If some of you were surprised to see Rafael Montero among the first round of cuts after the former top prospect was reportedly in the mix for a spot on the Opening Day roster, keep reading.
While the chances that Montero would break camp with the team were slim at best in my opinion, I was still perplexed to see his name among the early Spring Training cuts.
Now, here’s a report from Kristie Ackert of the Daily News which sheds some light on that decision.
A team source told Ackert that optioning Montero to minor league camp was intended to be “a message to the one-time top prospect that the club is unhappy with him.”
“Now, let’s see if he gets it,” the team source said.
Apparently the Mets were upset with the way Montero was working this spring, struggling to throw strikes and adapt to suggestions.
Well that explains a lot, and it kind of makes a little sense. I wonder if what happened last season plays into this somewhat?
You may recall Montero was called up last April to make a spot start against the Marlins and then was optioned back to Triple-A immediately after the game.
However, Montero told the player’s union he had a sore shoulder, and long story short, the Mets were forced to rescind their transaction and place Montero on the Major League disabled list.
That meant more service time and money for Montero and he never returned from the DL after several rehab starts and continued soreness that confounded the team who claimed they never discovered any injury after many examinations with team doctors and specialists.
It even prompted manager Terry Collins to visit Montero at Port St. Lucie to give him a message, even recruiting several players to talk to him including Michael Cuddyer and his friend Jeurys Familia.
“This is not how I want to spend my day off,” Collins said at the time. “I just want to go see this kid just to deliver a little message.”
In 15 major league appearances over the last two seasons, Montero has posted a 4.14 ERA.
