Pineda to the Yankees for Montero

[Moonlight J]

James Paxton perhaps?

Paxton & Hultzen could both be there this season & Taijan Walker leads the next wave.

Adding Montero gives M's he, Smoak, Carp, and Wells for 1B/LF/DH. Montero is only DH or 1B (he is not a catcher) so that means either Carp or Smoak are going to lose PT if they stay where they are. Tough to see them trading Smoak since he's what they got for Lee, but I never saw the Padres giving away the key chip of the Gonzalez trade a year after they acquired him either.

Pstt -- Rays need a young 1B and have plenty of available starting pitching

[BigJonEmpire]

Paxton & Hultzen could both be there this season & Taijan Walker leads the next wave.

Adding Montero gives M's he, Smoak, Carp, and Wells for 1B/LF/DH. Montero is only DH or 1B (he is not a catcher) so that means either Carp or Smoak are going to lose PT if they stay where they are. Tough to see them trading Smoak since he's what they got for Lee, but I never saw the Padres giving away the key chip of the Gonzalez trade a year after they acquired him either.

Pstt -- Rays need a young 1B and have plenty of available starting pitching

I was kinda thinking that the Mariners have little to lose letting Jesus catch a year.

[revo]

I was kinda thinking that the Mariners have little to lose letting Jesus catch a year.

The irony here is that if Montero does indeed catch for them, he would replace their most productive bat from last year in Miguel Olivo (19 HRs, 62 RBIs).

[BuckyBuckner]

Don't sleep on Noesi, though. The kid has been nothing short of outstanding at every stop so far in his minor league career. He's a big injury risk but has great, great stuff. I'm not sure how exactly he compares to Campos but he's no slouch.

I was surprised to see the Yanks include Noesi as I've heard the front office talk about him as the next Nova. Not an ace but a damn fine pitcher. My guess is the trade talks started with Montero for Pineda and Seattle asked for Noesi and the Yanks then asked for Campos to be added. Seattle figured they are getting two players that are ready to play in the majors instead of one so they went with it.

[schlesinj]

I like the deal for both. Impact bat and that is exactly what Montero is for a young impact SP. The Yankees have 2 other catchers in the system and most believe that Montero is not much of a catcher. For this year Montero is a DH, so finding a DH is not to hard.

[Gregg]

I fear that Pineda gets shelled at Yankee Stadium given his FB rate; coupled with my Montero man-crush this is something that will probably take a few days to look better for me.

Small sample but I think Pineda has a 4.76 era against the East.

[Bodhizefa]

I fear that Pineda gets shelled at Yankee Stadium given his FB rate; coupled with my Montero man-crush this is something that will probably take a few days to look better for me.

HR/FB rate is most definitively a controllable skill for some pitchers (and probably all of them to a degree). Pineda is a beast on the mound, and I bet you guys are really going to enjoy him overall. I'd be more worried about his longterm durability than him being any sort of homerun prone pitcher at this point. His long arms and huge frame seemingly make his fastball very difficult for hitters to square up on. He does have a bit of an injury history, though (arm issues), so that's the real concern pressing forward. His talent is pretty nearly that of a staff ace, though.

[Bodhizefa]

I was surprised to see the Yanks include Noesi as I've heard the front office talk about him as the next Nova. Not an ace but a damn fine pitcher. My guess is the trade talks started with Montero for Pineda and Seattle asked for Noesi and the Yanks then asked for Campos to be added. Seattle figured they are getting two players that are ready to play in the majors instead of one so they went with it.

Precisely. After I had time to dig (and upon eldiablo's suggestion not to sleep on Noesi), he seems like a very fine major league ready arm that could have some solid success in Safeco. Campos is a good prospect, and I will hate losing him, but the more I dig into this, the more I think something like this had to happen for Seattle. I love Montero's bat, and Seattle has a dearth of bats throughout the entirety of the organization. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see how this is extremely beneficial for them.

[rhd]

Wow, what a trade.

Big win for the Yanks. I really dont understand it much from Seattle's perspective. Seattle is not going to compete next year and probably not soon after that either. They should be building for the future, and Pineda is exactly the type of player they should be trying to get, so why trade him away? True, Montero is also that type of player, but Pineda has at least accomplished something already in MLB, whereas Montero, as good a prospect as he is, hasnt. And including Campos for Noesi just makes it worse. Noesi projects as a back of rotation starter whereas Campos, while he hasnt pitched above the low minors yet, has much more upside. Again, the M's should trading to GET players like Campos, not trading them away for MLB-ready players w less upside. They already have other 4th/5th starter types in Beavan and Vargas and maybe Iwakuma, too. Also, now their DH slot is clogged up, and w Smoak at 1B, Carp now is either in LF, where he'll hurt you defensively, back in the minors or on the bench. And they still havent created a clear rotation opening for Hultzen or Paxton.

For the Yanks, this not only solves a couple issues for them, but gives them flexibility for more acquisitions. They needed starters, and Pineda fits the bill. Yes, his stats will suffer some in Yankee Stadium, but I think he'll be OK. They've freed up the DH spot now and could fill it w another stud. And Pineda is also young and cheap for a while, so they could flip him for a veteran stud starter. With the addition of Kuroda, their rotation looks pretty nice now. After an offseason of inactivity up til now, Cashman just won himself some points.

[Bodhizefa]

I was just thinking on my drive back home from the gym, "Gosh, this trade totally reminds me of how I felt when I heard about the Roberto Alomar, Joe Carter for Fred McGriff, Tony Fernandez deal." And sure enough, when I get home and read Larry Stone's reaction in the Seattle Times, he says essentially the same thing. One thing I know, whoever wins this deal (and I honestly hope both teams come out just fine), it sure was ballsy on both General Managers' behalves. Yay baseball!

[chancellor]

Huge trade on both ends, but I didn't think Cashman had the guts to make a deal like this. I like the deal for both sides. The M's have but one quality bat in their system at both the AA and AAA levels, but a pretty decent pile of pitching. Noesi has stuff that appears to translate very well to Safeco. Montero is a far better hitter than anyone in the Ms system.

[Erik]

My take is pretty much the same as rhd's.

I continue to be amazed that young, controllable ace or potential-ace pitchers are being traded these days. That NEVER used to happen.

There's a bit of a win-now aspect of this for the Yankees, which is odd given the ages of everyone involved. But they desperately needed someone like Pineda, and had no room for Montero.

[jackb]

Oh god how I hate this move.

If Bob doesn't like, then I do like it.

[Sour Masher]

I too like it for both teams as it addresses needs for both teams. Of course, it obviously has a much bigger impact on the Yankees, because they improve as a WS contender. The Ms aren't there with or without this move, but I understand it for them too. They needed a bat and have arms to come up and replace Pineda.

Pineda's stock is sky high right now, and rightly so, but there is more injury risk in him than in Montero. It makes sense for the Yankees to take that risk, and it makes sense for the M's to trade him for a premier bat.

[Erik]

Heyman says:

The Yankees initially tried to acquire Felix Hernandez from the Mariners and were willing to offer a package that included Montero, Betances, Banuelos and more.