Since Miguel Montero signed his five-year contract extension, there has been a lot of talk about whether it was good or bad deal, or simply overpaying to keep a guy who is good, but basically the team cannot afford to lose becaus ethey have no one in the minor leagues to replace him.
However, ESPN baseball insider Keith Law says it was a good deal for Arizona.
According to him, had the team waited to try and sign him on the open market, it would have cost even more than the $60 million that it took to extend him. Plus, statistically, he is one of the best catchers in all of baseball and is good on all facets of the job now.
This is what Law said on Friday on the Doug and Wolf show:
"All he's got to do is stay healthy, but that's the caveat on every contract, but especially catchers because they get hurt a lot, but Montero has had basically one major injury so far in his big league career, and it's not the kind of thing you're going to expect to recur."
The money looks like a lot right now. However, considering the inflation of contracts for players at the top of their position, the money will likely be very reasonable. It is possible, though, by the end of the deal that Montero is playing part time at another position like first base, as frequently happens with catchers, but even so, he is still improving.
Sure it cost a lot, but with the young pitching coming up in the system, the team needs a good signal caller and could ill afford to lose him.
At the end of the day, overpaid or not, the deal is a good one right now.
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