The Blue Jays announced that they’ve acquired catcher Miguel Montero and cash considerations from the Cubs in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations. Darrell Ceciliani has been moved to the 60-day DL to clear a spot on the 40-man roster. FanRag’s Jon Heyman reported last week that the Jays had interest in Montero after the Cubs had designated him for assignment.
Montero, 34 this weekend, sounded off on teammate Jake Arrieta and the rest of the Cubs’ pitching staff last week for slow delivery times, citing that as the reason that the Nationals were able to steal seven bases against the Cubs in one game. While Arrieta undoubtedly carried his share of the blame in that instance, the Cubs didn’t take kindly to Montero’s candid assessment with the media; Montero was designated for assignment roughly 12 hours later.
President of baseball operations Theo Epstein told reporters after the fact that the organization considered that an instance of Montero “not being a good teammate,” while Anthony Rizzo offered some pointed criticism of Montero in a radio interview the next morning. Said Rizzo on ESPN 1000 (Twitter link): “When you point fingers you’re a selfish player. We have another catcher that throws everyone out.”
At the plate, Montero figures to give the Jays a boost in production. Toronto catchers have posted a putrid .168/.280/.280 batting line in 2017 on the whole. While Russell Martin isn’t hitting for average, he’s still getting on base and showing a bit of power, as evidenced by his .213/.369/.368 line. However, the combination of Luke Maile, Mike Ohlman and Jarrod Saltalamacchia has been a black hole for the Jays, from an offensive standpoint, hitting a combined .108/.140/.162 in 136 plate appearances. Montero isn’t the hitter that he once was, but he’s still touting a .286/.366/.439 batting line in 2017, albeit in a small sample of 112 plate appearances (just 13 of which have come against fellow lefties).
From a defensive standpoint, there are more questions with Montero. While he’s long rated as a plus framer and again has positive marks in 2017, he’s also thrown out just one of the 32 men that have attempted to steal a base against him this year. Last season he managed to halt a mere 11 percent of stolen base attempts against him, and he was at just 20 percent with the Cubs back in 2015. While there’s assuredly some level of truth to Montero’s comments — many stolen bases, after all, are swiped primarily at the expense of the pitcher — Montero certainly isn’t without blame. As Rizzo alluded to, Montero’s now-former teammate, Willson Contreras, has managed to throw out 35 percent of his opponents over the past two seasons.
Montero is earning $14MM this season in the final year of a five-year, $60MM contract extension that he signed with the Diamondbacks in 2012. Of that $14MM sum, approximately $6.96MM remains. Unsurprisingly, FOX’s Ken Rosenthal tweets that the Cubs will pay the “vast majority” of the sum that remains on that deal as a means of facilitating the deal.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Fits perfect on that team of me 1st players
I love when people make comments without a leg to stand on
I know the only real guy who is somewhat me first is Bautista and that’s cause he never cuts doe his swing. Don’t know where else you could get that from though
I know Colby Rasmus made a comment a couple years ago after he signed with the Astros that he didn’t like the clubhouse but ya outside of that I haven’t heard anything.
There’s been an almost complete turnover since Rasmus played for the Jays., so does that assertion really apply in 2017? Guys like Lind and Lawrie that were routinely cited as clubhouse drags are long gone. Pretty sure Bautista is the only holdover from those days.
What makes you think Bautista is selfish? The fact he hits anywhere in the order, plays whatever position he’s asked, bought suits for Devon Travis, offered to defer his money to bring in Ervin Santana?
Bautista is a Pro and liked as long as he is on your team. He does anything the club asks of him. I disagree about slagging him. Most of the Jay’s players are quality individuals with good leadership qualities. it is never perfect, but this is a good collection of personalities that can win if they had better pitching to hold tide them over when they slump at the plate.
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How’s his defence?
Shaky he has no arm and has trouble blocking balls
Blocking balls is a lost art largely among MLB catchers.. most have done a better job in their youth..
His arm doesn’t get rave reviews
, he said while snickering like Beavis and Butthead.
Plus game-calling, plus plus pitch-framing, hilariously poor arm.
That clubhouse in Chicago must be pretty toxic if the team is making moves like this. They got next to nothing for a productive player because he said something about a pitcher that anyone who has seen him pitch already knew.
Not a single stolen base on Arrieta yesterday with Contreras behind the plate. Also, how do we know what the Cubs received in this deal? PTBNL’s aren’t always total scrubs (Big Papi, for example).
Yah, because that’s an apples to apples comparison. How about the fact that he gave up 6 hits and 6 walks in 4 innings one game and then 1 hit and 2 walks in 7 innings the other one… Combine that with who he actually let on base (Votto/Duvall/Suarez vs Turner/Taylor), and it’s pretty easy to see why nobody even tried to steal a base.
