Jesus Montero Is In Shape, Finally

Jesus Montero has been through a lot in his young career. He emerged as a top prospect with the New York Yankees, dazzled in his MLB debut, and was part of one of the most fascinating trades in recent memory. His first full season in the majors went well enough, but his second was mired by underperformance and a PED suspension. His third season with the Seattle Mariners was, unfortunately, more like his second than his first. Many have since doubted whether or not he’ll even so much as make it back to the majors, ever.

More from Emerald City Swagger

• Seattle Seahawks: To rest or not to rest, that is the question
• Washington State Football: What you need to know for 2018 Alamo Bowl
• Washington Basketball: 3 takeaways from Huskies win over Sacramento St.
• Seattle Seahawks: 12s still waiting to exhale
• Seattle Seahawks: 4 Takeaways from 26-23 Loss to the 49ers

How did he manage to return from a suspension and somehow have an even worse year? A poor showing on the field that was at least in part due to injuries, for one. Ending the year suspended yet again, for another, though this suspension was merely for throwing ice cream sandwiches at a scout and trying to start a fight in the stands. And he certainly got off on the wrong foot – Montero famously showed up to camp overweight and out of shape last March.

Despite talk that the team could simply cut him loose, Jack Zduriencik and co. refused to give up on the one-time top prospect. Saying they still believed in his potential but also refusing to guarantee him anything, the Mariners gave Montero an offseason plan and simply asked him to stick with it. Turns out that wasn’t too much to ask.

The Mariners’ had a pre-Spring Training luncheon on Thursday. This was mostly just a tone-setter for FanFest, but it also provided us with our first opportunity in a while to hear the people who run the Mariners talking rather candidly about the Mariners. Turns out they like their team. Turns out they had good things to say about their team, including glowing words for Jesus Montero.

“We set a program in place that he embraced,” said Zduriencik of Montero. “Now he stubbed his toe, his second toe and his third toe. But the bottom line is, he’s still part of this organization. We’ve got a lot invested in him and we certainly want him to be successful. And he’s going to be given that opportunity.”

“Opportunity” certainly doesn’t seem to translate into “starting role,” let alone “guaranteed roster spot.” What the team is saying is that they asked something of Montero, and Montero held up his end of the bargain. Because of this they’ll give him a look in spring training, and if it turns out there’s something there the coaching staff and front office will be far from shocked.

Montero’s target weight for this offseason was 235 pounds. As of today, he’s weighing in at… 235 pounds. He’s there, already. Chris Gwynn, the Mariners’ minor league coordinator, said that he’s been present for some of Montero’s recent workouts. “He looks really good,” said Gwynn. “What you really notice right off is just how easy he moves.” Given all we’ve seen of Montero lately, that quote is borderline shocking. It’s hard to imagine Montero’s motor skills as “easy.”

Remember how exciting it was when the Mariners traded for Montero? Here, courtesy of Robinson Cano, is a nice throwback description of Montero as a September callup for the Yankees: “This guy is 20 years old, he’s a monster. We’ve got ourselves a 30- to 40- home run guy going forward.”

Montero’s older now, and while he’s gone through some serious hardships – most of which were of his own making – he’s positioned to get another chance at success. Notice how there’s not a lot of depth behind Nelson Cruz and Logan Morrison at DH and first base, respectively. That’s an MLB roster spot that could go to Montero, provided he has himself an impressive spring. It’s not hard to picture Montero being that guy out of camp.

Jesus Montero is a probably Tacoma Rainier who has an obvious role on the Seattle Mariners, should his performance warrant the roster spot. The Mariners have a lot of guys like that at AAA, which is a big part of why they’re a deeper, more complete, and deadlier team than they’ve been in forever. Montero’s put himself in a position where he could soon be helping a Major League Baseball team win games. That’s amazing, considering. Good job, Jesus.

Next: Shawn O'Malley, Seattle Mariner Of (Potential) Interest