Jesus Is Coming.

Via Mark Feinsand, it appears as though Jesus Montero will in fact be the Yankees’ starting catcher in 2011. The Yankees are prepared to give their top prospect a chance to prove himself in Spring Training and offer the starting job as a reward.

Montero struggled heavily in triple-A during the first half of the year. However, something clicked at a not-so-surprising time. Before the 2010 trade deadline, the Yankees and Mariners had come to an agreement that would’ve sent Jesus, along with 2 other prospects, to the Mariners in exchange for lefty Cliff Lee. However, the deal fell through after the M’s got a report that David Adams had a fractured ankle. They then turned to the Rangers and swapped Lee for first basemen Justin Smoak. We all know the story from there: Lee dominates Yankees in the post-season for the second straight year and Texas wins the American League. After the deal fell through though, Montero got hot and went on to hit for a final line of .289/.353/.517.

There is no question whether or not Montero’s bat is ready for the big leagues, Baseball America called it “the best bat in the minor leagues.” However, there have been a lot of questions regarding his defense. Luckily, the Yankees’ front office believes that Montero made great strides behind the plate in ’10 and could probably catch in the major leagues.

To me, it seems like the real deciding factor here was Jorge Posada. The Yankees believe that Montero is in fact a better defensive catcher than Jorge at the moment and that is key. An improvement in defense, age, and maybe even hitting ability is always welcome and that’s what Jesus could be bringing to the Yankees next year.

The basic plan, as it stands right now, is for Montero to start about 100 games behind the plate, with Jorge and Francisco Cervelli catching the remainder. Jorge would become the team’s primary DH and Cervelli would be there to back-up Montero on days when Posada is unavailable.

These are definitely exciting times to be a Yankees fan. After a long wait, Jesus, along with a ton of crappy puns, has arrived.