Friday, December 13, 2013

The Jesus Returneth?

(Still so majestic)

Could it be?  Could our once and former lineup savior possibly be a candidate to return to his homeland?  Probably not, but it might not be a bad idea for the Yankees to look into.  Via Bob Nightengale, the Mariners have let it be known that former top prospects Jesus Montero and Justin Smoak are available.  With their recent spending spree on new hitters, it appears as though they're giving up on some of their past attempts to bolster their lineup through prospect acquisitions.

Montero has been absolutely horrible since going to Seattle.  He's registered -0.8 total fWAR in 164 Major League games as a Mariner, mainly because his offensive production has fallen off the face of the earth.  He's no longer a catcher, he's not going to play first base with Corey Hart in the mix, and there's really no other opportunity for him to stick on that roster.

Before being traded for Michael Pineda, Montero was very impressive in his short Yankee debut in 2011.  He has the type of swing and opposite field power that was and still is tailor-made for Yankee Stadium, which is why he might still have some value to the Yankees.  They could certainly use some right-handed pop, although I'm not sure how or where they'd be able to work Montero into the lineup.

The original Montero-Pineda trade has gone down as a complete disaster for both sides.  The Yankees bringing Jesus back and trying to reignite his former prospect spark could be a way for them to recoup something from it.

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