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The Cash Register is a regular feature of the blog in which we chart how former Yankees who were traded away are faring this season.

The former Yankees

" Seattle catcher Jesus Montero: Montero is batting .281 with two home runs and 11 RBIs. He's not walking much or hitting for power, but he's been one of the top two bats for Seattle.

" Seattle starter Hector Noesi: Noesi has struggled as a starter, going 1-2 with a 9.49 ERA. Noesi gave up six runs in 1 1/3 innings last time out against Chicago.

" Arizona pitcher Ian Kennedy: Kennedy is 3-0 with a 3.86 ERA, continuing his excellence from last season. He gave up three runs over seven innings in a win against Atlanta on Sunday.

" Detroit center fielder Austin Jackson: Jackson is hitting. 261 with three home runs and five RBIs. He owns a .363 on-base percentage, an increase from his career average.

" Detroit reliever Phil Coke: The lefty is enjoying a solid start as he has a 2.45 ERA. He's averaging more than a strikeout per inning and has given up just two runs in 7 1/3 innings.

" San Francisco left fielder Melky Cabrera: Cabrera continues his hot hitting since he left the Bronx as he's at .301 with a .386 on-base percentage. He has one homer and 11 RBIs.

" Miami reliever Mike Dunn: After a rough outing against the Mets Wednesday, Dunn's ERA is 6.23. He has pitched just 4/13 innings but has given up four runs (three earned) this season.

" Boston reliever Mark Melancon: Melancon had a 49.50 ERA before being demoted to AAA. In three games with Pawtucket entering Wednesday he had yet to give up a run.

" Atlanta pitcher Arodys Vizcaino: Vizcaino, a minor leaguer, is going to miss the season after undergoing Tommy John Surgery. He is one of the top prospects in baseball.

" San Francisco reliever George Kontos: Kontos had pitched to a 2.35 ERA with Fresno (AAA) this year. He has given up just two runs in 7 2/3 innings spanning seven relief appearances.

The trades

" Montero/Noesi for Michael Pineda/Jose Campos

" Kennedy/Coke/Jackson for Curtis Granderson

" Cabrera/Dunn/Vizcaino for Javier Vazquez/Boone Logan

" Melancon/Jimmy Paredes for Lance Berkman

" Kontos for Chris Stewart

Editor's note: Are there any prospects the Yankees traded away that you'd like to be considered for this list? Please let us know in the comments section below.

Jesus Montero's Yankees career ended before it barely started, so the view of him as a player is more imagination than reality.

Yes, Montero's 61 at-bats were impressive last year. He hit. .328. Four of his 20 hits were homers and led to 12 RBIs. He has the potential to have an explosive bat for a long time.

But there seems to be a view that Montero is a combination of Babe Ruth, Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez -- Babe Jeteriguez.

Let's go over those numbers again: 61 at-bats, 20 hits, four homers and 12 RBIs.

So with all the analysis on Michael Pineda, let's not forget this trade was potential for potential -- nothing more, nothing less.

If the trade was made in the middle of last year, it would have looked like one of the biggest steals ever. Pineda, leading the league in velocity, went to the All-Star Game and stuck out Scott Rolen and Rickie Weeks in pitching a perfect third.

Meanwhile, Montero struggled for much of his Triple-A season and only hit .288 overall. Some thought he was bored.

Even now, not many think Montero can catch in the majors. The Yankees claim he can. The Mariners are going to give it a try. But no one knows.

If Montero is a DH, he better be the next Miguel Cabrera. If he is a just a better-than-average hitter, but not among the elite of the elite, he is not that special if he is not behind the plate.

So when you judge the 23-year-old Pineda vs. the 22-year-old Montero, remember that Montero isn't Babe Jeteriquez -- at least, not yet. He has some growing to do, too.

No doubt, Pineda needs to find his velocity. He could end up in the minors to start. But the winner of this trade will not be decided at the end of the April. It is a long-term proposition that right now is going a little slower than expected.

ON DECK: The clubhouse opens at 8:10 a.m. The Yankees face the Nationals again. Most of the big guys should be in the lineup, as they didn't trek to Viera on Thursday. We will be on the blog all day. Thanks for reading.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Do you think Montero will hit better than .280 with 20 homers and 85 RBIs or worse?

