Best Thing To Read On An Off Day

With no game to preview, the Yankosphere is busy catching up on other topics of interest surrounding the team, everything from the latest ASG voting tallies, MiL players, Phil Hughes' return, etc.  But the best thing I've read today is Mike Axisa's post at RAB about the Jesus Montero situation and why the Yankees need to stop fooling around and call the kid up.  Check some of the great points that Mike makes:

"The kid [Montero] has 756 plate appearances at Triple-A to his credit and he’s a .290/.348/.480 hitter at the level.  Robinson Cano didn’t hit that well in Triple-A, neither did Melky Cabrera or Bernie Williams or Jorge Posada or pretty much any position player the Yankees have called up in the last 20 years....

All this stuff about him being frustrated and lacking effort isn’t a sign of some greater problem either, even though it will be spun that way. Have you ever been stuck at a job when you know there’s no promotion to be had? It freaking sucks....

He did what he had to do in Triple-A, let’s stop pretending he hasn’t and should instead be some kind of model person incapable of frustration and disappointment....

There’s an obvious path for him to get playing time in the big leagues which involves getting Frankie Cervelli's complete lack of positive impact off the roster and letting Montero serve as the backup catcher and part-time designated hitter. He could get four starts a week that way (two at catcher, two at DH), which is what the Yankees did with Posada a decade ago and how teams regularly broke in young players back in the day."

/stands up and applauds

I can't really think of anything to add to that post that makes it more right on the money than it already is.  I have been saying for a very long time now that Jesus should be on the 25-man and Cervelli should not.  Regardless of age, experience, tenure, or any other reason, at the Major League level it's about winning games and putting together the best 25-man roster that allows your team to do that.  And to Mike's point, Jesus has more than proven that he's a better all-around player than Cervelli and more than ready to make the leap to the Major League team.  He can learn more and work on his defense just as much on the New York Yankees as he can with the SWB Yankees, with the added benefit of getting used to life in the Majors so he can be fully adjusted next season and getting to be around one of the most talented and professional groups of players in the game.  Seriously, what benefits is he getting from trading hitting tips with Doug Bernier and Jordan Parraz (no offense, guys).

It really doesn't boil down to much more than that.  Cervelli sucks, Montero is better, and there are plenty of opportunities to get him the playing time he deserves.  Jesus benefits from it and the team benefits from it.  It's like Mike said:

"...the kid is so obviously ready and able to help. Stop fearing failure and let him do it."