Has Dan Duquette worked his magic again?
Time will tell, but for now it’s another classic low-risk, high-reward move by the Baltimore Orioles, as the team signed Jesus Montero to a minor-league deal on Tuesday. Montero was once considered one of the top prospects in Major League Baseball when with the New York Yankees, but has never lived up to those expectations.
Montero was the key piece in a trade that sent Michael Pineda from Seattle to the Bronx. Many thought he was off to a great start to his career after a 2012 season in which he batted .260 with 15 home runs and 62 RBI.
He entered the league as a catcher, but has shifted to first base and designated hitter duties after failing to throw out base runners regularly behind the dish. The move also seems to have messed with approach at the plate, as he’s hit just .217 with only nine home runs since his first full season in the Majors.
He will be suspended for the first 50 games for violating the league’s performance-enhancing drug policy, but he could be an intriguing option at the midway point of the season. The Orioles are hopeful that they get the player that played well with the Toronto Blue Jays Triple-A team last season, where he batted .317/.349/.438 with 11 homers and 60 RBI.
Trey Mancini is expected to start the season as a DH, but we have seen a small sample size and don’t know whether he can hack it in the bigs. A Mark Trumbo return is still being discussed and Pedro Alvarez is not out of the mix either. Adding Montero is one more potential bat if they should need it.
There is no guarantee that Montero makes it back to the Majors, but he does have fond memories at Camden Yards. He hit the first two home runs of his Major League career in Baltimore, and is hopeful to hit a few more. If he does, he will cost the club $550,000, a bargain for a player once thought to be the next Yogi Berra.
These are the types of moves that Duquette lives for. We have seen a willingness to give once highly-coveted players a chance. It has not always worked, but the potential rewards outweigh the risk. They might have found their DH for next to nothing.
Plus, what Orioles fan would not want to see a once-Yankees prospect have a better career in Baltimore than he had in New York?
