Chicago Cubs acquire two-time All-Star Miguel Montero

It’s being reported the Chicago Cubs will add veteran catcher Miguel Montero, as the deal is pending only a physical. The Cubs will send pitchers Jefferson Mejia and Zack Godley to Arizona.

Talks had been ongoing between the two team for a while now, but seemed to have cooled down a bit Monday night. But as of Tuesday morning the Cubs made a push and have gotten the deal done, per sources.

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Montero is a left-handed bat, and the Cubs may choose to use a platoon system with he and Welington Castillo. Castillo hit .301 against lefties last season, with five home runs and nine RBIs in 100 plate appearances.

Castillo and Montero have an identical caught stealing percentage defensively of 31%, but Montero has developed a knack for framing pitches and getting calls. The addition of Henry Blanco, a former teammate of Montero’s in Arizona to the Cubs staff will help with the transition to Chicago.

Mejia, 19, has pitched in only 15 games with the Cubs, most coming in the Arizona League. The 6-foot-7 pitcher had a 2-4 record in 49 innings with 51 strikeouts between the AZ league and the Dominican League.

Godley, 24, pitched as high as Daytona (High-A) for the Cubs last season. In 54 appearances, he posted a 2.74 ERA in 82 innings.

It is likely to assume the Cubs will be taking on most or all of the $40 million owed to Montero over the next three years, since they only gave up two low-level pitching prospects.

With rumors abound, it’s hard to tell if this was simply to shore up the position, or to help “woo” Jon Lester. Either way the position needed to be fortified and this will fit the bill.

We’ll have more this evening on this move, and hopefully an update on the Jon Lester situation on Cubbies Crib.