TAMPA — Joe Girardi sent out a search party.
It was March 21. A game against Detroit had been rained out. That was the date the Yankees had determined they would send catcher Jesus Montero to minor league camp. There was just one problem: They could not find Jesus Montero.
Finally, he was located in the indoor batting cage down the right-field line. He had set up the pitching machine to fire one ball after another into the ground to practice blocking. There were no coaches, no teammates. The organization’s top prospect was alone, motivated only by a desire to improve. So on the way out the major league door — for now — Montero had left a positive impression.
“He’s hungry,” Girardi said.
On the way in the door in mid-February, that would have been an insult. Montero arrived at well over his prescribed 230 pounds. He said 245. Others in the organization said it was more like 260-plus. Either way, one key organizational voice said, “Everyone was concerned about it.”
Montero admitted “I came in not in the best of shape.” He said it was because he “laid back” too much in his native Venezuela before spring training. Girardi and bench coach Tony Pena — both former major league catchers — had firm conversations with Montero about the need to grow up and slim down. He was ordered to come to camp daily at 6:30 a.m. to work with strength and conditioning coordinator Dana Cavalea. That was before his group’s everyday weight-room session, which preceded on-field workouts, conditioning and games.
The Yankees were not only pleased at how quickly Montero melted to 230 pounds, but also at his passion for the process. General manager Brian Cashman said Montero was “a man on a mission.”
Montero attacked his conditioning. He was attentive and inquisitive in defensive drills. And, no surprise, he hit. Upon signing Montero to a $1.6 million bonus in 2006, Cashman called the then 16-year-old the best Venezuelan hitting prospect since Miguel Cabrera. Montero has honored that assessment by hitting .325 as a teenager, to date, in the minors. And he continued to make such square-the-ball, forceful impact this spring that Yankees officials unanimously agree he is the organization’s best offensive prospect since the young Derek Jeter. Better than Alfonso Soriano at the same stage, or Nick Johnson or Robinson Cano.
The defensive questions, though, are arguably the most important facing the 2010 Yankees that will not play out in full view. While outside executives doubt the 6-foot-4 (and possibly still growing) Montero has the athleticism or footwork to stay behind the plate, the Yankees have become stauncher believers that he will be a catcher due to his steady development.
“I love to catch,” Montero said. “I want to be a big league catcher. Just being a DH would not be enough. I want to be the leader of a game.”
The Yankees understand the incredible advantages of an offensive catcher, because Jorge Posada is among the best ever. However, Posada is 38. The Yankees like many of the catchers in their system, notably Austin Romine, Gary Sanchez and J.R. Murphy. But none can hit like Montero.
Cashman said “desperation” is the only reason Montero should be promoted from Triple-A this year. But others privately think if the Yankees have a serious injury at catcher, designated hitter or first base that Montero could be a Yankee in 2010.
And when Montero arrives before them again, the Yankees firmly believe he will be a heavyweight only as a prospect and not on the scales.