This Day in New York Yankees History 1/14: Jesus “Beast” Montero

On this day in 2012 the Yankees traded top prospect Jesus Montero along with Hector Noesi to the Seattle Mariners for pitchers Michael Pineda and Jose Campos. This deal has been a bit of a disaster for both teams until 2014 when the Yankees finally got a glimpse of their young right hander. All the while Montero showed up to Mariners camp 40 lbs. overweight and was trolled by a news reporter in a minor league dugout with an ice cream cone. Yeah, New York won this trade.


Also on this day in 1987 Yankees and Athletics ace Catfish Hunter and outfielder Billy Williams were elected to the Hall of Fame. Hunter was one of the game's first big money free agents when he signed his very lucrative deal with New York.


Finally on this day in 1970 former Yankees top relief pitcher, now known loosely as a closer, and New York Mets general manager Johnny Murphy dies of a heart attack.

This Day in New York Yankees History 1/14: Jesus “Beast” Montero

On this day in 2012 the Yankees traded top prospect Jesus Montero along with Hector Noesi to the Seattle Mariners for pitchers Michael Pineda and Jose Campos. This deal has been a bit of a disaster for both teams until 2014 when the Yankees finally got a glimpse of their young right hander. All the while Montero showed up to Mariners camp 40 lbs. overweight and was trolled by a news reporter in a minor league dugout with an ice cream cone. Yeah, New York won this trade.


Also on this day in 1987 Yankees and Athletics ace Catfish Hunter and outfielder Billy Williams were elected to the Hall of Fame. Hunter was one of the game's first big money free agents when he signed his very lucrative deal with New York.


Finally on this day in 1970 former Yankees top relief pitcher, now known loosely as a closer, and New York Mets general manager Johnny Murphy dies of a heart attack.

Yankees Roster Shuffling Continues

Let's get caught up.

Vicente (Jose) Campos was added to the team's 40 man roster before he hit minor league free agency. He was on the Yankees 40 man roster once before but the team removed him as he was rehabbing and attempting a return from Tommy john surgery.

Domingo German, Jacob Lindgren, Chase Whitley and Mason Williams were activated off the 60 day disabled list and added to the Yankees 40 man roster. These were expected and merely procedural. Whitley will likely head back to at least the 15 day DL when Opening Day rosters are finalized.

Chris Martin was released officially after we released it on Monday night. Martin will sign a contract with the Nippon Ham Fighters in the Japanese League. Andrew Bailey is also hitting free agency after refusing an outright off the 40 man roster despite being under Yankees team control for 2016.

Former Yankees Update: Jesus Montero

The New York Yankees once had a barren farm system with one exception, Jesus Montero. Brian Cashman set the Yankees world on fire back in 2012 when he traded Mr. Montero to the Seattle Mariners along with RHP Hector Noesi for RHP Michael Pineda and RHP Jose Campos. While Montero has basically been in the minor leagues or suspended ever since Pineda missed two seasons with the Yankees before becoming on the verge of being the team’s ace. While Pineda was winning games in the Bronx Mr. Montero was getting suspended for not being able to take an ice cream sandwich joke down in Class-A Ball but Montero has matured since and has made his way all the way back to the Major Leagues.

Montero was called back up to the majors on Thursday after a ton of hard work and a whole lot of growing up over the past calendar year. The Mariners were set to face a trio of left handed starting pitchers before the All-Star Break and the Mariners wanted to give the right handed hitting Montero at least a few games back with the big club after hitting .332 with 15 home runs and 68 RBI in 84 Triple-A games this season. Montero was leading the Pacific Coast League in hits, runs and RBI at the time of the call up and has a true shot to reclaim some of the hype he lost after “failing” as a top prospect in the Yankees system.

Yankees uniform or not Montero, to me anyway, is a Yankee. For that reason I will continue to root for him, even if Cashman did win that trade for Pineda. 

This Day in New York Yankees History 1/14: Jesus “Beast” Montero

On this day in 2012 the Yankees traded top prospect Jesus Montero along with Hector Noesi to the Seattle Mariners for pitchers Michael Pineda and Jose Campos. This deal has been a bit of a disaster for both teams until 2014 when the Yankees finally got a glimpse of their young right hander. All the while Montero showed up to Mariners camp 40 lbs. overweight and was trolled by a news reporter in a minor league dugout with an ice cream cone. Yeah, New York won this trade.