In a recurring feature of the blog, we play the always fun "Over-Under Game," in which we will set the line for a player and a stat and ask you to weigh in.

The Player: Michael Pineda
The number: 15 wins

The scouting report: Pineda became a Yankee on the tumultuous Friday, Jan. 13, when he came over from the Mariners in exchange for Jesus Montero on the same night the Yankees came to terms with Hiroki Kuroda, ostensibly plugging all the holes in their rotation in one fell swoop.

Coming to New York as a 23-year-old pitcher with just one season under his belt carries a significant amount of pressure on its own. Throw in the expectation that Pineda will eventually be the No. 2 starter behind CC Sabathia , and the fact that he cost the Yankees Montero, the most highly-touted bat in their organization, and you're looking at a potential nuclear meltdown in the Bronx.

Pineda is huge (6-7, 280) and hugely talented, but he pitched in the comparatively pitcher-friendly confines of Safeco Field and now moves to homer-happy Yankee Stadium 3.0. Plus, as GM Brian Cashman pointed out the other day, the Yankees believe Pineda still needs to add a changeup to his fastball-slider repertoire to become a successful big-league starter. That might account for Pineda's second half drop-off in 2011, when he went 1-4 with a 5.12 ERA after starting out 8-6, 3.03. So may have the workload, 171 IP in his rookie season.

In any event, Pineda was hurt by the weak Mariners' offense, which scored the fewest runs in the league, and will no doubt benefit from the Yankees lineup, which scored the second most. Then again, as a fly ball pitcher -- only five pitchers in baseball surrendered a higher percentage of fly balls than Pineda in 2011 --he is bound to be victimized by the short fences and helpful air currents in Yankee Stadium.

So how many wins are we looking at for Pineda in 2012?

I set the over/under at 15. And I'm picking the under. Between adjusting to the media and fan demands of New York City and contending with working in a hitter's park, I'm thinking 14 wins for Pineda in his first season as a Yankee.

But what I think isn't important. What do you think Michael Pineda will do in his first season in pinstripes? Let us know below.

Wearing a gray Muhammad Ali shirt that said, "The Greatest," Derek Jeter did not make any news, but offered some nuggets during his news conference on his first day of spring training.

The most interesting item: Jeter, who turns 38 in June, said he would walk away from his contract if his play every deteriorated to a point where he wasn't playing up to his desired level.

Here are the top seven takeaways from the presser:

1.) Mariano Rivera said he only wants to leave on top. Does Jeter feel the same way?

"If I didn't think I was capable of playing the game at a high level, then I would go home. If I wasn't enjoying myself, enjoying the competition, then it would be time to go home. Right now, I think I'm capable and I'm going to enjoy myself. I can't comment on what would force me to retire or go home or stop playing. I have a lot of confidence and I have always had a lot of confidence. If that starts to waver, then I wouldn't do it."

Jeter -- who has two more years on his contract after this season -- did say he would walk away from a contract if he stopped playing well.

"Yeah, I've always said that," Jeter said. "I'm not just playing just to play. I still enjoy it. That [the contract] has nothing to do with it."

2) Jeter was shocked about a couple of things.

• How last season ended when the Yankees lost in Detroit.

• When he heard the Yankees had acquired Michael Pineda.

"I was shocked when we got Pineda," Jeter said. "We faced him, I believe, only one time last year. You are talking about someone who is what, 22, 23 years old? With an arm like that, you don't usually acquire guys like that too often. I was pretty excited about it. I think the organization as a whole was excited about it because that doesn't happen too often. You feel bad that [Jesus] Montero has to leave, but you are excited to have a guy like that on your team for a long time."

3.) With Jorge Posada retired, joining Andy Pettitte and, maybe soon, Rivera, what is it like for Jeter?

"It is awkward, just because you are so used to seeing someone," Jeter said. "With Andy, he was the dumb one of the group who left and went to Houston for a few years. We sort of got used to him not being here. Jorge, it hasn't hit me yet. Pitchers and catchers are on a different schedule anyway, so you really don't see each other too often. That will be a tough one because everyone knows we were together all the time."

4.) On the first half of last year: "I don't think 3,000 hits had any effect on how I performed."

5.) Could his whole 2012 be like his second half? "Why not?"

