Praise Jesus: How Montero Can Save Seattle
(And How They Could Afford Him)
It isn't every day a top-five prospect is traded, but today is that day. Seattle, rejoice!
Sometimes a baseball trade just makes so much sense, you wonder why you're surprised at all when it's announced. That's exactly the case in last night's huge prospect swap between New York and Seattle.
Slugger Jesus Montero is almost universally considered the best offensive prospect in baseball today. The star of the Yankee farm system, he's been all but untouchable in trade talks because the price it would take to pry him away from New York would be unimaginably high: the Yankees would need a legitimate pitching stud to repair their creaky rotation.
The Seattle Mariners, perhaps the worst offensive team in baseball, desperately needed young bats for their rebuilding. But unlike most teams dying for offense, the Mariners could actually afford to pay such a high price for a hitter, because the Seattle Mariners, and maybe the Seattle Mariners alone, have a disgustingly rich collection of young arms in the minors, and most of them are ready to break out into MLB in the next eighteen months.
Montero's a known element: a power hitter who can probably remain at catcher, but whose bat is huge enough -- he's a near perfect-80 on the scouting scale -- that he'll be hitting cleanup and collecting All Star votes from right field, first base or designated hitter, anyway. He's exactly what Seattle HM Jack Zduriencik needed as he tries to build a long-term offensive machine, and he came much, much, much cheaper than Prince Fielder.
Pineda, of course, is also a premium player. One of the top ten prospects in baseball last season, the 6-7 righty was one of the few bright spots in a desolate Seattle season. His 9-10, 3.74 rookie line doesn't show his dominance. (The 1.10 WHIP and 173 strikeouts in 171 innings does a better job.) Assuming he can keep that delivery under control and remain injury-free (those of you who believe in the inverted-W danger might want to review some videotapes), Pineda will be an instant #2 in the Yankee rotation with a legitimate shot at unseating CC Sabathia a couple of years from now.
The Yankees have offensive power in spades, of course, and have no shortage of free agent money available to sign more if needed. And the Mariners, as we said, can absorb the loss of Pineda as few other teams could. Even after removing Pineda and prospect Jose Campos (also included) from their depth chart, Seattle still has three potential aces coming to back up King Felix in the next two years:
1) Danny Hultzen: Seattle's first round pick in 2011 is near MLB ready now, and with the removal of Pineda from the road, he's likely to see the majors this season. We'll get a deep look at him in Spring Training, but for now here's his prospect summary.
2) James Paxton: A tall Canadian lefty who came to Seattle in the 2010 draft after a media circus over his eligibility, Paxton is also only a step away from MLB, and should see at least a taste of action this year. A 1.85 ERA and 51 strikeouts in his first 39 AA innings shows you what he's capable of.
3) Taijuan Walker: Probably the most talented of the three, righthanded Taijuan Walker is also the furthest from MLB: 2013-2014 is his sweet spot. The first round pick in 2010 as a teenager, Walker mastered a devastating fastball-change combo at a young age. He struck out 113 in 97 A-level innings last year, and should move up to AA in 2012.
Oh, and if that's not enough, the Mariners have the third overall pick in the upcoming draft, which promises no shortage of interesting pitchers, including Harvard High School's Lucas Giolito, Stanford's Mark Appel and triple-digit threat Kevin Gausman from Louisiana State.
(Yes, we'll be covering these prospects soon.)
In all, there was only one team that needed Jesus Montero so badly and only one team who could afford to pay such a high price to get him.
And today he's a Mariner. We shouldn't be surprised.
