Update: Montero will be the full-time starting catcher this season for the Mariners, the Tacoma News Tribune reports. "He knows he's coming here to catch," manager Eric Wedge said Wednesday.
Recommendation: Montero was a DH first last season, playing 78 games at designated hitter and 56 at catcher. He struggled mightily at times behind the plate, but Wedge said Montero's defensive problems are more mental than physical. "I don't have any doubt in my mind that he can handle it from a talent perspective," Wedge said. Plenty of scouts do. The Mariners might have no choice but to play Montero at catcher everyday because they are stocked with DH-type hitters who need at-bats, but 110-120 games of Montero catching is risky.
