Montero Traded to Scrubs, City Mourns

[FArting]

Trade is now official Dbacks trade Montero to Cubs for 2 players at Single A level

Jefferson Mejia and Zach Godley

 

[unseenaz]

Trade is now official Dbacks trade Montero to Cubs for 2 players at Single A level

Solely a salary dump move. Still a steal for the Cubs if they are ok with his salary.

 

[82CardsGrad]

Solely a salary dump move. Still a steal for the Cubs if they are ok with his salary.

A steal?? Paying an again catcher $13million a year who, for the past 2 seasons couldn't break an OPS of .700? A catcher who many claim has issues "managing" pitchers?? I guess in the land of the Cubs that could represent a "steal"...

One of the pitchers we got in return in an intriguing, 19 year old prospect (Jefferson Meija). Here was his scouting report when the Cubs picked him up last year:

The Cubs have signed Dominican righthander Jefferson Mejia for $850,000.
Mejia, 18, would have been eligible to sign last year, but Major League Baseball had an issue with his paperwork and declared him ineligible to sign until April. However, with teams mostly out of space remaining from their $2.9 million bonus pools from the 2012-13 signing period, it’s not surprising that Mejia waited until the beginning of the 2013-14 signing period to officially sign his contract. Mejia is now using an Aug. 2, 1994 date of birth.

Mejia was 6-foot-7, 190 pounds last year and was sitting in the high-80s fastball at the time, but now he’s listed at 220 pounds (although that might be a light estimate) and his fastball has jumped along with the increase in weight. While he was ineligible to sign, Mejia pitched at the Rays’ Dominican academy in January in the International Prospect League all-star game, where he showed a 90-93 mph fastball, a swing-and-miss changeup along with a solid curveball in the mid-70s. His athleticism also improved along with his strength, which helped him get in better sync with his delivery.

 

[82CardsGrad]

Here's more on Meija...Very young and very raw. But very intriguing as well:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...o-will-make-the-most-noise-this-season/page/6

 

[Matt L]

A steal?? Paying an again catcher $13million a year who, for the past 2 seasons couldn't break an OPS of .700? A catcher who many claim has issues "managing" pitchers?? I guess in the land of the Cubs that could represent a "steal"...

One of the pitchers we got in return in an intriguing, 19 year old prospect (Jefferson Meija). Here was his scouting report when the Cubs picked him up last year:

The Cubs have signed Dominican righthander Jefferson Mejia for $850,000.
Mejia, 18, would have been eligible to sign last year, but Major League Baseball had an issue with his paperwork and declared him ineligible to sign until April. However, with teams mostly out of space remaining from their $2.9 million bonus pools from the 2012-13 signing period, it’s not surprising that Mejia waited until the beginning of the 2013-14 signing period to officially sign his contract. Mejia is now using an Aug. 2, 1994 date of birth.

Mejia was 6-foot-7, 190 pounds last year and was sitting in the high-80s fastball at the time, but now he’s listed at 220 pounds (although that might be a light estimate) and his fastball has jumped along with the increase in weight. While he was ineligible to sign, Mejia pitched at the Rays’ Dominican academy in January in the International Prospect League all-star game, where he showed a 90-93 mph fastball, a swing-and-miss changeup along with a solid curveball in the mid-70s. His athleticism also improved along with his strength, which helped him get in better sync with his delivery.

The other guy is a single A reliever. Mejia is intriguing. That scouting report from MLB.com and his height and weight remind me of Michael Pineda. That said, he has a long way to go to make it to the show and Montero was still a good catcher in a league without a lot of good catchers. I think we could have received more. That said, here's to hoping Mejia becomes the next dominant starter!

 

[82CardsGrad]

The other guy is a single A reliever. Mejia is intriguing. That scouting report from MLB.com and his height and weight remind me of Michael Pineda. That said, he has a long way to go to make it to the show and Montero was still a good catcher in a league without a lot of good catchers. I think we could have received more. That said, here's to hoping Mejia becomes the next dominant starter!

Montero is owed $13 million a year for the next 4 years. There is no way we couldn't gotten "more"... His past 2 seasons he couldn't break an OPS of .700. Sorry man... He was a marginal catcher that is grossly overpaid.

 

[Dback Jon]

Trade is now official Dbacks trade Montero to Cubs for 2 players at Single A level

Jefferson Mejia and Zach Godley

 

[Dback Jon]

Miggy is sad on hearing the news. A.J. is feeling blah about it

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[thirty-two]

So who in the world is our starting catcher now? Tuffy? Yikes...

 

[unseenaz]

A steal?? Paying an again catcher $13million a year who, for the past 2 seasons couldn't break an OPS of .700? A catcher who many claim has issues "managing" pitchers?? I guess in the land of the Cubs that could represent a "steal"...

