Under a slate-gray sky, the Yankees' best prospect steps in front of home plate, prepared to block it. About 10 yards away, a coach with a thin fungo bat swats a ball at him, simulating the unpredictable nature of throws from the outfield, as rain drops fall. The young catcher's mitt flashes out to snare the ball and he applies a mock tag, then he jogs to the side as another catcher takes a turn in the drill.Montero also always wanted to be a Yankee:
Most of Jesus Montero's days are made up of moments like this, working at the craft of catching. He flops side to side in the bullpen, honing his skills at blocking errant pitches. He pores over the rudiments of receiving, learning how to handle different pitches and the myriad ways they can break, and he works to shorten his throwing motion to take better advantage of a powerful arm.
To Montero - and the Yankees - this is all vital work, even though Montero's catching skills are not what most believe will eventually get him to the major leagues. Montero, rated as the fifth-best prospect in the game by Baseball America, might be the best hitter in the minor leagues, a player who swings his way to Yankee Stadium before his defense can catch up.
"His bat may not be too far from the big leagues," says a rival baseball executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was evaluating a player in another organization. "But they'll have to decide his position. Jesus has a chance to be a very, very big hitter. He reminds me of Carlos Delgado at that age.
"When you have a guy who hits that well, you may want to get him out of there even if he can't catch."
Then the executive invokes the name of a player who comes up often when discussing Montero - Minnesota's Joe Mauer, the reigning AL MVP. Mauer is big like Montero - Mauer is 6-5 and 220 pounds, Montero 6-4, 235 - and an amazing hitter. He is also a terrific defensive catcher.
As the executive says, "There are not very many Joe Mauers."
Still, the Yankees use Mauer's success as a response to the argument that Montero is too big to be a catcher.
And they are determined to see if Montero can be the eventual replacement for 38-yea-old Jorge Posada.
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"He's one of the best (offensive prospects) we've had and he's as good as anybody we've had with the exception of Derek (Jeter)," Newman says. "He can do the things Robbie Cano could do when he was young and has more power."
Montero always wanted to sign with the Yankees. Asked what other teams got close to inking him, he says, "Second was the Mets. Boston, the Indians. But I liked the Yankees. I hope they don't trade me because I want to be with them the rest of my life."Here's a little more on the work Jesus has done with Yanks' minor-league catching coordinator Julio Mosquera:
The more I read about this kid the more I like him. He's determined, he loves being a Yankee, and he can hit a ton. I've only just started following the farm system in the past three or four years, but I've never wanted to see a prospect turned into what they could be more than Montero.Montero had not practiced blocking balls much before turning pro and early in one camp his arms and hands were covered with purpling bruises, many of which could have been avoided with better technique, Mosquera says. "You beat me up, are you mad at me?" Montero asked Mosquera.
"I said, 'The beauty of this, we gotta block again today,'" Mosquera says. "He did it the right way and he said, 'Alright.' Sometimes, you've got to let them try to figure it out. He's doing a really good job of it."
So much so that Montero is already thinking about making the majors some time this season. "That's my goal," he says.
While the Yankees may prefer that he play the whole season in Scranton, even GM Brian Cashman admits, "So far, he's got one very impressive resume that makes you dream big.
"But he has more work to do, more things to prove. He's got the two most difficult steps to take and that usually separates the men and boys."