I’m sure they’ll be much better against base stealers with Contreras instead of Montero (don’t think it could be any worse), but yesterday’s game proves literally nothing.
Thanks for the newsflash. Pretty hard to steal when you don’t get on base. One hit and two walks in seven. Votto and Duvall reached with two out in the first. Not ideal stolen base guy or situation. Peraza, with 3 SB this year also got on.
Many more runners last time out.
If Montero would have accepted all the blame for Arietta’s poor pitching, he would have gone no where.. He made the mistake of opening his mouth and telling the truth.
Why do you think it was a mistake for Montero? He’s still getting paid and got out of clubhouse that there’s was some obvious friction.
or if he would have taken some responsibility for being 0-31 throwing out runners and 20% below league average the last 3 years
He could possibly (maybe not this season) have won another championship with them so that’s the only reason I see for it being a bad decision. Your two reasons for it being a good decision outweigh that though, it’s obvious his teammates and the organization didn’t respect him.
This was @stl_cards16
Thanks. Sorry about that. In fact it was Suarez, not peraza that reached. So I really messed it up. Suarez has 3 SB.
Trea Turner was a PTBNL at one point too. Granted, that was through a loophole and is the exception to the rule, but still.
It’s about him saying things to the public, not sticking up for his teammates. He was the toxic one so he was removed. He’s not that productive anyways. Below average defender at a very important position.
If Arrieta would have stuck up for his teammate and took some of the heat for all of the stolen bases allowd and been a good teammate himself, Montero would not have blown up.
Arrieta agreed with Montero and did not take it personally. It was a management decision.
After the fact. Should have stuck up for Montero right after the game. Arrieta spoke after it hit the fan and Montero was in trouble.
Nice job in Iowa buddy remember as I said before it’s all between the EARS so when you come back be that all around hitter we fell in love with/ same thing happen to Baez but it took a year for him to learn past it down . Be the best
Lol what? First day on the internet?
Quite the opposite to me, that’s what I’m getting from this move. The Cubs are banding together, and this is management’s way of saying either get on board with our team or jump off and swim elsewhere…
Obviously, Montero was frustrated, but the one thing you don’t do in baseball is call out your teammates more or less blaming them for ongoing issues…You man up, take your responsibility in the matter, and move forward.
If you are frustrated with a teammate you hash it out in the clubhouse face to face away from the media…What Montero did was, and always will be, a huge no-no…I’m glad they got rid of him…
the Cubs will make a move or Two.. hopefully get a note worthy player
that can. steal a base…the Cubs shot them selves in the foot now it’s time to heal it & go get a starter & catcher
Like how Rizzo called out Montero? Or can you only not call out your teammate if they are one of the chosen few?
You forgot it was clear that they weren’t remaining teammates… so while I agree that Rizzo shouldn’t have spoken, its a differen’t situation.
He is responding to something not pointing fingers for his own shortcomings.
Rizzo was stating a fact after Montero called out Arrieta
Exactly, he broke the golden rule, u don’t air ur dirty laundry in public, clubhouse is a sacred place, way Cubs handled it was perfect, Good Baseball 101, remove the cancer, adios….
On the contrary, it means the clubhouse culture is pretty excellent and they don’t want anyone contaminating that, so they got rid of him.
lol say that to their record
What’s their record have do with it? I didn’t realize the secret to automatic wins was to have a good clubhouse?
Do remember that the Giants had a poor down year record-wise in between their championships.
Then they did again before they won their next one, but the clubhouse was solid.
montero was 0-31 throwing out base stealers this year. over the last couple years, he’s thrown out around 5%, roughly 20% lower than league average. he’s blaming his pitchers instead of taking responsibility. this is the kind of guy that makes a clubhouse toxic
I literally just wrote the same thing.
He was 1 for 32 though not 0 for 31.
The one caught stealing credited to Montero was actually a Mike Montgomery pickoff-CS.
I don’t follow the Cubs really so I’ll take your word for it.
I just went with what was on baseball reference.
Me too. I wanted to see who he caught and looked up the game. Turned out he didn’t touch the ball.
That would explain why so many articles had him as 0-31, I was confused as to why that stat was being thrown out there when ESPN had him at 1-32.
yeah, he’s not that special defensively, but the 7 stolen bases against him weren’t really all his fault, I still blame Arieta, who, in all fairness, shouldn’t have allowed them to get on base to begin with
I don’t doubt that that it was mostly, if not all, Arrieta’s fault.
That being said, Montero was still a douchebag for his comments. My favorite part of the Cubs last year was their team chemistry, attitude, and humility. I don’t like guys like Montero and Lackey ruining that.
You mean guys who were also apart of that chemistry last year?
Which should be proof to everyone that winning creates a good clubhouse, not the other way around.
They are ridding themselves of toxicity with this move
You clearly know next to nothing about baseball.
