[ayaghmour2]

We kicked off the offseason with a trade, as we fulfilled Carlos Montes' request and sent him to the crosstown Chiefs in a minor deal to start the offseason. In return, we'll receive a young southpaw Mack Lyons, who spent his entire season in Class B.

Montes spent fifteen seasons as a Cougar, once drafted 12th Overall back in 1934 out of Citronelle High School in Alabama. A Cuban native, Montes was up quickly, debuting a few months into the 1937 season as a 21-year-old. He got off the ground running quickly, slashing .292/.365/.453 (127 OPS+), and with excellent center field defense he was worth 4.2 wins above replacement. He totaled 19 doubles, 9 triples, 10 homers, 55 RBIs, 9 steals, 71 runs, and 48 walks in exactly 100 games.

That happened because of a midseason callup, but 100 games was about all you could expect from Montes. In the next four seasons, he managed to play 100, 90, 120, and 120 games, with a career high 127 in 1942 before he enlisted in the Navy. Still, when healthy, Montes was as close to a five-tool outfielder as you get. He was a great defender with a cannon of an arm, had blazing speed on the bases, legit home run power, and plenty of extra base hits. He drew a ton of walks too, and made impact on the game in multiple ways. In those six pre-war seasons, Montes tallied 378 runs, 108 doubles, 46 triples, 55 homers, 287 RBIs, and 70 steals. He was worth 22.6 WAR in 657 games. He topped out with an elite 5.9 in 1942, and with a 119 WRC+, 38 extra base hits, 13 steals, 52 walks, 55 RBIs, and 67 runs, it was arguably the best season of his career.

He did return for the 1946 season, and with all the extra rest, appeared in a career high 148 games, and put together a classic, all-around performance as our every day center fielder, hitting .239/.319/.363 (97 OPS+) with 28 doubles, 10 homers, 19 steals, and 61 RBIs. He was worth 4.7 WAR and was looking like the same player he was before enlisting. Unfortunately, the durability and success was short lived, as a trio of injuries cost him nearly all of the 1947 season. He appeared in just 46 games, hitting what was significantly a career worst .239/.290/.345 (97 OPS+), and a monster acquisition of superstar Sal Pestilli from the Gothams cut into his playing time. No longer the clear center fielder of the team, Montes began working out in right field, but the offense in '47 wasn't good enough for a corner bat.

It was better in 1948, but inconsistency made his .240/.330/.401 (101 OPS+) line feel different then it was. Sure, that looks like an average season, and in the aggregate (192 PAs) it was, but he was hit or miss. Going o'fer for an entire month before ripping the cover off the ball. That was the same this year, as despite a .242/.339/.336 (81 OPS+) season line he had three months with a WRC+ of 130 or better, including a 1186 WRC+ in July we were actually winning games. But like every other Cougar he was unplayable in August and got off to an awful start to the season.

Despite the ups and downs, Montes is one of the best center fielders the Cougars have ever had, second only to superstar Hall-of-Famer John Dibblee for his production with the club. In 1,010 FABL games, the almost 34-year-old owns a career .256/.329/.393 (102 OPS+) career line with 148 doubles, 57 triples, 78 homers, 102 steals, and 417 RBIs. He drew 396 walks and scored 511 runs while worth just over 30 (30.2) WAR in ten seasons. An All-Star in 1942, he was best known for his glove, where he accumulated an impressive 104.9 zone rating and 1.047 efficiency in center, and he graded well in limited time in right (12.2, 1.066). A well-respected veteran, Montes will be missed by fans and teammates alike, but the now fourth outfielder wanted out, and the organization was willing to oblige. With no shortage of outfielder options for 1950, Montes was going to have to compete with Chubby Hall, Leo Mitchell, Johnny Peters, Jimmy Hairston, Don Lee, and Ducky Cole for the right to line up to either side of Super Sal Pestilli. It's sad a fixture in our lineup like him was never able to get a ring, as an entire generation of Cougars is coming and going without any team success.

Lyons, 20, may be the son of longtime Cougar Dick Lyons (at least in my mind he is), and the former 7th Rounder ranks as the 370th best prospect in the initial offseason rankings. A southpaw like his dad, Mack throws much harder, already hitting 90 with his fastball and sinker. Both are good pitches, and move enough to limit the longball, but its hard to be a successful staring pitcher with two pitches. Even hard if both are fastballs. He does throw a change, but right now there's not much to it. It's just a bit slower then the hard stuff, and if used to option, it may get hammered. The control needs some work too, but he has some legit strikeout potential. Despite a few more walks (110) then strikeouts (103) for the Class B Tacoma Captains, he set down nearly 12% (11.9) of hitters he faced and he set down 9.9% of batters in 218.1 innings last year. He won't turn 21 until next June, so there's plenty of room for growth, but we need a few things to break right for the 6'3' lefty for him to find success. I'll cover him more in his eventual top prospect post, but I see two paths for success: either throw hard enough where you can overpower everyone or make it so the change doesn't suck. Otherwise his best role may be a craft lefty inning eater, but with hard stuff, good movement, and the stamina to consistently give you 100+ pitches a start, there's plenty to be excited about. Even if it comes with a ton of risk.

Later today I'll get out our top 40-prospect list, which the newly acquired Crooks does crack, as the Chiefs' 11th ranked prospect checks in 39th in our system, pushing former first rounder Bert Rogers off the list. If trades thin our system, which I hope they will, I'll adjust the list a little for players that haven't come up yet. I'll go into it a bit later, but they system is as deep as ever, and there are so many excited prospects I'm excited to cover.