Don't Write Off Montero as a Catcher

Everybody loves Jesus Montero's bat. But nearly everybody is concerned about how well he can catch. This writer just read a few scouting reports yesterday that stated that Montero will never be good enough to catch in the major leagues. Those of us that have been following this great game for a long time have heard that before.

Just last year, scouting reports also said that Buster Posey will never be a good enough major league catcher. It seems to the Fan that he did pretty darn well after he got called up by the Giants. But there is another and more poignant example. His name was Lawrence "Yogi" Berra. If you read his wonderful biography, no one gave him a chance to be a big league catcher either. He was considered awful. Really awful. But Berra worked with Bill Dickey and others and he worked hard and he became one of the best all around catchers that ever played the game.

It's not like Montero has a dearth of help around the Yankees brass. Tony Pena was one of the best and most underrated catchers that ever played the position. He is the Yankees' bench coach. Joe Girardi himself is a former catcher. The one wild card is how hard Montero is willing to work to make it happen. Berra threw himself at the process and that turned out great. Posey threw himself at the process and that turned out well too. If Montero has enough talent to tattoo a baseball with a bat, he has enough talent to play adequately behind the plate. And if scouting reports can be believed, this guy is going to tattoo the baseball.

And besides, how much worse can he be behind the plate than Posada? Come on...you had to know THAT was coming!