I have been saying all spring the best place for Jesus Montero, if it he wasn’t the starting catcher for the Yankees, was playing every day at Triple-A. There is merit for him spending time at the big league level with hitting coach Kevin Long, Joe Girardi, and bench coach Tony Pena, but getting playing time is the only way he will improve.

Now that we are nearing opening day it appears this could be a real scenario for the Yankees. Known for his offense, Montero is hitting only .222 this spring. Could it be possible the focus on defense has negatively impacted his offense? Again, small sample size of spring training, but it doesn’t take much to see the kid is struggling, and is not ready for the majors.

That means the Yankees could go a couple of ways. First, they could bring Gustavo Molina north until Francisco Cervelli comes back from his broken foot. They could also insert Posada as the backup catcher, and take another bench player like Justin Maxwell, Greg Golson, or Ronnie Belliard.

The second scenario could leave them without a DH in certain games. Posada is penciled in as the designated hitter so if they need to bring him in for Russell Martin, Joe Girardi would be forfeiting the DH. As you already know, the DH can play the field during the game, but that team loses its DH rights. Martin isn’t going to get hurt every night, but it’s something that could be a concern. Also, the team was adamant about Posada not catching this season so this scenario appears unlikely.

Finally, they could bring in a veteran catcher. Right now, the Yankees catching depth are kids like Montero and Austin Romine. They also have Molina and Kyle Higashioka, but would they really want to add them to the 40 man roster? Craig Calcaterra of NBC’s Hardball Talk suggests they look at Bengie Molina, who is semi retired.

Molina would be the perfect backup/Triple-A filler. Would he accept such a role? Probably not, as I suspect he wants a big league job. Again, Francisco Cervelli is the perfect backup for this team, but he is out injured. Knowing that injuries are part of the game it wouldn’t hurt for Brian Cashman to find a veteran (better than Molina) that could fill that backup/Triple-A similar to what we saw from Chad Moeller last year.

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Tags: Bengie Molina, Francisco Cervelli, Gustavo Molina, Jesus Montero, New York Yankees