Also on this day in 1987 Yankees and Athletics ace Catfish Hunter and outfielder Billy Williams were elected to the Hall of Fame. Hunter was one of the game's first big money free agents when he signed his very lucrative deal with New York.

Finally on this day in 1970 former Yankees top relief pitcher, now known loosely as a closer, and New York Mets general manager Johnny Murphy dies of a heart attack.

Yankees Bring Three Minor Leaguers In Including Jose Campos

#Yankees RHP Jose Campos and #Braves RHP Gus Schlosser re-sign with orgs after being non-tendered earlier this month.
— Matt Eddy (@MattEddyBA) December 15, 2014

New York has brought back minor league right handed pitcher Jose Campos after non tendering him last week before the deadline. You may remember Campos as the "other" guy the Yankees got in the Michael Pineda and Jesus Montero trade. Campos has had consecutive seasons with elbow injuries including a Tommy John surgery so a trip to the bullpen may be in store for the young right hander.

In addition to re-signing Jose Campos, #Yankees also sign minor league free agents C Juan Graterol and 2B/3B Cole Figueroa.
— Matt Eddy (@MattEddyBA) December 15, 2014

In other news the Yankees brought in some new blood in from the Tampa Bay Rays in infielder Cole Figueroa and catcher Juan Graterol formerly of the Kansas City Royals. 

Expect Heathcott and Campos Back, Maybe Huff

I was shocked a bit when I heard the news that the Yankees had non-tendered outfielder Slade Heathcott and pitchers Jose Campos and David Huff but history got me thinking that we may see Heathcott and Campos back in Yankees camp soon. In recent years the Yankees have done the same to third baseman David Adams and to some extent Nik Turley, Francisco Rondon and Corban Joseph to get them off the 40 man roster but still with the organization.

New York quickly brought these players back on minor league deals without the 40 man roster obligation presumably on some kind of verbal agreement. I can only speculate here that a similar issue is going on with Heathcott and Campos this season. Both players have often been injured and run very little risk of being claimed on waivers by other teams or picked up by other teams. Huff on the other hand could be doing the same but after a strong second half with the Yankees may be looking to latch on elsewhere.

Don’t panic Yankees fans all this means is the team has three more open 40 man roster spots and could have all three back in Spring Training or back with the team in some capacity in 2015. 

Yankees Call Up Chris Leroux

Chris Leroux in the clubhouse. Assuming that's the move after last night
— Erik Boland (@eboland11) April 26, 2014

No word on whether Bruce Billings will be designated for assignment or if Jose Campos will simply be transferred to the 60 day DL and another roster move will be made but the Yankees will call up Chris Leroux before the game this afternoon. I am obviously leaning towards Billings getting the DFA after his 76 pitch night taking it on the chin for the Yankees bullpen. Thanks for the memories Bruce, even if they weren't so great.

And the revolving door continues in the Yankees bullpen.

Jose Campos To Have Tommy John Surgery

And another one down, and another one down, another Yankees pitcher bites the dust. The Yankees announced that Jose Campos underwent undergo Tommy John surgery and it will end his 2014 season. The official line was elbow inflammation but with Campos going under the knife yesterday and none of us knowing it goes to show you that you cannot believe everything you read on the internet, unless you read it here of course.

Campos missed much of the 2012 season with a stress fracture in his elbow and will now miss all of 2014 and some of 2015. Campos did not pitch much at all this spring which leads you to believe that the elbow problem has been around longer then we have been told.

And it's official, the Michael Pineda and Camp for Jesus Montero and Hector Noesi trade is officially cursed.

Yankees Minor Leagues Hit w/ Injury Bug As Well

The Yankees have been hit significantly this season already, with the injuries of Mark Teixeira and David Robertson most notably, and the Yankees minor league players have been hit hard as well. Below is a list of players who have started out at least on the seven day DL to start the season:

Scranton RailRiders: 

RHP Andrew Bailey, RHP Jose Ramirez, LHP Francisco Rondon, LHP Nik Turley, OF Ronnier Mustelier

Trenton Thunder: 

RHP Nick Goody, RHP Scottie Allen, LHP Rigoberto Arrebato, C Kyle Higashioka, 3B Casey Stevenson, OF Slade Heathcott 

Tampa Yankees: 

RHP Jose Campos, 1B Greg Bird, 1B Matt Snyder, 3B Anderson Feliz, OF Ericson Leonora

Charleston Riverdogs: 

