Let’s be fair: If the Yankees had never made the Jesus Montero-Michael Pineda trade their 2012 problem would still be their problem.
They would have retained A.J. Burnett, who with the Pirates gave up 12 runs on 12 hits in 2 2/3 innings Wednesday against the Cardinals. Rather than being in the Pineda deal, Hector Noesi would still be a Yankees rotation option. And while Seattle general manager Jack Zduriencik said, “[Noesi] is going to be a quality major league pitcher,” that is not necessarily the case at the moment because the righty is 1-3 with a 7.83 ERA for the Mariners.
The Yankees might have used Montero to obtain another starter or looked elsewhere for rotation protection. But the likelihood is CC Sabathia, Burnett, Hiroki Kuroda, Phil Hughes, Ivan Nova, Freddy Garcia and Noesi would have been the unappetizing rotation buffet from which the Yankees would have been picking.
But in panning the trade when it was made in January, I assumed Pineda would be helpful or better. I certainly had no idea he would miss the year with a shoulder injury. My concern then and now is that in an era of sudden offensive depression, it is as difficult to find a No. 4 hitter as a No. 1 starter. And based on Montero’s 2011 major league cameo and reputation, I sensed a cleanup hitter on the horizon. And, with aging entities in the lineup, the Yankees were going to need that as badly as the ace they imagined Pineda becoming.
Also, history showed teams won when they had high-end offensive catchers, such as Jorge Posada, Mike Piazza, Mike Napoli, Javy Lopez and Victor Martinez, even when they had defensive deficiencies. And internally the Yankees believed Montero could grow into an adequate catcher if you could tolerate early, ugly growing pains.
Now we are just dealing with a snapshot here. The Yankees still rank seventh in the majors in runs despite getting almost nothing from Robinson Cano, who almost certainly will hit well this year.
But the worrisome regressions of Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira continue. The Yankees have gone all-in on defense behind the plate, demoting Francisco Cervelli to bring in Chris Stewart, an offensive cipher. Russell Martin has been abysmal with the bat, as well. And he is a free agent after the year. His likely heir, Austin Romine, has yet to play this season because of a back injury that is going to require at least six more weeks of rehab. And after 2013, Cano and Curtis Granderson are due to be free agents, which coincides with when the Yankees have vowed to get under the $189 million luxury-tax threshold. Thus, it will be hard to sign both.
So you have slides by Rodriguez and Teixeira, uncertainty about retaining Cano and Granderson, and a clouded succession plan now at catcher. Boy, it would be nice to have a young, inexpensive, middle-of-the-order threat who might also catch. Montero is hitting .292 with four homers despite playing home games in extremely pitcher friendly Safeco Field.
And now we will get a better idea if Montero can catch. He started just five times behind the plate in April. But with Seattle starter Miguel Olivo going on the disabled list (groin) Tuesday, Montero has become the primary receiver for at least the short term, including next weekend, when the Mariners will be in The Bronx.
One executive who used to guarantee Montero could not catch in the majors saw him play recently and said: “He’s better than I thought. He certainly is better than [John] Jaso.” Jaso is Seattle’s other catcher. In 2010, Jaso hit well enough that Tampa Bay coped with his defensive inadequacies while winning the AL East.
“It [Montero catching] is a process that is going to evolve in front of our eyes,” Zduriencik said by phone. “There are a lot of challenges, including that he is a big guy. But our people thought he could catch and, so far, we have been pleased with what we’ve seen back there.”
DH is Girardi’s Rx to keep A-Rod healthy
The trade of Jesus Montero motivated the Yankees to sign Raul Ibanez as their primary designated hitter. The Yankees said they favored Ibanez over Johnny Damon (now back in the majors with Cleveland) and Hideki Matsui (recently signed to a minor league deal by Tampa Bay) because although he is a poor fielder he had been playing the outfield regularly.
As it turns out, because of injuries to Nick Swisher and Brett Gardner, Ibanez has started 10 games in the outfield (and validated he is a poor outfielder) and just five as the DH, the same amount as Derek Jeter.
More interesting is Alex Rodriguez leads the Yankees in DH starts with seven (his career high is 12). Manager Joe Girardi has insisted Rodriguez is healthy and that he is just looking big picture to use the outfield injuries as a way to get Eric Chavez into the lineup at third (as usual that ended up with him injured) while preserving Rodriguez, 36, for the long season.
However, Rodriguez’s DH volume also suggests the Yankees have greater concerns about his body than they are publicly admitting. What makes that more worrisome for the Yankees is they are not just preserving Rodriguez for this season, but for the five seasons and five months left on his contract.
* Three of the last four no-hitters have been thrown by pitchers taken in the top 12 picks of the 2004 draft: Justin Verlander (second overall), Philip Humber (third) and Jered Weaver (12th), who held Minnesota hitless Wednesday. From that draft class, Dallas Braden (24th round) and Jonathan Sanchez (27th) also have no-hitters.
Maybe there is a positive omen here for the Yankees: Phil Hughes was the 23rd overall pick in that draft.
* Oakland’s Brian Fuentes on Wednesday became the sixth lefty to join the 200-save club. The previous five all either played for the Mets — John Franco (424 saves), Billy Wagner (422) and Randy Myers (347) — or the Yankees — Dave Righetti (252) and Sparky Lyle (238).