Montero added to Eastern League All-Star roster

July 8, 2009 by Mike Axisa 49 Comments

Despite playing in just 26 of Double-A Trenton’s 83 games this year, catcher Jesus Montero has been added to the Eastern League’s Northern Division All-Star Team as a replacement for the injured Josh Thole. He’ll be the sixth … uh … Thunderer to make the team, joining Zach McAllister, Josh Schmidt, Jorge Vazquez, Reegie Corona, and Eduardo Nunez, not to mention Trenton’s coaching staff. Montero is hitting .299-.364-.505 as a 19-yr old in a traditionally pitcher-friendly league and a very pitcher-friendly park.

This year’s Eastern League All-Star Game is being played in Trenton’s Waterfront Park, so here’s your chance to catch some of the very best prospects in the game all in one place without too much hassle. I’ll have a preview of the game up in the coming days.

Salty Buggah

Hooray for Montero!
http://www.retire21.org Mike R. – Retire 21

Montero is all kinds of awesome. He is more exciting to follow than Hughes was in his prospect days.
http://bronxbaseballdaily.com Matt ACTY/BBD

All praise the Jesus.
jsbrendog

now reegie corona is an allstar and ivan nova is so far tearing up aaa……looks like we’re lucky they were returned from the rule v teams that picked them….question is, are they eligible again next year? I know we don’t have the roster flexibility on the 40 man to protect them….

could we flip them for something worthwhile? what’s the play here?
- Mike bk
  
  we have more flexibility in terms of spaces than most think. molina, tomko, pettitte, matsui, nady or damon probably, cash, ransom and hinskie who are on it now probably wont be protected, so that is is 8 spots without counting edwar who never know if they leave him off the 40 man.
  - http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside
    
    I’d say unless Edwar pulls a 180 with the quickness and gets back to 150 ERA+ level dominance, he’s firmly in the non-tendered crosshairs this winter.
    - Mike bk
      
      that would mean 9-10. what about miranda?
  - jsbrendog
    
    good point, i was thinking more of right now. i wonder how it wil all play out… but at the same time, you have to replace matsui, nady, and damon and there isn’t anyone on the 40 man you could do that with realistically. so that’s 3 less. Hughes slides in for pettitte and then another amr on the 40 slides into the pen. cash isn’t needed..i thought he was dfa’d
    
    speculation!
    - Mike bk
      
      melancon up but doesnt take a new 40 man
      pena replaces ranson
      frankie molina
      hughes for pettitte.
      
      jackson replaces matsui so that takes 1 spot away
      one of nady or damon is probably back
      
      we need 1 OF, maybe a DH.
      
      so probably 6 prospects can get covered.
      - http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside
        
        Free agents/vets not likely to return:
        Matsui, Pettitte, Tomko, Molina, Cash, Hinske, Ransom (7)
        
        Youngsters on the edge:
        Edwar, Miranda (2)
        
        Two guys for likely one spot:
        Damon or Nady (1)
        
        I’d say, before we make any additions to the club (which we will), we’ll have between 7-10 spots on the 40-man this winter.
        
        http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike Axisa
        
        Miranda’s out of options next year and has absolutely no spot with the organization. He’s a goner at some point.
        
        Salty Buggah
        
        Trade him for Romero and Halladay
        
        Mike bk
        
        Axisa, name the 10 prospects we are most likely to cover this year and who is likely to be left off.
        
        http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside
        
        Miranda and Edwar to Washington for Justin Maxwell.
        
        Think about it. Maxwell’s stalled out a bit in his development, and the Nats are still inundated with outfielders who are passing him on the org chart. Edwar and Miranda give them cheap and fringy major leaguers who can hold down spots in the short term enabling them to trade Joe Beimel and Nick Johnson for larger prospect hauls.
        
        We get some quality OF depth.
Drew

Jesus>>>>>>Double A
Mike bk

i asked this question a couple days ago and dont remember anyone answering so i will ask again. with each talk of Jesus’ numbers someone add that it is a very pitcher friendly park making it more impressive. So how much less impressive is what Z-Mac is doing because he pitches in that park and you cant claim none to have it both ways. How much is the park deflating where Z-Mac’s numbers would be in a more even park? thanks.
- BklynJT
  
  The one knock on Z-Mac coming into this year was his low strike out rates. It would look at his FIP numbers to really tell if Z-MAC is as good as the hype. I think his strike out rates have increased from last year. Maybe also look into his gb-fb ratio.
- cult of basebaal
  
  you cant claim none to have it both ways
  
  Zach McAllister – 2009
  
  Home:
  2.36 49.2 1 15 49 (9 starts)
  
  Away:
  1.22 37.0 28 2 11 23 (6 starts)
  
  Anything else?
  
  ps … teh Googles is your friend.
  - cult of basebaal
    
    left one off, should be 41 hits allowed at home
  - cult of basebaal
    
    Oh, yeah, and here’s the 2008 Park Factors for Trenton:
    
    R/H/2B/HR/BB/K
    .90/.97/.96/.89/.98/1.05
    - Mike bk
      
      if those are the park factors then it is not that much of a pitchers park.
  - http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside
    
    Eastern League Ballpark Dimensions (LF, CF, RF):
    
