Jesus Montero For Michael Pineda: A Look Back At The Trade

Apr 23, 2014; Boston, MA, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher

(35) reacts after being ejected for using a foreign substance during the second inning against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

What a lose – lose situation that the Jesus Monter0 – Michael Pineda trade turned out to be.

The Yankees were the winners by getting an All Star caliber starting pitcher right? Wrong.

The 2014 season marks the first time that Pineda has spent time in the Yankees starting rotation since joining them in 2013 after he was traded along with Jose Campos. Pineda was yet to throw a pitch for the Yankees until spring training this year due to a shoulder injury. He had been surrounded by a lot of media buzz after a hot start in spring training and the Yankees were ready to make room for him in the rotation this year.

So far this season Pineda is 2-2 with a 1.83 ERA to go along with 15 strikeouts and just 3 walks. Should the hot start be attributed to him blatantely cheating by using pinetar? He is currently in the middle of a 10 game suspension by the MLB (just in case you have been living under a rock for the last 2 weeks).

So what about the Mariners side of the Pineda trade?

Here comes Jesus Montero.

May 1, 2013; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Mariners catcher Jesus Montero (63) hits a triple against the Baltimore Orioles during the 2nd inning at Safeco Field. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports

Can you believe that Montero was once the most prized prospect in the Yankees farm system? In 2010, Jesus was ranked the no. 19 prospect in MLB.com’s top 50 prospects of 2010.

He made his Yankee debut in 2011 playing 18 games and batting .328 with 4 home runs and 12 RBIs. Montero looked comfortable in the bigs and looked to be on the path to stardom. One thing was still in question though.

Where did he fit in defensively?

After being traded to the Mariners in January 2012, Montero was put to work at catcher and DH. It was clear that the Mariners were not looking at him as an every day catcher because they drafted Mike Zunino 3rd overall in the 2012 draft.

2012 was not a breaking out year like Seattle had hoped for Jesus Montero. He hit just 15 home runs and 62 RBIs with a triple slash of .260/.298/.386.

2013? Even worse. How about a knee injury and a 50 game suspension for his involvement in the Biogenisis scandal.

Everyone knew that Jesus was going to have his work cut out for him to stay with the Mariners. We knew that after a 50 game suspension he would have to win our hearts over with a comeback story to match Ryan Braun‘s big start to the 2014 season.

How does he come back in 2014? Well go to Google and search Jesus Montero, before pressing enter, what do you see?

Jesus Montero fat

Jesus Montero weight gain

Yikes. This dude showed up to spring training 40 pounds overweight. Not a good start. We are hoping that he can turn things around because he had shown a lot of promise and power from the right side of the plate. I doubt he will ever see time at anything but DH or maybe first base.

Fans are still hoping that he will pay off sometime. It should be noted that he has been on a hot streak for the Tacoma Rainiers over the last 2 weeks.

If you ask me, there is no clear winner in this trade. Both teams know how talented each player could be, but both teams have only gotten a small glimpse at that over the past 3 years.

As for the extras involved in that trade:

Jose Campos has yet to break single A ball and just recently underwent Tommy John surgery.

Hector Noesi did not work out for the M’s and was traded to Texas earlier this season.