Alex Rodriguez, paid $32 million to play what amounted to half a season for the Yankees in 2011, didn’t need to take 10 sawbucks off the hands of touted prospect Jesus Montero.
Rodriguez was merely trying to make a three-part point with his rookie teammate: Practice, practice, practice.
“A-Rod taught me a lot of things,” Montero said Monday on a teleconference call from Safeco Field, where the Mariners finally pronounced their Jan. 20 trade with the Yankees as official. “He told me he was going to fine me $100 for every day I didn’t go to the batting cage.”
It was during a mid-August rehab stint with the Yanks’ Triple-A club that Rodriguez, recovering from knee surgery, first took Montero under his wing. The 14-time All-Star spent 20 minutes in the batting cage with the minor league catcher, whose second full season at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre made him a prime candidate for a motivational talk.
After chatting with Rodriguez about hitting mechanics and a positive mental approach, Montero found his groove. He finished a four-game series against Rochester by going 10-for-22, with two doubles, four home runs and 11 RBI.
A few weeks later, Montero was called up for a big-league promotion that included two nights at Safeco Field. He went 2-for-9 while digesting the possibility he’d play hundreds more games there.
“I knew Seattle had tried to get me before,” said Montero, whose name was prominent in a trade general manager Jack Zduriencik almost completed in 2010 with the Yankees for starting pitcher Cliff Lee.
“I told myself I might play here for a long time.”
Lee, you might recall, wasn’t thrilled to learn of his relocation from Philadelphia to Seattle after the 2009 season. Nothing against the Mariners or the community, he stressed, it’s just that he thought of the Phillies as a perfect match for him.
Montero’s escape from New York posed no such stress for him.
“When the Yankees told me I was being traded,” he said, “I was surprised, but I wasn’t shocked. It happened for real. I’m happy over here, and my family’s happy. It’s a new opportunity in my life, a new career, and it’s up to me to take advantage of it.”
It’s difficult to appraise a player’s personality after a one-on-one interview in front of his clubhouse locker, and foolish to appraise him after a 20-minute teleconference call with his general manager.
That established, Montero came across Monday as enthusiastic and earnest, with a fluency in English surprising for a 22-year-old from Venezuela.
When a New York writer on the teleconference call asked Montero to respond to a comment Yankees GM Brian Cashman made Monday – Cashman told reporters that Montero is the best player he’s ever traded – the kid answered in the universal parlance of a 22-year-old.
“That’s awesome,” he said.
Somewhere between the “awe” and the “some,” I envisioned a grin uncorrupted by cynicism.
“He’s mature,” Zduriencik said. “He carries himself very well. He’s perceptive. … We’ve known about him since he was an amateur player in Venezuela. He’s a quality young man.”
OK, Jack, onto the lightning round.
Do the Mariners see Montero as a full-time catcher?
Zduriencik: “We’ll give him an opportunity to be all he can be, whatever that will be. He’s a smart kid and a talented hitter, and he’ll get every opportunity to catch as well. Things will work themselves out, but we like the player we acquired.”
Will Safeco Field, famously unforgiving to right-handed pull hitters, sap Montero of his power potential?
Zduriencik: “He’s got an ability to drive the ball the other way that makes him a nice fit for our ballpark.”
Is Montero the first component of an offensive upgrade that might eventually land the Mariners free-agent slugger Prince Fielder?
Zduriencik: “I never comment about any negotiations. But thanks for asking.”
If Montero achieves his projected potential, he’ll hit at least .280, with 25 homers and 85 RBI. Those might not be Prince Fielder numbers, but then again, Montero doesn’t yet command Fielder’s salary, which is well into eight figures.
Montero’s first order of business in Seattle will be to get to know such new teammates as countryman Felix Hernandez.
“I know him from Venezuela,” Montero said, “but I haven’t talked to him that much the last couple of years. He’s a superstar in Venezuela, and we haven’t had the chance to get together.
“Now, I have many years to talk to him.”
john.mcgrath@thenewstribune.com
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