Tag Archives: Jesus Montero

Yankees Add Final Piece To The Puzzle: Raul Ibanez To Join New York

Posted on by Ryan Kantor

Just days after clearing $13 million off the books by sending beleaguered right-hander, AJ Burnett, to the Pittsburgh Pirates the Yankees have filled their last critical need by signing a power hitting DH. Raul Ibanez is set to join the Bronx Bombers on a $1.1 million contract that maxes out at $4 million with incentives. This is welcome news as the Yankees had been looking for a reliable, veteran lefty after they created the hole in the DH slot by trading C/DH Jesus Montero for Michael Pineda.

The Yankees remained patient during the first half of the off-season, while the Angels were signing Albert Pujols and CJ Wilson, the Red Sox were finding new management, and the Marlins were making headlines every week. That patience has paid off. They resigned CC Sabathia early on and then added Michael Pineda and Hiroki Kuroda while subtracting AJ Burnett to strengthen a weak pitching staff. They lost star prospect, Jesus Montero, in the process but plugged the DH hole with Raul Ibanez while prospects like Austin Romine and Gary Sanchez prepare to take over the catching duties. Alex Rodriguez will likely transition into a primary DH role in the coming years, so using a veteran to fill that role in the immediate short-term may have been a plus.

The only priority the Yankees have not checked off their list was signing a lefty specialist for the bullpen and that is of no fault of their own. They came to terms with Hideki Okajima, but the contract fell through when he failed his physical.

The Yankees now have arguably the deepest lineup in baseball. They also have the maybe the deepest rotation outside of Los Angeles–where the Angels boast Jered Weaver, Dan Haren, CJ Wilson, Ervin Santana, and Jerome Williams–and they’ll return one of the baseball’s best bullpens. Personal reasons have made this one of the toughest off-seasons for Brian Cashman, but he has made this one of his most wildly successful baseball off-seasons.

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Hiroki Kuroda and Michael Pineda To Don Pinstripes

Posted on by Ryan Kantor

It appears that Yankee GM, Brian Cashman, was just taking his time. Yankee fans watched the Angels sign Albert Pujols and CJ Wilson. They watched Mark Buehrle sign with the revamped Miami Marlins and the Rangers win exclusive rights to negotiate with Japanese pitcher, Yu Darvish. Rumors surfaced that the Yankees would add Jair Jurrjens to their shaky, pinstriped rotation in exchange for young shortstop Eduardo Nunez, but nothing came to fruition.

After resigning to the fact that the Yankees may not make a major move this off-season, Yankee fans were hit with two huge moves that may transform a lousy rotation into a deep, World Series caliber group. One that could even be called the strength of the team.

After months of hearing that Hiroki Kuroda was uncomfortable moving to New York and would either remain in Los Angeles or head back to his native Japan, the AP has reported that the two parties have struck a 1-year, $10 million pact. Kuroda is 36 years of age, but his age is not a concern to me and evidently not too big of a concern to Brian Cashman. Last season Kuroda posted MLB career bests in wins, innings pitched, strikeouts, and ERA–finishing the year with 13 wins, 202 IP, 161 Ks, and a 3.07 ERA. Barring unforeseen injury I don’t think a 17 win, 3.60 ERA season is an unreasonable expectation.

In the same day that Yankee fans heard Kuroda would don pinstripes, they also learned that star prospect, Jesus Montero, was traded. The reaction went something like this, “Oh no, they gave away another star prospect. We always do this! This is terrible… Wow, we got Michael Pineda. Hmmm, he’s pretty young, huh (22)? Wow, with Kuroda AND Pineda our rotation is pretty good now. I think I like this deal. Wow, we may win the World Series!”

Moving catcher Jesus Montero stings, but I’m not totally heart-broken for a few reasons. First, The Yankees already re-signed Russell Martin, meaning Montero wouldn’t have played much behind the plate this year. It also hinted at the possibility that the Yankees didn’t feel comfortable with Montero’s defense behind the plate. He’s much less impressive as a DH prospect than a catching prospect.
Second, the Yankees are loaded with good catching prospects. Austin Romine is lauded as a well-rounded catching prospect that can hit (although not as well as Montero) and field. The younger Gary Sanchez gives the Yankees minor league depth at the catcher position, as a top 30 overall prospect according to Baseball America. Trading from a position of depth (likely the most minor league catching depth in baseball) to solve an immediate problem without getting older makes sense.
Prior to Transactions
  1. CC Sabathia
  2. Ivan Nova
  3. Freddy Garcia
  4. Phil Hughes
  5. AJ Burnett
After Transactions
  1. CC Sabathia
  2. Michael Pineda
  3. Hiroki Kuroda
  4. Ivan Nova
  5. Garcia/Hughes

With Posada retiring and Montero now on his way to the Pacific Northwest, the Yankees may have created a hole at the DH slot. This may have been intentional though, as they now can give Eduardo Nunez plenty of playing time on the left side of the infield while keeping Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter well rested. The rotation looks fantastic, with two potentially dominant pitchers at the top of the rotation and an incredible amount of depth. The Yankees still need to add a lefty in the bullpen to help Boone Logan, but suddenly baseball season can’t start soon enough. The Mariners and Yankees, after failing to consummate a Cliff Lee deal, reunited to strike a seemingly win-win trade. The Evil Empire is back.

As always, please subscribe to this blog by clicking the “Follow” button at the top of the right sidebar. If you don’t have a WordPress account, you’ll have to enter your email address. You can share your opinions in the comment section below or by tweeting to @Ryan_Kantor. Thanks for reading!