Joe Maddon Shares The Real Reason Why Miguel Montero Was Released

The big news coming out of Cubs camp today was the surprising release of 12-year veteran catcher Miguel Montero. As we all know, Montero had some harsh words for his battery mate, Jake Arrieta, after last night's defeat against the Washington Nationals. Montero essentially blamed Arrieta's slow delivery to the plate as the reason why Washington set a club record when they swiped seven stolen bases against the noodle-armed catcher. Of course, Montero didn't want to acknowledge 31 of 31 base stealers have successfully swiped a bag against him this year but apparently that wasn't important to Miggy. On his way out the door, Montero released a string of tweets showing his gratitude to the city of Chicago and Cubs fans everywhere.

I found these tweets to be quite ironic because one would think if you loved an organization as much as the tweets suggest, you would have figured out how to conduct yourself in a professional manner a bit sooner. I could see if this was the first time Montero went to the media before he went to the team but it's not. Most notably, after the 2016 World Series championship, Montero blasted Cubs manager Joe Maddon over his use of Aroldis Chapman as well as his own playing time. Mind you, HE JUST WON A WORLD SERIES. If you can't be happy with breaking the longest championship drought in professional sports history then I don't know what to tell you. Maddon addressed the comments but never really discussed them with Montero until Spring Training when the two met for a few drinks. The caption suggests the meeting went quite well.

That relationship between the Cubs and Montero has been a rocky one that has now come to an end. For a team that was constructed on a "team first" approach, it should come as no surprise that the "me first" approach taken by Montero resulted in him being DFA'd. Joe Maddon addressed the media today to further clarify the real reason why Montero was released. Per Jesse Rodgers,

"Joe Maddon said a deciding factor in designating Miguel Montero for assignment was the youth in the clubhouse. He didn't think it set a good example to other players..."

Montero will turn 34 next week and unlike his predecessor, 39-year-old David Ross, Montero didn't understand his veteran role on the team. Think about all the times David Ross could have bitched about catching Jon Lester who during every game had a runner at first base damn near performing a full dance routine to try and distract him. Yes, Arrieta is slow to the plate and has lost his command on some of his best pitches. I understand that. Montero was probably frustrated with hearing how shitty he is at throwing out runners but instead of taking a "team first" approach, he took the low road. I don't care how much a player like that is loved, eventually that behavior will destroy your clubhouse. Maddon hit it on the head with his reasoning behind releasing Montero because behavior like that does have an impact on a team. The Cubs roster is littered with guys who are 25 and younger and people are quick to forget -- those guys are still learning how to be professionals themselves. So what does that say about your organization if you allow one of your veterans to trash a teammate? The younger guys will internalize that behavior and before you know it, you have a toxic clubhouse (pretty much the exact opposite of the 2016 Cubs clubhouse.) It doesn't matter the level of sport you're playing, putting the team before yourselves has proven time and time again to be the key ingredient in building championship teams. Now let's hope the Cubs can move forward with one team goal in mind.