After months of low-key offseason moves, the Seattle Mariners came up with a headline-grabbing trade Friday – swapping starting pitcher Michael Pineda for New York Yankees catcher Jesus Montero.
Neither team would confirm or deny the reported deal, which likely included secondary players from both teams and won’t be made official until everyone involved passes a physical.
If true – and the deal was leaked by sources in New York and Seattle – the Mariners have given up a hard-throwing 22-year-old pitcher for a 22-year-old right-handed power-hitting Venezuelan with 61 big-league at-bats.
After dominating throughout the minor leagues, Montero hit .328 with four doubles, four home runs, 12 RBI and 17 strikeouts in those at-bats.
Pineda, 22, went 9-10 with a 3.74 earned-run average last season in 28 starts, striking out 173 batters in 171 innings, making the All-Star team along the way.
Montero was the bait New York dangled in summer 2010 when Seattle was about to trade pitcher Cliff Lee. Eventually, the Mariners sent Lee to Texas for a package that included Justin Smoak, Blake Beavan and Josh Lueke instead.
This trade comes in the final year of catcher Miguel Olivo’s contract, so Montero could share duties behind the plate while serving as a designated hitter or win the job outright in spring training.
Scouts who have raved about Montero’s bat are less enthused about his work behind the plate. A former catcher, manager Eric Wedge may have a special project this spring.
Moving Pineda was made possible by the young pitching depth in the Seattle system – starting pitchers Danny Hultzen, Taijuan Walker and James Paxton, among others. Still, Pineda was expected to open the 2012 season as the No. 2 starter on the staff behind ace Felix Hernandez.
The second Yankees player involved in the deal reportedly was 24-year-old right-hander Hector Noesi, who went 2-2 with a 4.47 ERA in 30 games with New York a year ago. The rumored second Mariners pitcher involved was Class A prospect Jose Campos, a 19-year-old right-hander who went 5-5 with a 2.32 ERA
The deal is the biggest move of the offseason for Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik, coming after the smaller acquisitions of a backup catcher (John Jaso), left-handed reliever (George Sherrill) and Japanese right-hander (Hishshi Iwakuma).
Last in the American League the past two seasons in runs scored, the Mariners appear to have landed a productive bat for one of baseball’s younger lineups.
Their rotation now will come from some combination of Felix, Iwakuma, Jason Vargas, Charlie Furbush, Noesi, Beavan and Hultzen.
How to rate the deal? A year ago, Baseball America listed Montero as the No. 11 big-league prospect – with Pineda ranked No. 13.
It does continue a trend of Zduriencik moving starting pitching for prospects. Since last summer, he has traded starters Pineda, Erik Bedard and Doug Fister.
Confirmation, at least from the Mariners, won’t come until all players involved take and pass physicals, which likely won’t be until after the weekend.
larry.larue@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/mariners
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