"The theme from Cashman and Zduriencik was that this was a classic example of two teams giving up something of value to get something of value. Cashman even said of Montero, "He may very well be the best player I've ever traded, and obviously I've been doing this a long time (Yankees GM since 1998). He's that good -- a middle of the order player, very gifted. I was involved in his signing out of Venezuela (as a 16-year-old). He's a good kid, and he's going to hav a heck of a career, he really is."

Cashman added that the first step of the trade occurred at the winter meetings in Dallas in early December. "