RHP Conor Mullee, RHP Gabe Encinas, RHP Luis Niebla, C Jackson Valera, 3B Kevin Cornelius, 3B Matt Duran

Nik Turley is battling the same throwing arm stiffness that kept him basically out of all of spring training. Andrew Bailey was signed injured and will not be ready until June or July. Jose Ramirez is fighting another oblique injury, the same injury that robbed him of much of his 2013 season. Slade Heathcott had cleanup knee surgery this offseason and is still recovering from that but expects to be ready relatively soon. Jose Campos being on the list again is not encouraging and neither is Greg Bird with his back flaring up again. Either way none of these injuries are all that serious, like Tommy John surgery for instance, so the Yankees farm will be back and be strong again soon, we hope.

NYY Continue To Win The Montero/Pineda Trade

Just a quick hit before Masahiro Tanaka makes his Major League debut:

The New York Yankees continue to win the Jesus Montero and Hector Noesi for Jose Campos and Michael Pineda trade with the news that Noesi was designated for assignment by the Seattle Mariners this afternoon. Noesi was showcased as a back end of the rotation starting pitcher but was being used in Seattle as a long reliever, and now is likely to be out of a job at least temporarily.

Ready To Announce A Winner In The Pineda Trade Yet?

Honestly I think this may go on for at least three or four more seasons before we have a true and concise answer to this question but do we have a winner in the Jesus Montero and Hector Noesi for Michael Pineda and Jose Campos trade yet? We had a very lengthy discussion on twitter yesterday afternoon about it and it got me wondering if I am wrong and stubborn or just following the wrong crowd. Have the Yankees not won this trade yet?

The way I see it, and again this is just my opinion, the Yankees got a pitcher for six years of team control that threw in the upper 90's who had proven he could win in the Major Leagues and the American League. The Yankees also got a guy in Campos that easily slotted in as one of their best, if not their best, pitching prospect in all the system. The Mariners got a guy without a position, a home run or strike out bat, a guy with declining and very questionable defense, a guy who was already being called lazy, a guy with a bad attitude, a guy benched for his attitude and work ethic, and a guy who would lose his one redeeming factor, his power, in his new stadium in Montero. Brian Cashman hyped the hell out of Noesi before the trade happened and the Mariners bought into it, whoops.

I realize Pineda came into camp fat and uninterested in 2012 and Campos has been hurt and non existent, I get it, but has Montero not come into camp fat and uninterested? Has Montero given the Mariners much more than the Yankees have gotten out of Pineda? You also have to keep in mind that the Yankees babied Pineda last season and pushed him back, that should not go against Pineda whatsoever. Campos has been injured but still has his entire career ahead of him, as does Pineda, where Noesi is probably cleaning toilets somewhere by now. Montero is delegated to AAA first basemen or DH and cannot even crack an offensively anemic team's 25 man roster, especially desperate for right handed hitting and power hitters, which speaks volumes to me.

The Yankees didn't "rape", a term I have seen thrown around describing a one sided trade, the Mariners and honestly it may still be too early to tell but if history and this spring training is any indicator the Yankees got the better end of this deal. Pineda has a ton of upside and has four years of team control left and the sky is the limit for Campos while Montero will always remember his curtain call at Yankee Stadium and Noesi will bag groceries for a living. I'm kidding obviously, but not by much.

Jose Campos Optioned To High A Tampa Yankees

Jose Campos made his spring debut on Wednesday against the Detroit Tigers in a tie and is now headed to High A Tampa with the Tampa Yankees after being optioned out of Yankees camp today.  You may remember Campos as the other guy that got traded in the Jesus Montero for Michael Pineda trade or for him missing most of the 2012 season due to a arm injury.

Campos is still only 21 years old and is being brought along slowly as the Yankees are easing him back into playing games. Campos also had his innings and pitch counts limited in 2013 because of the injury, because that worked so well with Joba Chamberlain, and pitched only 87 IP in 2013 mostly for Low A Charleston with the Riverdogs.

New York Yankees Spring Training News & Notes 2/28

The Yankees won their final game of February and of Prospects Month here on the blog over the Detroit Tigers in Lakeland. Brian McCann homered and the pitching was solid but not everybody played in the game. Derek Jeter is on the "Mariano Rivera" schedule where he pretty much will not travel when the team does this spring. Here is the rest of the Yankees news and notes from the day.

Michael Pineda is expected to throw a simulated game on Sunday rather than getting right into Grapefruit League action. Manager Joe Girardi seems to be taking things slow and cautious with Pineda at this point and who could blame him after all Pineda has been through.

