Yankees Land Jesus Montero

PinstripesPlus.com has learned that the Yankees have signed prized International free agent Jesus Montero on Sunday, the first day teams are allowed to sign such free agents. Montero, a right-handed slugging catcher, was widely considered the top free agent of the 2006 class.

According to anonymous sources, the Yankees have landed the class of the 2006 International free agent class - Jesus Montero.

The right-handed power hitting catcher drew immediate attention from Yankee officials in Spring Training in a two-day tryout where he participated in intrasquad games this past March, more than holding his own against much older competition.

Montero went 3-4 with a double, a single, and a monstrous two-run home run to right centerfield off of Rolando Japa in a short five-inning game in his second game of the tryout. He not only held his own against much older competition, but he drew glazed and impressed looks from all the Yankees' prospects that day.

"He's 'the' top International free agent this year," Carlos Rios told PinstripesPlus.com on March 17th. "He can really hit and he plays a prime position."

The 16-year old Montero, widely considered a first-round talent by many International scouts, had been rumored to be seriously scouted by the New York Mets as well.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed and team officials were not available for comment. We'll continue to update this breaking news as information becomes available.

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