Proper use of Montero: Think Edgar, not Wilson

During the week since Jack Zduriencik traded for Yankees catcher Jesus Montero, I have come to the conclusion that Montero – and, more importantly, the Mariners – will be better served if he never catches a game in a Seattle uniform.

True, Montero would be most valuable behind the plate. No commodity in baseball is more coveted than a young, power-hitting catcher, which might explain Zduriencik’s willingness to part with All-Star pitcher Michael Pineda, a No. 2 starter with potential-ace talent.

But Zduriencik understands the nuances of a position that requires a player to be a combination of iron man, tough guy, motivational leader and psychologist. A catcher doesn’t merely oversee a single game plan against any given opponent, he oversees 11 or 12 of them: one for every pitcher on the staff.

And then there’s the grueling work of catching itself, the hours and days and weeks and months spent blocking pitches in the dirt, absorbing foul tips, throwing the ball on a dime to second base – all those things that mean squat.

Literally: A catcher spends an average of 90 minutes a game squatting.

I could be mistaken – Zduriencik has yet to comment on the deal while the results of the physical exams are still pending – but I doubt the general manager is thrilled with the idea of putting a heart-of-the-lineup hitter in harm’s way. Montero was acquired for his bat, and his only responsibility should be to swing that bat with purpose and force.

A catcher who earns the trust of his pitchers is a necessity. A catcher who earns the trust of his pitchers while hitting 30 home runs is – ding-ding-ding! – a jackpot bonus.

“The first priority is getting the pitcher through the game,” former Mariners catcher Dan Wilson said of his craft the other day on a teleconference call. “A guy can have great ability, but if he can’t handle the mental part of it, he’ll struggle.”

Montero showed signs of stardom after he was promoted to the big leagues last September, hitting four home runs in 18 games. But the prize of the Yankees’ farm system, who had reason to believe he was worthy of a roster spot out of spring training, did not distinguish himself during the first half of the Triple-A season.

“He’s a big-time talent,” Mark Newman, the Yankees’ senior vice president of baseball operations, told the Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger last July. “There’s no one questioning his talent. But he hasn’t had a great year with the bat. We expected more, honestly.

“The biggest deal with him is maturity. I’ve been doing this a while, and I don’t know how you significantly accelerate the maturation process. You’ve got to deal with stuff. You’ve got to take the training wheels off. That’s what he’s going through.”

Montero is 22. The typical position player that age does not crave the thought of tossing his glove in an equipment trunk and rarely using it again. For him to give up catching would be an acknowledgement that the five years the Yankees spent in an attempt to groom his defense and pitcher-management skills were a waste.

But it’s not as if he would be the first catching project encouraged to pursue Plan B. Dale Murphy was a young catcher with the Braves before Atlanta manager Bobby Cox determined the prospect was a better fit in center field. (How’d that conversion work? Murphy won back-to-back MVP awards.)

Joe Torre was an All-Star catcher who repeated as an All-Star at third base and first base; Craig Biggio, another All-Star catcher, took his All-Star talents to second base. If Twins All-Star catcher Joe Mauer isn’t mulling a position change, he ought to be. Mauer’s injury-plagued 2011 season limited him to 82 games.

The trend is obvious: When you can hit with the authority Murphy, Torre and Biggio did, you’re too productive to be relegated to the selfless occupation of catching. And make no mistake, it is selfless.

Even when a catcher is due to bat, his thought process must dwell on the pitcher who happens to be his teammate, rather than the pitcher he’s about to face.

There’s a chance Montero could evolve into a stellar catcher, but at what cost to his offense?

“Defensively, he keeps improving,” Newman told the Star-Ledger last summer. “But it’s something he has to work at every day for the remainder of his career. When you’re 6-foot-3 and 225 to 230 pounds, depending on what you had for lunch, it’s hard. He’s got to work on lower body flexibility and agility. He’s got good hands. He’s got good arm strength. But there’s a lot of work to do.”

The Mariners have a recent history with power-hitting catchers who needed lots of work behind the plate, and the history is not pleasant.

For their No. 3 overall selection of the 2005 draft class, they chose USC catcher Jeff Clement, projected as a cleanup man once his defense was cleaned up.

Six of the first seven players taken in that 2005 draft became All-Stars. The exception is Clement, a tireless sort who invested so much effort in a futile quest to catch that he lost his stroke as a hitter.

If Zduriencik needs help in informing Montero that he’s a one-dimensional talent, the general manager might want to bring Edgar Martinez into the conversation.

Martinez, early on, wasn’t crazy about his full-time role as a designated hitter – he saw himself as a comprehensive ballplayer – but the results are self-evident: The most beloved of all Mariners didn’t find his groove until he stashed his glove in the equipment trunk.

Montero was brought to Seattle to hit. So allow him to hit, free of the burden of coddling temperamental pitchers, and blocking sinkerballs in the dirt, and executing super-human throws to second base.

A suggestion for Zduriencik as he builds a roster for the future: Let Montero emulate the right-handed hitting prowess of Edgar Martinez, and assign the catcher’s role to the sure hands of the next Dan Wilson.

john.mcgrath@thenewstribune.com