Slade Heathcott had some minor knee surgery to clean up some stuff in the offseason and finally started offseason workouts today for the first time since the surgery. He took dry swings and played catch, he did not test out the knee just yet but he is on the field and for February that is good enough.

Jose Ramirez had an MRI on his back and his oblique that gave him so much trouble last season and everything came back clean. Ramirez still feels soreness and pain so he will be shut down for the foreseeable future.

Scott Sizemore has one more obstacle before being cleared to play in games and that is diving to a base in the dirt, something that he will do this Sunday. With Sizemore competing for the final bench spot the sooner he gets on the field the better for him.

David Robertson and Jose Campos both threw batting practice sessions to live hitting this morning before the Tigers game. Scott Sizemore and Brian Roberts were the batters in these live BP sessions.

Yangervis Solarte is making big moves in Yankees camp today with another 2-for-2 day with another home run and three more RBI's. He is a name that almost nobody, including myself, knew before this Yankees camp but may know after all is said and done.

Reggie Jackson arrived at Yankees camp today for anyone who needs their drink stirred.

Thank you to Chad Jennings for the assignments as usual:

Today’s second string: C Austin Romine, 1B Francisco Arcia, 2B Yangervis Solarte, SS Addison Maruszak, 3B Zelous Wheeler, LF Jose Pirela, CF Ramon Flores, RF Antoan Richardson

· Today’s available relievers: Shawn Kelley, Preston Claiborne, Dan Burawa, Mark Montgomery, Brian Gordon and Fred Lewis (Dellin Betances, Caleb Cotham, Chase Whitley, Bruce Billings, Zach Nuding and Diego Moreno are also making the trip).

· Early bullpen sessions: 
Michael Pineda (to John Ryan Murphy)
Manny Banuelos (to Jose Gil)
Ivan Nova (to Francisco Cervelli)
Matt Daley (to Roman Rodriguez)

· Batting practice groups at Steinbrenner Field:
Group 1: Derek Jeter, Brian Roberts, Alfonso Soriano, Ichiro Suzuki (that’s the cool-guy group)
Group 2: Francisco Cervelli, Brett Gardner, Mark Teixeira
Group 3: Kelly Johnson, John Ryan Murphy, Scott Sizemore

Prospects Month: Top 28 Yankees Prospects List #11

Continuing our look at The Greedy Pinstripes Top 28 prospects list as a part of Prospects Month we name our #11 prospect, Jose Campos!

Here is the complete up to date list. Check back every day as the list fills out and we continue our look at the prospects in the New York Yankees system during Prospects Month here on TGP.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11. Jose Campos
12. Gosuke Katoh
13. Shane Greene
14. Jose Ramirez
15. Peter O'Brien
16. Aaron Judge
17. Ty Hensley
18. Luis Severino
19. Abiatal Avelino
20. Rob Refsnyder
21. Nik Turley
22. Cito Culver
23. Ramon Flores
24. Mark Montgomery
25. Rookie Davis
26. Jake Cave
27. Ben Gamel
28. Angelo Gumbs

Spring Training News & Notes From Day Four

Is it really already day four of Spring Training? Are our pitchers really throwing live batting practice already? Where does the time go. Carlos Beltran made his appearance at Yankees camp for the first time, the catchers took batting practice from out pitchers, and Michael Pineda was on the mound. It was an awesome day down in Tampa at the Yankees camp, here are a few notes from today.

Yoshinori Tateyama finally has his visa issues out of the way and has made it to the United States and Yankees camp today for the first time. Tateyama is already in full workout mode and likely has to catch up to the rest of the pitchers in camp.

Michael Pineda and Jose Campos both threw bullpen sessions today coming off of injuries and steps back after being acquired by New York from the Mariners.

Francisco Arcia, Peter O'Brien, and Jose Gil were scheduled to take batting practice against David Phelps, Adam Warren, Dellin Betances, and others.

Speaking of batting practice Mark Teixeira took outside batting practice for the second straight day today and hit a ton of line drives.

Once again a big thank you to Chad Jennings for the batting practice and bullpen assignments. He really does the best job of anyone in the Yankees blogosphere covering the Yankees Spring Training.

