SEATTLE — By making what general manager Jack Zduriencik called an “old-fashioned baseball trade,” the Mariners believe they are a better team.
So too do their trading partners, the New York Yankees, who sent catcher Jesus Montero and right-handed pitcher Hector Noesi to Seattle for pitchers Michael Pineda and Jose Campos. The trade was first agreed to more than a week ago, but finalized and announced on Monday.
Most trades involve baseball haves like New York taking talent from the have nots. This deal, however, had nothing to do with money. The Yankees, for all of their offensive talent, were lacking in top-end pitching. The Mariners, a team with a bona fide ace in Felix Hernandez and tons of pitching depth at the major league level as well as in the minor leagues, were desperate for an offensive upgrade.
“We had a need, and to get really good players, you have to give up really good players,” Zduriencik said on a conference call. “If this goes down as a trade that helps the Yankees and helps us both long-term and short-term, then it’s a win-win for everybody. … Neither one of us was trying to walk away from this thing thinking like, ‘Hey, I got the upper hand, I got the better end of the deal here.’ I don’t think that was going to happen with younger players, because there were no contracts involved; it was only talent.”
Montero, who at 22 is considered the top catching prospect in baseball by Baseball America, hit .328 with 4 home runs and 12 RBI, while posting a .406 on-base percentage and .590 slugging percentage in 18 games last season as a September call-up. At 6-foot-3, 235 pounds, he projects as a long-term, middle-of-the-order power bat for a franchise that has been the worst offensive team in baseball over the past two seasons. He was a player the Yankees weren’t easily willing to let go.
“He may very well be the best player I’ve ever traded, and obviously I’ve been doing this a long time,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said on a conference call with New York area reporters. “He’s that good. … He’s going to have a heck of a career.”
And to get the bat they were looking for, the Mariners had to be willing to give up a significant talent in Pineda, who was named an All-Star as a rookie in 2011.
“It was very difficult to give up a guy like Michael Pineda, an All-Star who had a terrific year, and just a wonderful young man,” said Zduriencik. “… But in the end the decision came down to two clubs that were looking for two specific needs — the Yankees were addressing pitching and we were addressing offense as well as acquiring pitching.”
In addition to Pineda, who went 9-10 last season with a 3.47 ERA, the Mariners also parted ways with promising right-hander Campos, who went 5-5 with a 2.32 ERA last year with the Everett AquaSox.
Noesi, a right-hander who turns 25 later this month, split time last season with the Yankees and Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. In 30 major league appearances, two of which were starts, he posted a 2-2 record with a 4.47 ERA and 45 strikeouts in 561⁄3 innings pitched. Zduriencik said Noesi will get a chance to battle for a spot in a rotation that is largely undefined beyond Hernandez.
“I’m excited to see what’s going to happen,” Zduriencik said. “Obviously we have Felix at the top, but there’s going to be a lot of competition for all of the other starts.”
The Mariners are banking on Montero hitting at the major league level, which is why they made the deal. Where he will play, however, remains a question. Montero has come through the minor leagues as a catcher, but there are questions as to whether he will be able to play there in the major leagues.
“All of that will address itself when we go to spring training,” Zduriencik said. “… We’re going to give him every opportunity to be all he can be, whatever that might be.”
Montero said on the call that he too hopes to catch for his new team: “That’s why I’m here. I’m looking for a spot, looking for an opportunity, I’m going to keep working hard behind the plate to do my best.”
Wherever Montero plays, the combination of him and fellow Venezuelan Hernandez should make the Mariners, already a well known team in Venezuela, even more popular in the country that is also home to Seattle center fielder Franklin Gutierrez.
“People (in Venezuela) know a lot about Seattle,” Montero said. “But now it’s going to be better because we’re going to win.”
If Montero does indeed help the Mariners win, fans may have to begrudgingly thank Alex Rodriguez, who made an impression on the young slugger during his time with the Yankees.
“He taught me a lot of things,” Montero said. “First of all, he was mad at me because I wasn’t going to the cage a lot. He told me, ‘If you don’t go to the cage, I’m going to fine you $100 every day.’ … I learned all the routines he taught me and everything was good after that.”
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com.
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