Jesus and Manny on TV

by Travis G on Jul 12, 2009 10:00 AM EDT in Minors

Two Yankees will play in today's Futures Games, Jesus Montero and Manny Banuelos (ESPN2 at 2 p.m.).

Montero will catch and hit fifth. Y'all know about him: 19 years old, phenomenal bat, can he catch full time though? Spanning High-A Tampa and Double-A Trenton, his stats look as such: .330/.386/.542, but he's only thrown out 18% of potential base-stealers.

Scouting report -

I can see him competing for batting titles... Montero is arguably one of the top five pure hitters in minor league baseball.

The southpaw Banuelos is a relative newbie to prospect lists. The 18-year-old is in his second pro year, refining his craft at Low-A Charleston and doing a good job of it: 77.2 ip, 2.20 ERA, 68 K, 1.00 WHIP.

Scouting report -

I've had the opportunity to see a number of former first round picks and top international free agent pitchers and Banuelos ranks right up there with them... At 18, he has a remarkable combination of feel and poise, but it raises the question of how much better he can become.

Elsewhere in prospect land, Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman does seem to be 21, not 26 as was reported by the New York Times. I'd love to have him in the organization.

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Thanks for the free pub!

….and the kind comment on the blog. I’m glad you enjoyed the pieces. Keep an eye out as I will be writing up a number of other Yankees including Melky Mesa, Andrew Brackman, Jose Pirela, and maybe Corban Joseph.

Mike Newman

by ScoutingTheSally on Jul 12, 2009 12:07 PM EDT reply actions

one thing I would like to know about Montero

is where exactly would his position be moved too? Is there anything discussed on this?

His bat is obviously gonna bring him to the bigs sooner rather than later. With guys like Romine and of course the Great Cervelli in the mix as better pure catchers, what can the Yanks do with Montero?

Corner OF? Setup man?

by FreeBradshaw on Jul 12, 2009 12:20 PM EDT up reply actions

He'll be our Big Papi

And catch whenever one of our older dudes needs to DH.

Strikeouts are boring- Besides that, they're fascist. Throw some ground balls - it's more democratic.

by CasanovaWong on Jul 12, 2009 12:55 PM EDT up reply actions

MONTERO TO TEH EIGHTH INNINGZ!!1!

by Brian5517209 on Jul 12, 2009 1:00 PM EDT up reply actions

I'm thinking DH or 1B

It’s very difficult for me to imagine a scenario where the Yankees leave a special bat like his in the minors when his catching is simply years behind. Austin Romine is the Yankees catcher of the future and they just signed an IFA for 3 million.

He will be what Brett Butler was supposed to become. I’d rather have a Montero worth 4 wins on offense only than a guy who is worth 4 wins on offense and -3 on defense.

Mike Newman

by ScoutingTheSally on Jul 12, 2009 2:06 PM EDT up reply actions