Toronto Blue Jays claim Jesus Montero on waivers

The Toronto Blue Jays have claimed Jesus Montero on waivers from the Seattle Mariners, ending the "Montero in Seattle" saga that has been going on the past several years.

Montero and Seattle actually has a Texas connection, since the M's were ready, in 2010, to trade Cliff Lee to the New York Yankees for a package headlined by Jesus Montero.  The Rangers had supposedly made various proposals, including a deal centered around Chris Davis and Jarrod Saltalamacchia, but did not want to part with first baseman Justin Smoak.  Seattle preferred Smoak to Montero, but wouldn't do a Texas deal without Smoak, and when it appeared that Lee was on the verge of being a Yankee, the Rangers relented and sent Smoak to Seattle for Lee.

The M's then finally got their man in January, 2012, when they sent Michael Pineda and Jose Campos to New York for Montero and Hector Noesi.  Montero, unfortunately, didn't pan out, being one of those offense-first catching prospects who isn't able to stick defensively at catcher, but doesn't hit well enough to be a first baseman or DH (which is usually the only other option for a catcher who can't catch).

Montero slashed .328/.406/.590 for the Yankees in 2011 before the trade, but as a Mariner, he put up a sad .253/.295/.398 slash line.  Montero is out of options, which means he'll have to stick on the Jays major league roster or be exposed to waivers again.  Of course, if you're a power-hitting prospect who hasn't panned out, Toronto isn't the worst place to go, as they've had success in turning around the careers of Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion.

And of course, in Toronto, Montero will be re-united with his former Mariners teammate, Justin Smoak.