Not The Time
It's rare that I disagree with Joel Sherman, but his column this morning calling for the elevation of Jesus Montero to the bigs strikes me as the wrong move.
Now I don't deny that the Yankees could use some offensive help. Cervelli is really someone you should only use against LHP and the bench doesn't have a lot of "oomph" on it right now. But, Montero is only 20 and struggled for two months in AAA this year. He had a very nice June, but it can't be said that he has dominated AAA- yet. And that to me is the key.
Jumping to the majors isn't easy. Look at Pedro Alvarez, a top-rated prospect in the Pirates organization. Alvarez hit .277/.363/.533 in AAA before his callup and he is hitting .160/.218/.220 in 55 plate appearances in the bigs. Jose Tabata (remember him?) got the call and has so far hit .247/.322/.346. Remember Starlin Castro and his 6-RBI debut this year? .274/.337/.372 and only 12 RBI's since.
Yes, the transition can be done and done successfully midseason, but the Yankees have to look at the big picture here. Montero needs to catch everyday he can, something he won't do in the bigs. And, he needs to show his bat can handle AAA before he gets promoted. In June he did that, .283/.324/.505, but that still leaves his overall numbers at .245/.311/.412, which tells you how bad his first two months were. Let's give him another month at least before forcing him into the pressure cooker of Bronx baseball. Long term, it is 100% the right move.
For now, how about Cervelli catching and Posada DH'ing when they face a LHP and let's see Colin Curtis get some playing time against RHP. It's not the ideal DH situation, but until the lefty bat market heats up, it will have to do.
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The Yankees optioned Boone Logan to the minors and promoted Dustin Moseley. This move also used up the remaining spot on the 40-man, which tells you the Yankees are not expecting Nick Johnson back soon. Johnson could have come off the DL July 8th, but would also require reinstatement to the 40-man roster. Since we haven't even heard a report of him swinging a bat, I would guess August 1st has to be the best case scenario at this point.
Assuming he is hurt as badly as we think, how about calls to Arizona and KC to check into the availability of DeJesus and LaRoche?
Comments
On the other hand, Peter, I surely thought at one point that Hughes, Miranda, Austin Jackson Joba, Melky, Gardner, Cervelli and Melancon weren't ready either and I (you too) also like the fact that Girardi will give "the kids" a shot. Sometimes, being challenged motiviates kids to kick it into another gear and Montero may be on of those guys who would relish the oppty to show that he's ready. And maybe Montero comes up for a week or so until Thames is ready to go and gets a taste of the bigs as a motivation for him to go back to SWB and do some serious damage at the plate to show that he's really ready to return one day - or increase his trade bait value.
I dunno bit I DO know that it would be nice to see a "bomber" on the bench instead of a "slapper".
Posted by: Mitchell![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://yankeesredsox.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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July 2, 2010 03:02 PM
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