At this point, Jesus Montero is in pole position to win a spot on the Yankees. 

Personally, I shared Michael Kay's sentiment and thought Montero was a favorite to win a place on the team even before Francisco Cervelli suffered a broken left foot fouling off a ball Wednesday. Now Cervelli is on the shelf for at least a month, and barring Montero's own injury or a full-on face plant in March, there isn't anything stopping the uberprospect from breaking camp with the big club.

Let's not let Cervelli get lost in the shuffle though. He's done exactly what he's been asked to do over his time in the Majors. From his broken wrist in 2008 to his concussion last spring and now the broken foot, Cervelli has had terrible luck. As he turns 25, there is plenty of baseball in his future. I hope he recovers quickly and fully.

Before we get back to Montero, there's Austin Romine, and I confess I'm treating Gustavo Molina like an afterthought here. If you're in the "let Montero start at Triple-A where he can play every day" camp, having Romine serve as Russell Martin's backup is probably your top idea. It's certainly within the realm of reality, though the 22-year-old has never caught a game beyond the Double-A level. Any concerns about Montero's development being stunted by serving as a backup should also apply to Romine, a touted prospect in his own right, though not on the level of his counterpart.

Would Montero's development really be stunted if he were to become an MLB reserve though? His bat has been considered ready for quite some time. We've heard about big strides he's made on defense, aided undoubtedly by a full year catching at Scranton-WB last season. Is there anything left for him to prove in the Minors? At this point, perhaps it's time for him to add some experience at the Major League level to his skill set. There's no guarantee he'd even wind up "merely" a backup. Russell Martin is coming off hip surgery last season and knee surgery over the winter, so if he were to stumble, Montero would have a chance to claim a large piece of the playing time pie -- one bigger than that of a garden-variety backup. Maybe he even ends up taking the starting job outright from Martin, who's on only a one-year contract.

We won't know unless Jesus gets his shot. I think he can handle the opportunity.