The Arizona Diamondbacks surprised a lot of people when the team reportedly agreed to a five-year, $60 million contract extension. According to some, the contract was worth it, despite being the richest contract that the D-backs have ever given. His contract beats out the like of Justin Upton and, back in the day,
But the Arizona Diamondbacks had to pay him.
Why?
To start, Yadier Molina made a mess of things. He got $75 million. Montero is on par with Molina statistically in most categories. Knowing that, the $60 million almost (emphasis on almost) a bargain.
The D-backs had to do it because he is one of their best hitters in the lineup. Granted, he was only batting .255 before the report, but he has driven in 21 runs, and with runners in scoring position, he can get hits. He is batting .342 with runners in scoring position.
However, the biggest reason has to do with leverage. The D-backs had none.
Arizona has no one in their farm system that they see as an everyday starter in the big leagues. That made Montero that much more valuable to the organization.
It helps that Montero likes it here, but in the end, the team had no way of adequately replacing him, so they had to pay him.
It's not a bad thing at all. Montero, aside from when he is swinging for the fences, continues to improve. The bat was always there. He has begun to call a great game and to work well with the starting rotation. Last season, he was a disaster throwing the ball. Now he has fixed that and is also one of the best at throwing out would-be base stealers.
He has become the total catching package.
With a new deal in hand, let us hope that he is already to continue as such. The two common sense requirements for a deal like this one? Stay alive, stay healthy and be good at what you do there.
Now Montero needs to focus on that.