Carlos Guillen more at-bats at DH.

The Tigers traded leadoff hitter Curtis Granderson to the Yankees in December and lost No. 2 hitter Placido Polanco to the Phillies in free agency, so the top of their batting order is in a state of transition.

Cincinnati's outfield alignment currently consists of Jay Bruce in right field, Drew Stubbs in center field and Chris Dickerson in left. The Reds' leadoff hitters also ranked last in the major leagues with a .650 OPS in 2009.

The catch is, the Reds and Tigers don't appear to have much money left in the budget. Both clubs have been economizing this offseason, and that might be truer than ever now that Cincinnati has signed Cuban pitcher Aroldis Chapman and Detroit has added closer Jose Valverde. Both teams would probably have to get creative to make a run at Damon.