· Live batting practice
David Phelps (Brian McCann catching; Sanchez hitting)
Adam Warren (Francisco Cervelli catching; McCann hitting)
Jim Miller (Austin Romine catching; Cervelli hitting)
Vidal Nuno (John Ryan Murphy catching; Romine hitting)
Preston Claiborne (Gary Sanchez catching; Murphy hitting)

· Going to the minor league complex to throw BP around 11 a.m.
Dellin Betances
Dan Burawa
Robert Coello
Shane Greene
Fred Lewis
Bryan Mitchell
Jose Ramirez
Francisco Rondon
Nik Turley
Chase Whitley

This Day In New York Yankees History 1/14

On this day in 1970 former Yankees top relief pitcher, now known loosely as a closer, and New York Mets general manager Johnny Murphy dies of a heart attack.

On this day in 1987 Yankees and Athletics ace Catfish Hunter and outfielder Billy Williams were elected to the Hall of Fame. Hunter was one of the game's first big money free agents when he signed his very lucrative deal with New York.

On this day in 2012 the Yankees traded top prospect Jesus Montero along with Hector Noesi to the Seattle Mariners for  pitchers Michael Pineda and Jose Campos. This deal has been a bit of a disaster for both teams but Pineda is only 24 years old and Montero is being worked as a first basemen and a DH in the minor leagues.

The Three Yankees Likely Lost To The Rule 5 Draft

The Yankees finalized their 40 man rosters earlier in the week by acquiring Dean Anna from the San Diego Padres, outrighting Corban Joseph off the 40 man roster and assigning him to AAA Scranton with the RailRiders, and adding their own prospects Slade Heathcott, Gary Sanchez, Shane Greene, Jose Campos, and Bryan Mitchell to the 40 man for protection from the Rule 5 Draft. The most notable names that have been left unprotected, and are extremely like to be selected, are Danny Burawa, Chase Whitley, and Tommy Kahnle.

Kahnle was part of a number of trade rumors this season so that seems to show the Yankees line of thinking, that he is fringe enough to leave unprotected but good and polished enough to get taken. Kahnle spent his first full season at AA with Trenton this season and struck out over 11 batters per nine innings, posted a 2.85 ERA, and a 3.85 FIP. Kahnle is left off the roster because of his 6.75 walks per nine innings.

Chase Whitley spent his season in AAA with the RailRiders while striking out over eight batters per nine innings. Whitley posted a 3.06 ERA and was on the short list at the end of the season of guys to be called up if someone went down with an injury so he is clearly polished and ready for the big show. I cannot see a scenario where a team does not take him and stash him as the last man out of the bullpen, he is that young and that good.

Burawa missed the 2012 season with an injury and reached as high as AA with the Thunder in 2013 so he may represent our best chance of not losing out of the three. Burawa struck out nine guys per nine innings on the nose, although he walked nearly six batters per nine innings, posted a solid 2.59 ERA, and is still only 25 years old.

I think Whitley is gone, Kahnle is more then likely gone, and I would not be surprised if Burawa is taken too. I could not see Burawa sticking on a 40 man roster all season and being returned but I could see Kahnle and Whitley so they are all but gone in my opinion. The Rule 5 Draft is next month so all we can do is speculate until then.

The Yankees Finalize 40 Man Roster

Okay get ready and try to keep up here because things just got crazy in Yankees land. The Yankees had until midnight tonight to finalize these rosters before players would be eligible for the Rule 5 draft next month.

The Yankees acquires infielder Dean Anna from the San Diego Padres for A ball pitcher Ben Paullus.

Anna has been added to the 40 man roster as well as Gary Sanchez, Slade Heathcott, Jose Campos, Bryan Mitchell, and Shane Greene.

More to come but right now the first roster cut is Corban Joseph who has been outrighted off the 40 man roster.

Former Yankees Update Jesus Montero

Hey remember that Jesus Montero guy that was going to be the savior to the Yankees offense only to be traded to Seattle about a year and a half ago? Well this disaster of a trade continues to get more and more like a train wreck today when the Seattle Mariners sent down Jesus Montero to their AAA team. Jesus was only batting .208/.264/.327 making him one of the worst offensive catchers in all of baseball. Just as a side not his defense and framing skills were never much to write home about so when the offense struggles you can understand the demotion. It is worth noting that their #1 catcher Mike Zunino is also in AAA so either Montero will have to be a back up to Mike or he will have to learn a new position like first base or be a designated hitter. Either way the Yankees took a small step in "winning" this trade today with Michael Pineda coming back strong, Jose Campos back healthy,and Hector Noesi and Montero struggling.