Jesus Montero will primarily focus on first base moving forward. Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik said Montero will likely do a little catching in camp this spring, but it's probably a waste of time, as it's quite clear he can't be relied on behind the plate. The 24-year-old is coming off a nightmare year which included a 50-game ban for performance-enhancing drugs, so his role entering 2014 is a big question.

According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the Mariners are letting teams know that Jesus Montero and Justin Smoak are available in trades. Montero and Smoak are both expendable now that the Mariners have added Corey Hart and Logan Morrison. Both players are top prospects who have disappointed so far at the major league level, but someone might take a chance on them as change of scenery candidates.

While in Venezuela participating in the Venezuelan Winter League, Jesus Montero was involved in a minor car accident, suffering a laceration on his knuckle, according to Shannon Drayer. The injury has forced him out of action for over a week. Montero is getting a majority of his playing time as a DH. He was hitting .293 with a .731 OPS, including 23 strikeouts and 6 walks, in 82 at-bats in the Venezuelan Winter League. Drayer says Montero's catching days "are over".

Jesus Montero has been primarily playing at first base for Cardenales de Lara of the Venezuelan League. The former catcher has seen his star fall quite a bit during the past year -- he hit .208/.264/.327 in 29 games with the Mariners before being demoted, and in August he received a 50-game ban for using performance-enhancing drugs. Now in winter ball, the 23-year-old is working on a position change and has regained his swing to a point, batting .306 with four doubles, a home run and 11 RBI through 18 games. Montero was a top prospect not so long ago so it's not hard to see him regaining some fantasy value with a strong spring, especially given the Mariners' current options at the position. He's a guy to keep an eye on.

Major League Baseball has handed Jesus Montero a 50-game performance-enhancing drug suspension. Montero was involved in the purchase of performance-enhancing drugs from the Miami-based Biogenesis clinic. The 23-year-old has been a disappointment in more ways than one since joining the Mariners via trade from the Yankees. He'll take the rest of the summer off.

Jesus Montero (knee) went 1-for-3 with a walk in his seventh game Tuesday in the Arizona Rookie League. Montero is just 4-for-19 (.211) since being cleared to play in rookie-level rehab games. He underwent surgery in early June to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee and probably won't return to Triple-A Tacoma until the end of this month. The Mariners optioned him off their 25-man roster in late May after he opened the year with a brutal .208/.264/.327 batting line over his first 29 games.

Jesus Montero (knee) will serve as the designated hitter on Friday for the Mariners' Arizona Rookie League team. It will be Montero's first game action since he underwent surgery last month to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. He will not play catcher for the rest of the season and might be done at the position altogether, but he'll be used at first base and DH at Triple-A Tacoma.

Jesus Montero is expected to miss 4-6 weeks with a torn meniscus in his left knee. Montero suffered the injury Friday and will be placed on the disabled list with Triple-A Tacoma. It's another troubling development after he was demoted to the minors last month. The Mariners no longer view Montero as a catcher, so he'll continue to be developed at first base and DH when he's healthy enough to return.

Mariners optioned C Jesus Montero to Triple-A Tacoma.

Ryan Divish of the Tacoma News Tribune reports that Jesus Montero will be demoted to the Triple-A level. It had to be done. Montero has been a major disappointment this season for Seattle, batting .208/.264/.327 with three home runs and nine RBI in 29 games. He also had an ugly set of stats in 2012 and could be kept down on the farm for a while. Divish writes that the M's "may have finally taken a step back from the idea that Montero will be a catcher at the big league level" and will play him primarily at first base and DH in Triple-A. Jesus Sucre will be promoted to fill the roster vacancy.