Jesus Montero

The Toronto Blue Jays reportedly claimed hybrid catcher and first baseman Jesus Montero from the Seattle Mariners on Monday, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today.  

UPDATE: August 29 at 8:17 p.m. ET

According to ESPN, Montero will not play again this season after this incident.

---End of Update---

UPDATE: August 29 at 3:08 p.m. ET

Mariners cross-checker Butch Baccala (the scout involved in this strange incident) denies provoking or taunting Montero on Thursday night.

Jesus Montero is fat.

That sounds harsh, but it seems to be the overarching sentiment coming out of Seattle Mariners spring training, where Montero has showed up 40 pounds overweight.

Andy Pettitte is one of the most popular players of the Joe Torre era that netted the Yankee franchise four World Series rings and six trips to the October classic. 

His return was met with far more excitement than skepticism; after all, Pettitte won't be 40 until June and even though he hasn't pitched since 2010, he managed to amass an 11-3 record and a 3.28 ERA in what was assumed to be his final season as a major league pitcher. 

On WFAN and YES today, Mike Francesca said that the New York Yankees should put together a trade for Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners.

King Felix is regarded by many baseball experts as among the top three or four pitchers in all of baseball.

He won the American League Cy Young last year and finished second in 2009 on a really bad Mariners team.

Baseball is more than a game.  It's also a way of life.  Perhaps more than any other major sport, baseball relies on long-term development to create successful players.  It generally takes years of grooming before guys are ready to contribute consistently, and as fans know, relatively few ever make it to the major leagues.

I’m getting dizzy from all the spinning the New York Yankees are doing on catching prospects Jesus Montero and, to a lesser extent, Austin Romine. In case you missed it, both were dismissed to the minor leagues after each failed miserably during spring training.

Almost as soon as the season ended, the Yankees made the decision on Jorge Posada: He would not catch in 2011.

I don't even think he was allowed to bring a glove to spring training.

It was assumed that this would open the door for top catching prospect, Jesus Montero, to become the Yankees every day catcher.

Replacing Posada wouldn't be easy, but for a team labeled as "old," a youth movement would be a good thing.

The New York Yankees are often accused of buying success. In fact, when other teams spend big money on star players, the Yankees' name will often be invoked.

However, the late George Steinbrenner and his New York Yankees don't get enough credit for the players who have come up through the farm system.