This weekend we talked a lot about moves to make the Yankees great now, but how about the moves they are making for the future? The 2021 International Free Agent class opened this past Friday and the Yankees did sign some new talent. Today we look at shortstop Hans Montero, who they signed for $1.7M.
The Yankees are busy today. They’re finalizing a deal with DJ LeMahieu in the $90 million range, per @JeffPassan They’ve also agreed to deals with four international prospects, including top target Hans Montero. Tracker + scouting report: https://t.co/TXPtutirDJ pic.twitter.com/4tW6bPdF1l — Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) January 15, 2021
Source: #Yankees agree to $1.7 million deal with shortstop Hans Montero. @MLBPipeline — Jesse Sanchez (@JesseSanchezMLB) January 15, 2021
Who is Hans Montero?
Going into my research, I expected there to be a lot more information about the shortstop out of the Dominican Republic, especially now that he signed for a reported $1.7 Million dollars. However, unless you have a paid subscription to BaseballAmerica where they have at least some type of a scouting report on him, there is very little information to go off of.
Instead, I have found 2 different sources to go off of in building my own “scouting of a scouting report” on Hans Montero. (I will list all four sources at the conclusion of the report.)
Before the third weekend of 2021, on January 15th, 2021 the latest International Free Agent class and signing period officially opened up. Originally delayed from July 2nd, 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, this signing period will go until December 15th, 2021. While this did provide teams more time to evaluate talent, many had already agreed to deals in principle and last Friday marked when they could officially sign with a Major League Organization. For the Yankees, they entered this signing period with the 2nd lowest amount of bonus-pool money, due largely in part to a $1 million dollar hit after they signed Gerrit Cole, who declined the qualifying offer, late in 2019. However, the Yankeed still signed 5 players including a great shortstop prospect out of the Dominican Republic in Hans Montero, who they inked to a $1.7 million dollar deal. This deal is in-line with high market IFA talent the Yankees have gotten in the past, even though Montero failed to rank on MLB.com’s prospect pipeline and was 23rd on BaseballAmerica’s list. In addition to Montero they signed 3 other players from the DR and one from Venezuela. Standing between 5’10” and 6’0” tall, the shortstop Montero recently turned 17 years-old this past Christmas Day (December 25th). A right-handed hitter (and obviously thrower), he projects to stay at shortstop through the majority of his career. Most talent evaluators will indicate his smooth action and play-style along with his soft hands when handling the ball. On offense, Montero has a quality approach and ability to make contact to all fields. He often barrels the ball which highlights his current gap power, though it is expected as he ages and fills out that he will have above-average power at the plate. He also posses average to plus-speed on the base-paths. As far as scouting numbers are concerned, Montero grades out with scores of 50 across his board with a 55 tool for his arm. At this moment, many have related him to being the “Everson Pereira” (an Outfielder who current ranks as the Yankees #14 Prospect) of the infield.
Sources: Pinstriped Prospects and MSN News (SB Nation)
Article By: Ethan Semendinger
Date Published: January 18th, 2021
