He was manhandling high-A ball with a line of .356/.406/.583 in 180 at bats. He had 26 runs, 64 hits, 15 doubles, 1 triple, 8 home runs, 37 RBI, and a 14/25 BB/K ratio in 48 games.
Then he was promoted to AA at 19 years old. Sure, his defense is shotty, but the bat had nothing more to gain from A ball. And lets face it, the bat is what is going to make him a major league player and hopefully superstar, so that has to dictate his promotions.
Now he has played 39 games in AA, accumulating 149 AB. In his first 28 AB in Trenton, he was clearly adjusting as he hit just (and I use "just" loosely for a 19 year old catcher in AA) .285, but he had 0 home runs and 0 doubles. Since then he is 38 for 121 (.314) with 9 home runs and 7 doubles and a BB/K ratio of 14/18 in AA. So since moving up, he has actually increased his power in less at bats and improved his already impressive BB/K ratio.
On another forum somebody calculated his OPS+ to be 171 this year. At his current pace, he is going to win minor league player of the year I would imagine, and he has become the #1 or #2 prospect in all of baseball. I can't argue putting Heyward ahead of him due to the differences in defense. Montero as a catcher makes him possibly a one in a decade type of prospect with the potential to have a bat similar to Mike Piazza. Put that bat at DH or RF and it loses some value, but still remains as a top prospect.
Now the question is where do you go from here? His bat will be major league ready next season, possibly right away. At this point it is hard to deny that he can hit, he would very much hold his own in the majors next season.
Do you continue to move him along based on his bat? He would start next season in AAA most likely, no reason to rush him no matter how ready he looks. Matt Weiters looked more than ready and even he is struggling at the next level. Montero turns 20 in November, so he will be playing ALL of next season as a 20 year old, so we can always take our time. But why take our time if the guy is ready? His defense isn't very good, but I think it will be good enough if he can put up Mike Piazza numbers, that never held the Mets back.
I think at this point next year, he is platooning at C/DH with Posada as he gets acclimated to the major leagues. Then by the time Posada's contract is up, hopefully Romine turns into the player we expect and he too will reach the majors. From there, Montero either becomes a full-time DH, a RF (not likely IMO but I've seen the idea tossed around), or he and Romine can platoon as well.
Either way, Montero is arguably the best Yankees prospect since Jeter. Yes, even a better prospect than Hughes was 2-3 years ago given the uncertainty of pitching prospects. The potential this kid has is absolutely mind blowing.
