The Jesus Montero for Micheal Pineda Trade in Detail: The New York Yankees and Seattle Mariners Swap Top Young Talent, Fill Needs

Published: 13^th Jan 12 9:10 pm

by Matt Sullivan
Sully

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The Jesus Montero for Micheal Pineda Trade in Detail: The New York Yankees and Seattle Mariners Swap Top Young Talent, Fill Needs

Jesse Johnson-US PRESSWIRE

The New York Yankees and the Seattle Mariners have struck a deal that will send top hitting prospect Jesus Montero and righty Hector Noesi to Seattle for pitcher Michael Pineda and righty pitching prospect Jose Campos. The two teams should both benefit from this deal as each one addresses their biggest need here. Seattle has a pitcher friendly park that should help them find pitching, but makes right-handed power hitters are hard commodity to develop. The Yankees, on the other hand, have a killer lineup and a pro-hitter park, but they have not had a starting pitcher prospect fully pan out in quite some time. Time will tell who really wins this trade, but on the surface it is a good deal for both sides, with the edge going to New York, who is now a virtual lock for the AL East crown.

Seattle has had their eyes on Montero for some time. The team was very close to acquiring the 22 year old slugger at the trade deadline in 2010, when they were shopping lefty ace Cliff Lee. At that time, the Mariners opted to go with Justin Smoak from the Texas Rangers. For the Yankees, the move helps to bolster their rotation with a top young flamethrower and gives them a potential second ace pair with C.C. Sabathia.

Montero has impressed just about everyone with his prodigious power. After putting up a .289/.354/.517 at AAA as a 20 year old, Baseball America ranked Montero as the third best prospect in baseball going into the last season. He earned a cup of coffee with the Yankees last season and showed off that trademark power with .590 slugging percentage in 69 plate appearances in the Major Leagues. His catching skills have not inspired much confidence in scouts, but he should be a quality major league player at either DH or first base .Seattle needs power hitting and Montero is a perfect fit. Safeco is tough on right handed power but Montero is one of the few hitters with the power to thrive their. With no major league service time, he should be an inexpensive impact player for the long term.

To get one the best power hitting prospects in baseball, the Mariners had to give up a very promising young pitcher in Michael Pineda. In his rookie campaign last year, Pineda showed legitimate ace potential, featuring one the highest average velocities on his fastball (94.7 mph) and striking out 9.11 hitters per nine innings. The results were middling, however, as his 3.74 ERA was just a hair above average, despite a very strong fielding independent pitching (FIP) of 3.42 and an expected FIP (xFIP) of 3.54. The Yankees are betting that his stellar fastball will help make him on the game’s best pitchers in the near future. With just one year of service time, Pineda is not only a great young pitcher, but he helps the suddenly cost-conscious Yankees bottom line as well. It appears that saved money will be spend on righty Hiroki Kuroda, who is reported to have signed with the Yanks.

The two lesser players fit their new team’s needs in different ways. The 24 year Hector Noesi will give the Mariners a pitcher to possibly take Pineda. The righty made two starts for the Yankees last year, posting a 4.47 ERA with a 4.09 FIP. His minor league track record indicates he could make decent fourth or fifth starter if he can recapture the excellent control he showed in 2010. Noesi doesn’t have anywhere near the upside of Pineda, but he could be a valuable cost-controlled player in the pitcher friendly Safeco Field.

Jose Campos helps the Yankees out by adding another quality arm to their farm system. The 18 year old righty was fantastic in low A Everett of the Northwest League with a 6.54 strikeout to walk ratio in 81 innings.Camposis a long way from the majors, but with Pineda now on the big league club, the team can wait to see if he can develop into a star over the next three to four years.

One player not involved in this deal who might be negatively impacted by this deal is Prince Fielder, the top free agent hitter on the market. The Mariners were among the teams rumored to be bidding for Fielder’s services and this move could push them out of the running. With Montero unlikely to stick at catcher and Justin Smoak at first both, Seattle probably doesn’t need another first base/Dh type on the roster, especially at Fielder’s asking price.