I guess anyone who disagrees with ReverieDays knows nothing about baseball?
Oh enlighten us all with your baseball wisdom ReverieDay
1 for 32, throwing baserunners out. Sure Arietta works slow. But you’re not telling me that Montero wasn’t part of the problem. On a night they get 7 SBs, he doesn’t call for ONE pitch out??
A big part of the stolen bases is the fact that Arrieta and Lackey are slow to the plate and Lester can’t hold runners.
But let’s not pretend that Montero is Yadi with any other pitcher on the mound.
He doesn’t have that great an arm, especially a few days away from 34. Of the 31 stolen bases allowed, he didn’t get a throw off because he dropped the ball on four of them. And his pop time is the second worst out of 50+ MLB catchers.
Not to mention that this isn’t his first public statement about the team, as he complained about his role right after they won the championship.
But the biggest problem with all of it is that he did this publicly. Why is he so concerned about his statistics? When people talk about how teams run wild on the Cubs, I never once heard them mention that Montero has a weak arm, or a slow pop time, or drops pitches. It’s always about the pitchers. So everybody knew it already.
If you have a problem, go talk to your teammates or your manager or the front office. Not the media. It sounds like Miggy just didn’t want to be in Chicago anymore. I wish him the best, because he’s still a solid player, but the Cubs had no other choice.
Arrieta has addressed his delivery problems. Throwing one hitter helps immensely.
Montero is 1-for-32 in trying to catch attempted base stealers this season. He can’t pin the blame solely on Arrieta on that.
In fact the last three years he’s been below league average for throwing out attempted base stealers and getting worse each year.
He’s 0-31. The 1 he supposedly had was credited as a pickoff by one of the pitchers. Numerous Cubs reporters have verified that he is indeed 0-31
Yeah someone above explained it. Like I said I went on what was on baseball reference.
Seems to be more going on in Chi town than meets the eye.
So far in 2017, Contreras has allowed the second most bases stolen and the stat mentioned above, 35 % runners caught over two seasons is outshined by the 37 he has allowed just this season alone putting him at No 2 in that catagory..
Obviously, given his salary, and Contreras playing more, Montero was deemed expendable, but all that said is there a problem with Chicago pitchers holding runners close, or do competitors sense that they have better than a 50/50 chance, if they have speed or good anticipation of stealing a bag on either the Chicago pitcher or catcher?
Hilarious to watch the Cubs crash and burn this season. Mediocre team filled with wannabes. Will Madden hire a puppet show or magician to entertain them this year?
Wannabes? Check out their rings. Still possible to win this year.
Ah, its 1 ring not plural.
Technically it is plural. One ring for many players, multiple rings. I believe Schwarber’s mother was replying to the wannabes part.
Wannabes? Did you forget about the reigning NL MVP, 2 Cy Young Award Finalists, and not to mention the WS MVP and reigning World Series Champs? LOL Nice try on the troll job…
@Rocketride
Hey guess who won the 2016 World Series! The Wannabes!
2 games out of first is crashing? Trade deadline gray archer Quintana can kinda help .
Yes like the pitcher batting Eighth. How many times this year have the cubs stopped a two out rally with the pitcher coming up instead of a real hitter. Madden is a Tony Larissa wanna be.
The Cubs are paying most of his remaining salary for Toronto to take him. They get something back. They wouldn’t have if they’d just release him.
Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but “PTBNL or cash considerations” is just about the lowest return a team could possibly give.
It essentially means the Blue Jays didn’t want to give up any minor leaguers, and they’ll likely just end up paying a very small portion of his contract.
But not the actual lowest. If the Cubs had outright released him then who ever picked up Montero would have only been responsible for the pro-rated league minimum amount. At this point that would be under 200k, so getting anything more than that would be a better move for the Cubs.
They also had to get rid of him. Back up catchers do not blame the pitchers publicly. Think of the career of David Ross who spent a majority of his career as a back up catcher mostly on his reputation as being a good influence.
I think PTBNL has actual value.
It’s “cash considerations” that literally brings nothing, should be outlawed, biggest joke in all of sports.
Not to pick on baseball, I hate when the NBA does it too! Lol
If Montero was frustrated with the Cubs pitchers, he may not like Toronto’s SP too much. Base stealers are 59 for 72 on steal attempts(82%), partly because the Jays pitchers are slow to the plate and partly because Martin’s arm isn’t what it used to be.
Martin still has a good arm. Stroman is the only pitcher though that is decent at holding the runners.
It’s very telling, that no contending teams wanted to acquire him.
He went through the claims process
No, he was traded or rather exiled to Toronto. No one was claiming him at his salary.
Eh? Trades are part of the DFA process. When a player is DFA’d, the club has 10 days to negotiate a trade, with priority given to teams with lower win-loss records.