Can you read? or nah?

"if they are ok with his salary"

 

[overseascardfan]

Kendrick & Co need to save their pennies because they're gonna lose their shirts next year when no one comes to the games. I think ARZ is going to try and pull a PIT/KC by going on a 10 year streak of picking in the Top 5 and hope that those picks pan out and get them back in the playoffs by 2024.

 

[bleedblue44]

So who in the world is our starting catcher now? Tuffy? Yikes...

Cubs are said to be targeting Lesters personal catcher, Ross. If that happens Castillo will go on the trading block. Wouldn't that be an interesting swap. Where the trades were 2 separate ones to switch catchers

 

[82CardsGrad]

Can you read? or nah?

"if they are ok with his salary"

I don't care whether or not they are "ok" with the money. That doesn't matter. Miggy getting $40 million over the next three seasons can only be viewed as a "steal" if he were to find the fountain of youth and get back to hitting previous levels of batting average and OPS. $40 million for a guy who can't break .700 for OPS is most definitely not a steal - at $40 million!

 

[Chris_Sanders]

Kendrick & Co need to save their pennies because they're gonna lose their shirts next year when no one comes to the games. I think ARZ is going to try and pull a PIT/KC by going on a 10 year streak of picking in the Top 5 and hope that those picks pan out and get them back in the playoffs by 2024.

So were the contending next year with Montero? They are thinking 2 years from now and trying to get out from under as much under performing salary as possible.

In 2 years you wouldn't want to be paying Montero that money for a Mendoza level bat

 

[82CardsGrad]

So were the contending next year with Montero? They are thinking 2 years from now and trying to get out from under as much under performing salary as possible.



In 2 years you wouldn't want to be paying Montero that money for a Mendoza level bat

I didn't want to be paying that money to Miggy next season!

 

[Chris_Sanders]

Today I was just wishing we could have gotten them to take Cahill or Ross as well.

 

[PDXChris]

Roberto Pena may be our new catcher.

•There’s talk that the Diamondbacks might select Astros catcher Roberto Pena with the top pick, according to Jim Callis of MLB.com (via Twitter).

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2014/12/rule-5-rumors-mets-verrett-dbacks-pena.html

OK, maybe not.

 

[Phrazbit]

A few thoughts.

Montero was IMO obviously a statistically above average catcher, at least on offense.

I was no fan of Montero's contract and I think more can be made of 13 million, but with how dumb contracts are getting around the league its not like it was a catastrophe... yet. I think Montero could fall off a cliff as a hitter when his bat slows down.

I think Montero may have had the outward representation as a club house leader, but I also think he was the main source of "anonymous sourced" player quotes when he felt like undercutting a player he didn't like, such as Eaton and Bauer.

Speaking of Bauer, IMO Montero was about 99% of the reason the team soured on him. Montero made no secret about not buying into Bauer's formula for attacking hitters, Montero made it seem as though the guy was impossible to work with... now Bauer is in Cleveland, putting up the peripherals of a potential ace and probably worth about triple what Montero is in trade value. Well done Miggy. This also plays into Miggy's alleged inability to handle pitchers as a whole, which I think must be somewhat overstated because we've had some guys have great seasons while Miggy was here, but maybe its that some guys he clicks with, others he does not and basically ruins them... I don't really know.

Either way I wont miss him. I am glad he didn't go to LA though, I would have wanted to puke if he got a game winning hit or two against us.

Tacos Miggy. Tacos.

 

[TJ]

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Montero is being a WLB

 

[Shaggy]

This trade is looking better and better with the unsung hero Godly!

 

[Ronin]

ESPN Stats & Info‏Verified account@ESPNStatsInfo 5m5 minutes ago
ESPN Stats & Info Retweeted Buster Olney

Miguel Montero ranks 24th among active catchers in caught stealing percentage (26.8 pct). Leader is Yadier Molina (41.3 pct).

 

[Dback Jon]

Designated for Assignment!

Thanks for the Memories, Miggy. You made a lot of money, and helped the Cubs win a World Series.

 

[Ronin]

Ken Rosenthal‏Verified account@Ken_Rosenthal 4m4 minutes ago
Montero 0-for-31 throwing out base stealers, .805 OPS in 98 PAs. Owed balance of $14M. Caratini backup for #Cubs; poss starter for others.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

Designated for Assignment!

Thanks for the Memories, Miggy. You made a lot of money, and helped the Cubs win a World Series.

Wow...

 

[Ronin]

Miguel Montero‏Verified account@miggymont26 5m5 minutes ago
It was an awesome ride. Winning the World Series was simply fantastic. Thank you to my teammates - good luck to everyone of you.