David Schoenfield, ESPN Senior Writer 9y

Best shape of their lives stories starting!

My friend KJ sent me this Thursday night, probably because he's a big Seahawks fan and trying to remain distracted until the Super Bowl.

Greg is an old colleague of mine and does a great job covering the Mariners for MLB.com, so he won't mind if I pick on him for reporting the first "somebody is in great shape" story well before spring training even starts.

Anyway, the thing is: Jesus Montero, who has been a big -- literally -- flop since coming over from the Yankees in the Michael Pineda trade, could actually play an important role with the Mariners. They could use a right-handed bat to either platoon with Logan Morrison at first base, or to DH and let Nelson Cruz play some left field with Dustin Ackley sitting against at least tough left-handers.

Remember, back in 2012 when he was still trying to catch and played 135 games, Montero was decently effective against lefties, hitting .322/.366/.463. The trouble is finding room for him on the roster:

C: Mike Zunino, Jesus Sucre

Infielders: Morrison, Robinson Cano, Kyle Seager, Brad Miller, Chris Taylor, Willie Bloomquist

Outfielders: Cruz, Ackley, Austin Jackson, Seth Smith, Justin Ruggiano

Assuming 13 position players and 12 pitchers, that's 13 position players. Of course, it's possible the Mariners don't carry two backup infielders and the loser of the Miller/Taylor shortstop battle gets sent down to Triple-A (although they would make for a perfect platoon). They could also punt on Bloomquist, who is 37 and coming off an injury but set to make $3 million.

Of course, injuries have a way of making these issues work out.

Montero has kind of been a joke since coming to Seattle -- remember last summer's infamous ice cream incident -- but maybe he'll get the last laugh and actually be an important contributor in 2015.

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