Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago Cubs On The Verge of Montero Deal

The Arizona Diamondbacks are “on the verge” of sending veteran catcher Miguel Montero to the Cubs according to a report by Bob Nightengale of The USA Today.

The Chicago #Cubs are on the verge of acquiring #Dbacks catcher Miguel Montero for prospects. Deal expected by end of day.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 9, 2014

This is the second time in the past week that the Diamondbacks have been reportedly in serious talks with a club to deal Montero, who is the longest tenured player on the roster.

The first time came when Fox Sports reported that Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick rejected a trade that would have sent Miguel Montero to the Dodgers for OF Andre Either, catcher Tim Federowicz, and cash to help cover the remaining amount left on Either’s salary.

Chief Baseball Officer Tony La Russa told the Arizona Republic that a potential deal was never blocked by ownership:

“We had conversations with them,” La Russa said. “But at no time was there a deal done that ownership called in and said, ‘No, stop, this isn’t going to happen.'”

“Well, I think he’s real typical of involved owners, which I’ve had for 30 years,” La Russa said. “They don’t want to be surprised by anything. But he’s made it clear, so did Derrick (Hall) and I’ve met more (with) Mr. (Jeff) Royer than the other gentlemen (owners), they hire people to do the job and they want to give you the opportunity to do your job. But they want to be informed. I don’t know how many times I’ve got to tell you that Ken didn’t block the deal.”

Simply, the Diamondbacks weren’t likely to trade Montero to the division rival Dodgers.

Montero is owed $40 million over the next three seasons, so a trade would help dump salary, and give the team financial flexibility to go get a starting pitcher, or a left-handed bat to slot behind Paul Goldschmidt.

Montero was only worth a 0.5 and 0.7 bWAR (baseball reference war) last season, and while Montero is one of the best defensive catchers in the game, his offensive numbers are declining as his age goes up.

Even if the Dbacks dont get a great return, this move is purely a salary dump to help the team acquire more pieces. The Cubs would absorb all of or most of Montero’s remaining salary.

Dont be surprised if Montero is in a Cubs uniform by the end of the day.

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