    Mercer County Waterfront Park (Trenton Thunder) – 330, 407, 330
    NYSEG Stadium – 330, 400, 330
    Dodd Memorial Stadium – 309, 401, 309
    New Britain Stadium – 330, 400, 330
    MerchantsAuto.com Stadium – 325, 404, 325
    Hadlock Field – 315, 400, 330
    Canal Park – 331, 400, 337
    Blair County Ballpark – 325, 405, 325
    Prince George’s Stadium – 309, 405, 309
    Jerry Uht Park – 312, 400, 328
    Metro Bank Park – 325, 400, 325
    First Energy Stadium – 330, 400, 330
    
    Trenton is a pitcher’s park, but basically all the other parks in the EL are also pitcher’s parks. So the fact that Z-Mac’s road numbers are better doesn’t per se mean that his good numbers aren’t merely inflated by friendly home park effects. He’s also benefiting from friendly road park effects.
    - http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike Axisa
      
      It’s not just the dimension though, the wind coming off the river just eats up fly balls.
      - http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside
        
        Oh, no doubt, Trenton is probably the most Petco-like park of all the EL parks, but the rest of them are pretty tilted towards the defense too, no?
    - cult of basebaal
      
      Runs Per Game
      
      Lg. 2008 2007 2006
      
      Eas 4.62 4.60 4.22
      Sou 4.69 4.56 3.97
      Tex 4.90 4.64 4.92
http://www.puristbleedspinstripes.com Rebecca-Optimist Prime

Mo >>>>> Monstero >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Everyone else.
- http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside
  
  Somewhere, Francisco Cervelli cries a single tear.
  - http://www.puristbleedspinstripes.com Rebecca-Optimist Prime
    
    Mo >>>>> Monstero >>>>>>>>>>>>Cervelli>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Everyone else.
    - Salty Buggah
      
      You forgot Melvin!!!!!!! Your credibility just went down the drain.
      - http://www.puristbleedspinstripes.com Rebecca-Optimist Prime
        
        *le sigh*
        
        Melvin >> Mo >>>> Monstero >>>>>>>>>>Cervelli >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>everyone else
        
        Salty Buggah
        
        Nope.
        
        Mo>>>>>>>>>Melvin>>>>Monstero>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Cervelli>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>everyone else
        
        http://www.puristbleedspinstripes.com Rebecca-Optimist Prime
        
        Dude, I tried. Cut me some slack here! I mean, they all start with M!
        
        King of Fruitless Hypotheticals
        
        NICK SWISHER is gonna kill a puppy if he sees this :(
        
        http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside
        
        There is endless debate about the existence of the human soul. Well, souls do exist, and Nick Swisher finds them delicious.
        
        Salty Buggah
        
        I know you tried but this is something a true devotee of the Yankees religion cannot get wrong or else…
  - Bonos
    
    Damn, Frisco looked good during his time with the Yankees. No tears, did a hell of a job and I believe will smoke in the second half at Scranton. Hopefully the two codgers continue healthy. He was just getting over the tentative in NY. Behind the plate skills, totally impressive, I was watching the at bat sequences.
    - http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside
      
      Yup. He’s going to come in really handy in 2010.
      - King of Fruitless Hypotheticals
        
        he’ll be jorgie’s back up?
        
        how many games you think he catches? er, i should say, o/o for frankie at 90 games?
        
        http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside
        
        Eh, probably less.
        
        Our little RAB dreams of Jeter moving to the OF and Jorge moving to DH are probably not happening anytime soon. Or perhaps at all.
    - cult of basebaal
      
      Frisco?
      
      Frisco???
      
      It’s Frankie Brains and you’d best smile when you say it …
      - http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside
        
        PASTA FAGIOLE!!!!!
http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside

He’ll be the sixth … uh … Thunderer to make the team, joining Zach McAllister, Josh Schmidt, Jorge Vazquez, Reegie Corona, and Eduardo Nunez…

I believe the plural of thunder is “thundii.”
- Joe LA
  
  Because I love RAB and because I have to do a paper on them, I actually called the front office of the Trenton Thunder today and asked the Director of Public Relations, who informed me that the players aren’t called thunderers or anything else but they are called “Thunder players”. Super lame, Trenton. Super lame.
  - http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside
    
    I’m going to start calling them “Claps”.
    
    Six Claps named to the All-Star Team. I like it.
    - http://twitter.com/JamalG Jamal G.
      
      Well, that just isn’t very sanitary.
      - The Fallen Phoenix
        
        +1.
MikeD

Montero. Isn’t he about to become the new Fred McGriff? Traded to Toronto?

I hope that doesn’t happen, as much as I respect Halladay as a pitcher. If it did happen, though, the deal couldn’t be any worse than trading McGriff (along with Dave Collins and Mike Morgan) to the Toronto Blue Jays for Dale Murray and Tom Dodd. Really, what the hell were they thinking? Forgetting the near-HOF career of McGriff (who would have been a HOFer, most likely, if he was allowed to take his left-handed power swing to Yankee Stadium) they also traded Mike Morgan, who granted wasn’t a great pitcher, but had some good years while playing for about twenty years!
- http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside
  
  I like how you disguised that off topic posting about the Roy Halladay sweepstakes by pretending that you were talking about Jesus Montero.
  
  Well played, MikeD. Real smooth. You win the Axl Memorial Poster of the Day Award.