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The Chicago Cubs have been discussed previously as a potential trade destination for Miguel Montero - we talked about it three weeks ago, noting that they have the financial flexibility to take on Miggy's contract, and he could form a nice platoon with their current catcher, Welington Castillo. The two teams appear to have got together to discuss such a trade, with Fox Sports's Jon Morosi being the first to report substantive discussions between the Diamondbacks and Cubs on a possible Montero trade.
#Cubs, #DBacks discussing trade that would send Miguel Montero to Chicago, sources tell @Ken_Rosenthal and me. @FOXSports
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 9, 2014
Rosenthal then filled in some more dots on the picture:
Sources: #Cubs, #DBacks expected to talk about Montero again tonight. Teams have been engaged for weeks. Deal appears to be getting closer.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 9, 2014
Sources: #DBacks would receive pitching prospects from #Cubs for Montero.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 9, 2014
Steve Gilbert's source also confirmed discussions, and CSN Chicago's Patrick Mooney had some information on the potential return.
#Cubs would be taking on the three years and $40 million left on Miguel Montero's contract in potential deal with #Diamondbacks.
— Patrick Mooney (@CSNMooney) December 9, 2014
In a Miguel Montero deal, source says #Cubs wouldn't be moving pieces from 40-man roster or trading talent that's close to big-league ready.
— Patrick Mooney (@CSNMooney) December 9, 2014
This would appear to make it more or less a salary dump for the Diamondbacks, at least with regard to the 2015 roster. They get out from under Montero's contract, and get back some potentially useful* future pieces. [* = Potential use not contractually guaranteed. Jeff Passan of Yahoo! reckons the "Arizona return wouldn't be big." Piecoro thinks a pair of A-ball pitchers is "likely"] Any such deal would leave the team with an obvious gap for an everyday starting catcher - much though we love Tuffy Gosewisch, I doubt many fans want to see him making 120 starts a year. But there should at least be cheaper alternatives available than Montero, who is due $12 million in 2015.
Interestingly, this would appear to be more confirmation of Dave Stewart's ability to speak with forked tongue. Nick Piecoro notes,"An hour ago, GM Dave Stewart was asked if there's been movement on Montero's market since Dodger talks broke down, said no." We'll keep an eye on how much traction this gets, but it's a deal that would seem to make sense for both sides, and it wouldn't surprise me if this was consummated overnight or tomorrow. We'll leave the final word to Miggy, who issued his first tweet since facing Trevor Bauer in August.
Any of you know where do I'm going to ?
— miguel montero (@miggymont26) December 9, 2014