Remember Jesus Montero? The #1 Prospect Heir To Jorge Posada? Well, He's Thicc As Hell Now And Playing In The Venezuelan League
Dear Lord what the hell happened to Jesus Montero?? It is CRAZY how hard shit hit the fan with this guy and his career. It deserves a refresher course so let’s do it…
Montero was signed as an amateur free agent at the age of 16 for a $1.6 million bonus. He was well regarded as the top hitter in the free agent class. By the end of 2008 he was regarded as the Yankees #2 prospect in their entire system. To be fair, this was back in ’08 when the Yankees still bought their players so their farm system was amongst the bottom of the barrel. Either way you spin it, Montero ravaged the minors in every level he played in.
2008: (A) 132 Games .326 17 homers 87 RBIs .868 OPS
2009: (+A/AA) 92 Games .337 17 homers 70 RBIs .951 OPS
2010: (AAA) 123 Games .289 21 homers 75 RBIs .870 OPS
Before the 2010 season, Baseball American ranked Montero the 4th best prospect in all of baseball. He was seen as the messiah within the organization and the heir to Jorge Posada’s throne, which was soon being vacated when #20 decided to hang em up. Midway through the season Cashman had a deal with Seattle done which woulda sent Montero, Zach McCallister, and David Adams to the Mariners for Cliff Lee. The deal was basically on the 2 yard line when Seattle balked at Adams medical reports. As you know, Lee went to Texas instead.
As Posada transitioned to DH to start 2011, many thought finally it was Montero’s time, but Russell Martin was surprisingly brought in to take pressure off the youngster. The backup spot was his to have when Francisco Cervelli got injured, but Montero’s horrendous defense botched those plans. Finally in September he got the call-up and some major league at bats. His most notable performance came against Baltimore when he jacked two big time homers in a crazy 11-10 win.
He finished the season admirably, hitting .328 with four bombs and 12 RBIs in 18 games.
After the 2011 season Cashman sought out for a big time arm and found one in Michael Pineda. He shipped Montero, along with Hector Noesi for Pineda and Jose Campos.
Cashman was famously quoted in saying Montero “may well be the best player I’ve ever traded.”
After that quote was uttered, Montero’s career was essentially went down the tubes as if Cashman had his own version of the KFC mush. Short of a semi-decent 2012 season in Seattle where he hit .260 he was rather irrlevant. After struggling in early 2013, Montero was demoted and later moved from catcher to first base because he was so bad behind the plate. In June he hurt his knee tearing his meniscus and in August he was suspended for PEDs. Out of nowhere his career in the MLB was in shambles. Once seen as the Yankees catcher of the future, was now struggling to re-crack the majors in lowly Seattle.
He showed up to to the M’s 2014 Spring Training enormous at 275 pounds.
He famously said “After Winter Ball all I did was eat.”
He lasted just two more seasons in the big leagues and hasn’t sniffed the majors since 2015. What the fuck happened to this guy?
He’s currently in the Orioles organization, still with several years of arbitration left on his contract because he’s only 28 with minimal years of service time in the MLB. I have a feeling we won’t see him anytime soon with how he looks in Venezuela right now. Montero is THICCCCCC. That boy just loves to eat and it shows. He must be close to, if not 300 pounds. I swear when he jumped on the plate after rounding the bases I thought an earthquake was gonna erupt. It’s crazy how this guy’s entire career went from phenom top prospect to Venezuelan sumo-wrestler in just a few years. The best player Cashman has ever traded!?!? Further proving Cash can see the future and knew Jesus was a bust. I saw this video and was stunned. STUNNED. You can never truly trust a top prospect. Except for Gleyber Torres, he’s going to be a super star….I pray.
