The Mets should go after Jesus Montero

Montero is ready for a new team

While it isn't official yet, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, the Seattle Mariners have placed catcher Jesus Montero on waivers, taking him off the 40 man roster.

Montero has been with the Mariners organization ever since the club acquired him in the Michael Pineda deal four years ago. He had once been a top prospect in the Yankees organization, ranking #5 on Baseball America's prospect list from 2010, but quickly fizzled out when he made the transition to Seattle.

Whether it be off the field issues such as weight gain, or injury issues, Montero has struggled mightily in his 5 year major league career. In 2012, his only full season as a starter, the 26 year old backstop hit .260 with 15 HR for a Mariners team that was desperately searching for a long-term catcher.


Since that point, he has found himself with the Tacoma Rainiers, Seattle's Triple-A squad, on multiple stints. This past season, he logged 430 plate appearances with this team, and hit an astonishing .355 with 18 HR and 85 RBI. With the major league team, however, he hit a weak .223 with 5 HR in 38 games.

That begs the question: Is Jesus Montero a Quadruple-A player?

Seattle thought they were getting a cornerstone piece

Now, by definition, a Quadruple-A player is essentially someone who excels at the top levels of the minor leagues, but fails to perform positively at any level in the major leagues. There are dozens of these players in today's game, and it is a mystery as to why they have so much difficulty with the adjustment.

So, as for the question, I am going to say that he has not reached that point yet. I have always liked Jesus Montero, mainly because you can't find too many catcher's in today's game that know how to swing the stick. He turns 27 in November, so he still has provides plenty of youth, but it is doubtful that he becomes a full-time regular at this stage in his career.

The Mariners have no use for him as they currently have former 1st round pick Mike Zunino behind the dish, and is light-years ahead of Montero defensively. It is also evident that Mariner fans are tired of waiting for Montero to pan out, so if he clears waivers there is a chance that the Mets could grab him as a free agent.

Now, why would the Mets take a chance on someone with a little-to-no proven major league track record?

Plawecki has shown weaknesses at the ML level

The answer is simple: they need a backup catcher.

Kevin Plawecki needs to go to Triple-A and get some every-day at bats, and I think most Mets fans would agree with that sentiment. Whether that happens or not remains to be seen, but it is best for his long-term development to get the bulk of the work, rather than ride the pine with the big league club.

With that being said, who else could the Mets possibly turn to until Plawecki is fully ready for the show? Anthony Recker is now with the Cleveland Indians, Robinson Cancel is a coach in the Braves system, Omir Santos is also a member of the Tribe, and Ramon Castro is unofficially retired from baseball, so as far as bringing back the old gang, that isn't happening.

The only realistic internal option is Johnny Monell, whom is still with the Mets on a non-roster Spring Training invite that he received in the off-season. Monell hit .167 in 27 games for the Mets last year, and proved to be nothing short of a fringe backup catcher at best.

Of-course, a backup catcher's success isn't measured by just his offensive output. Defensively is where I will admittedly say that Montero falls short. He has a career caught stealing percentage of 14%, which is way below the average, and his career defensive runs saved is -9. Regardless of this iffy numbers, I want the Mets to take a stab at Montero on the off-chance that a change of scenery gets his bat going, because even with the defensive struggles, he can morph into a very fine bench piece at some point.