Also, hey, Toronto is hardly exile for someone coming from Chicago — they’re both a cornerstone metropolis of North America, comparable in size, population, layout, diversity, etc…. On top of all that, the Blue Jays are drawing more attendance than the Cubs this season.
Nothing wrong with the city. Exile refers to the team being in last place in the East with seven teams to climb over for the Wild Card game. Jays have a lot of work to do.
Montero is a stud – also a scapegoat – to a Cubs team frustrated that is going no where this year…
Watch what ur saying
Blue Jays at Cubs next month. I wonder if Montero gets on off Arrieta he will try to steal.
If less than 2 outs and he is on, would not be surprised at all. Also would not be surprised if Arrieta decides that would finally be a good time to throw over a few times to first base and/or change up his delivery a little.
Arrieta actually throws over quite a bit, he just doesn’t pick anyone off.
I wonder if Arietta will steal on montero if he gets on?
Montero couldn’t steal a base off Arrieta if he rolled the ball to the plate. Montero is about the slowest guy in baseball.
If I were Montero, I’d wear a lot of body armor if facing Arrieta…
He is poor at throwing out base runners -but pitch-outs are usually called by the manager
Will know if the Cubs won this trade depending on if the get US Dollars or Canadian Dollars back?
Lol
I remain unsure of the Jays plan for 2017. Montero makes Saltalamacchia look like Pudge Rodriguez behind the plate.
Salty IS Pudge, let’s be honest haha
Desperation move to spark the team probably. And at least he has a bat, unlike salty and maile. The nails probably already in their coffin so it doesn’t really matter anyways
I kind of wish I was a fly on the wall of the Cubs club house to see how this move is effecting them, for better or worse.
I could just see Maddon going up in front of everybody: “I’m raising the ante. Anybody wants in, get in. Anybody wants out, get out. This team is going to the playoffs. Okay? This team is going to the playoffs.”
I think it just comes down to not throwing your teammates under the bust to the media. If you want to confront your pitcher behind closed doors fine, but feeding him to the media is a dumb move especially if you aren’t playing that well. A team is a team because they stick together, cliche but true, and Montero violated that.
I, for one, would not mind being thrown under the bust.
It’s not just that, one of the unwritten rules of baseball is the back up catcher never publicly criticizes. If he’s asked why there were so many steals on him on one day the back up catcher should either compliment the opposing team or simply say that he had a bad day and will do better. If the back up catcher is asked about his pitcher the worst thing he should say is they both need to improve. Any criticism is done in the manager or pitching coach’s office with the door closed.
As a BlueJays fan, I have one question: Can Motenro pitch well? As another blogger said, “This is rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic”. Maile is a very good-elite defensive/caller catcher and is fine as a backup to Martin. I am not sure about how competent this Jays baseball leadership is with respect to making the big deal to bring a winner this year.
A quick review of some this year’s Jays’ decisions: let go Encarnacion, sign Bautista[good but overpaid], sign Morales[excellent], sign Gavin Floyd[gone], sign Salty{gone], sign Howell[useless], resign Grilli[gone], sign Joe Smith[injured], sign Mat Latos[gone], claim Mike Bolsinger[gone], callup Casey Lawrence[gone], draft Glenn Sparkman[terrible], claim Dom Leone[excellent], trade Juan Graterol for cash[terrible], callup L Campos[gone], sign Steve Pearce[okay but overpaid], sign Chris Coglan[gone], bat Devon Travis and Kevin Pillar lead-off[dumb], send Biagini to rotation[dumb],
It is getting tough for me to beleive in this leadership team.
I like your analysis. The Jays certainly needed to fill the gaps with speed and youth. Instead, the Jays scoured the assisted living facilities around the continent. As a Baseball fan, I agree that the Jays Management seemed to only make a half-hearted effort.
Last year pitched 1 1/3 innings 1 run. This year one inning vs Yankees 0 runs
Like giving yourself cancer. Great job, Jays! Lol.
Maybe Montero didn’t know this was one of the “unwritten rules” of baseball.
He wasn’t needed and Caratini was waiting in the wings. If they saved $2m it is a win in terms of trying to stay below the luxury tax and penalties. Don’t forget the Cubs will have qualifying offers to both Arrieta and Wade Davis this year and want end of 1st round draft pick compensation.
For those who aren’t familiar, teams over the luxury tax don’t get 1st round pick compensation for Qualifying Offers in the new CBA.
The morals in pro sports are something else. Miss 80 games for PED usage and get welcomed back… A player who has been with the team for years makes the mistake of blaming teammates in a moment of frustration, gets thrown away instantly.
I’m fairly sure Montero could have smoothed things over with the pitchers had he been given a chance.
The Game is about performance not charcater unless you are hammering your own. It is that simple.
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I feel like whenever I see an article on MLBTR regarding the Blue Jays, they are acquiring a catcher…