Miguel Montero

Year 2 in Chicago did not go as well as Year 1 did for Montero, at least from an individual perspective. Although he trimmed his strikeout rate to a much more palatable 20.4 percent and drew walks at a career-high 13.4 percent clip, Montero posted career lows in batting average (.216) and slugging percentage (.357). Additionally, Montero's hard-hit rate fell to 27.0 percent, his worst output since his arrival in the big leagues as a rookie in 2006, and his groundball rate soared to 50.0 percent. Now entering the final year of a five-year pact he signed with Arizona, Montero is expected to serve as the Cubs' veteran backup behind the plate to Willson Contreras. Before he turns 34 in July, and coming off his lowest total of games played since 2010, it's fair to wonder if Montero's days as a starter are over, regardless of whether he remains in Chicago for the duration of the 2017 campaign. A backup role may be the best way to keep him healthy.

Don't feel sorry for Miguel Montero. He may not have many people to talk to on the Cubs, what with his being a decade older than a lot of them, but he keeps chugging along, hitting another 15 home runs in 2015. Though his numbers were a bit underwhelming in his first year with Chicago, his .754 OPS was his highest mark since 2012 and he's hit between 11 and 18 home runs in each of the last five years. He also draws a fair number of walks for a catcher, which makes him an underrated player in OBP leagues. Kyle Schwarber will likely catch some again this year, but the Cubs seem satisfied with his defense in the outfield so Montero should sit atop the depth chart again in 2016.

Montero was showing some encouraging signs early on, striking out at just a 8.4% clip and drawing 14 walks in March and April. Regression was expected and indeed occurred, but it took longer than many expected for the production to tail off. Montero went into the All-Star break with 11 homers and 52 RBI, matching his 2013 output in the former and exceeding his output in the latter, while hitting at a .262 clip. Hopefully you sold high. Montero hit just .212 with two homers and eight runs scored in 208 second-half trips, but he did cut down his strikeouts significantly last season and his BABIP was more than 40 points below his career mark of .306. While the final numbers don't look awful, with Montero finishing fifth among catchers in RBI, the per-game production was disappointing and he may see fewer RBI opportunities in 2015 while perhaps batting lower in the batting order with the Cubs.

Montero had a horrid 2013 season, posting full-season career lows in average (.230), OBP (.318) and slugging (.344). By the end of May, he was droppable in shallow mixed formats that utilize one catcher. It's hard to pinpoint just what the problem was for Montero, as his strikeout rate (23.2%) was in line with his 2012 mark, but the quality of his contact fell off as his .114 ISO was a 38-point drop from the previous campaign. Perhaps heavy workloads have taken their toll on Montero, and it's worth noting that he also spent time on the disabled with a back injury. If he's fully healthy during spring training, it's reasonable to think that a bounce back is on tap given his track record of providing steady power numbers near the heart of the Arizona lineup.

For the second straight season, Montero provided a steady offensive presence in the middle third of the D-Backs' lineup. In addition to his offensive contributions, Montero is a good defender behind the plate and should continue to take a heavy workload in 2013 after reaching 140 games for the second time in his career. Although he struck out more often last season (22.7 percent), Montero also drew more walks with the highest walk rate of his career (12.7 percent), and subsequently carried an excellent .391 on-base percentage. Surprisingly, 11 of his 15 homers came on the road this season, which could be an indication that there's a 20-homer campaign in his bat if he's able to up his flyball rate and take advantage of his hitter-friendly home park. With his combination of skills, playing time, lineup placement and team context, Montero is a good bet to remain a top-five catcher in his age-29 campaign in 2013.

No catcher drove in more runs than Montero in 2011 and there's reason to believe that he'll rank near the top in that category again in 2012, as 444 of his at-bats came from the middle-third of the Arizona lineup and that placement is unlikely to change in the near future. Further, Montero showed no signs of slowing down the stretch with an .853 OPS after the All-Star break in a season where he played in 140 games. At 28, Montero is in his prime and with the opportunity to play half of his games at hitter-friendly Chase Field, he's as safe as any player at his position. The only blemish here was a .195/.260/.274 line against southpaws, but he's shown competence against them in the past.

Montero is looking to bounce back from a disappointing 2010 season that was slowed by a torn meniscus he suffered in April. In his recovery from that injury, Montero regained the 10 pounds that he had worked off during the winter, and he believes that having the extra weight negatively impacted his performance upon return. Although his numbers at the plate regressed a bit with a drop in his contact rate (down to 76 percent from 82 in 2009), Montero was much better defensively behind the plate and made a point to improve his arm. It remains to be seen how much of his offensive slide can be attributed to the injury, but at age 27 he's entering his power peak and a 20-homer campaign may still be in the cards.

Montero had become a mainstay on preseason sleeper lists for the last couple of seasons before the D-Backs signed Chris Snyder to a contract extension in December of 2008. Two things happened that changed everything for Montero; the D-Backs fired Bob Melvin, and Snyder suffered a back injury in June that never really healed, giving Montero a long run as the primary backstop. His offensive skills have always made him a coveted trade target for opposing teams, but Montero's defensive work finally caught up to his bat. All signs point to another 400-450 at-bats for Montero this season, and that number could increase if Snyder is traded before the end of spring training. Don't be surprised if he continues to hover around .300 with his average while delivering 15-20 homers this season.

Despite being hailed as the franchise's catcher of the future, Montero slipped into the backup role behind Chris Snyder last season, gathering just 184 at-bats along the way. At 25, it's too early to write him off completely, especially when the D-Backs have publicly stated that they're considering using him at third base just to get his bat into the lineup more regularly, but it's entirely possible that he'll be shopped to clubs in need of a starter behind the plate during the offseason. Like Snyder, Montero has 15-20 home-run power, but he's actually got a much better track record of success at the plate. We still wouldn't be surprised to see him battle his way back into a timeshare -- or earn enough playing time at another position to merit consideration in leagues that require two active backstops, but he'll need to outproduce Snyder for manager Bob Melvin to justify a change in roles.

Chris Snyder may have earned the larger portion of the timeshare behind the plate for Arizona, but Montero showed plenty of upside at the plate, homering once in every 21.4 at-bats during his first full season in the majors. Don't be completely scared away by his .224/.292/.397 line, as the low average is tied more to bad luck (.225 BABIP) than it is poor plate discipline (20:35 BB:K ratio). Given that Snyder struggled against righties (.215 AVG), look for Montero to get more playing time in his second full season with the Diamondbacks.

The D'backs have paved the way for Montero, who drew walks and hit for power at two levels last year, by trading Johnny Estrada. His strikeout rate is going to keep his batting average down, and he's had a pattern of slow starts after promotions, so there's a good chance 2007 will involve a couple of trips across the state of Arizona.

Montero could be Arizona's catcher-of-the-future. After a great stint at High-A in 2005, he earned an invite to the Futures Game. He was promoted to Double-A in August and struggled initially at that level. He'll likely start 2006 back at Double-A and won't be expected to nail down a job with the big club until 2007 or 2008.