6.) Jeter thought getting hurt during his pursuit of 3,000 was a "blessing in disguise," because he was able to revert back to his original style of hitting after experimenting with Kevin Long in the spring. He said his timing was off the whole first half and then he went back to the fundamentals.

7.) He expects to get days off, like he did last year, to keep himself fresh. He still doesn't like that idea, but feels as if Joe Girardi will use him the same way.

"It is a long season, but you do have to pace yourself," a resigned Jeter finally said.

What type of year do you think Jeter will have?

Jesus Montero admitted on a conference call with the Seattle media today that he believed of himself what a lot of Yankee fans believed of him: That he would never be traded, at least not unless a deal came along that was too good for the Yankees to refuse.
"When the Yankees called and told me, I was in shock,'' said Montero, now a Mariner after the Yankees shipped him off along with Hector Noesi for pitchers Michael Pineda and Jose Campos. "My whole family was in shock. I never thought that was going to happen. But it happened, for real, man.''

Told that GM Brian Cashman said he "may well be the best player I've traded,'' Montero said, "He really said that? That's awesome, man.''

Ten days after it was made, the four-player trade between the Yankees and Seattle Mariners that put Michael Pineda in pinstripes and sent Jesus Montero and Hector Noesi to the Pacific Northwest is finally official. The finalization had been held up by visa problems that kept Montero from leaving Venezuela to take his Mariners physical. Those are now cleared up and Pineda, who went 9-10 for the punchless Mariners last year with a 3.74 ERA, will likely become the No. 2 arm in the Yankees starting rotation. GM Brian Cashman will have a conference call with the Yankee beat writers at 5 p.m., after which I will have a full story up on the website.

. . . don't play poker with him, because I guarantee you will never know what he's holding. The most remarkable aspect about the Friday the 13th Massacre, when the Yankees killed the competition by adding not one, but two top-shelf starting pitchers, was not that they acquired Michael Pineda from the Mariners, but that no one outside the organization seemed to have any idea the deal was even in the works. The Yankees' interest in Hiroki Kuroda, the other half of the twin-killing, had been well-known and publicized for months. But no one saw the Pineda and Jose Campos for Jesus Montero and Hector Noesi deal coming although, I am now told, it has been on the table for at least a month. The toughest part for the Yankees, presumably, was parting with Montero, a big-time bat, but the club believes offense was the least of its worries. Now, the Yankees are seriously considering cobbling together a DH slot out of Andruw Jones and a rotation of Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira, Curtis Granderson and Robby Cano, with the possible addition of minor-league masher Jorge Vazquez in the mix as well. In that case -- assuming the Yankees don't re-sign Eric Chavez -- Eduardo Nunez will see plenty of fill-in time at all three infield positions.

Here is my new column on what the Yankees were thinking and what is next. I go into their reluctance to trade Jesus Montero -- and the Brian Cashman Manifesto.

THE DEAL: Jesus Montero and right-handed pitcher Hector Noesi have been shipped to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for 22-year-old phenom starting pitcher Michael Pineda and righty prospect Jose Campos, a source told ESPN.com's Jayson Stark.

FIRST IMPULSE: You win with pitching, not hitting. The Yankees are betting Pineda is the real thing. There was a time during this past season when he was outpitching Felix Hernandez. Through July 4, Pineda was 9-8 with a 2.58 ERA. He was striking out nearly a batter per inning (106 in 108 innings). Then, apparently, he tired out.

So, just like Montero, Pineda has shown flashes of true greatness. The Yankees think there is more where those first three months came from.

MONTE, WE HARDLY KNEW YE: Yankees fans had to be excited about Montero's bat. He looked like a young Miguel Cabrera. But he was never going to be Joe Girardi's type of catcher if he ever caught in the majors. And the Yankees know they can get a bat to replace his production, if need be. Montero might be an All-Star hitter for years to come.

NO-NO: The Yankees have been talking up Noesi. A danger of the deal is that Noesi could end up better than Pineda. Of course, the Yankees don't think so. Meanwhile, Campos was in Class A baseball last year. He is just 19. He posted a 2.32 ERA last season.

THE VERDICT: If Pineda had been hyped through the Yankees' system, I think you would be jazzed about him. That said, it is tough to not watch Montero hit. It was fun while it lasted. It is all a guess given the players' inexperience, but you want to get the best pitcher in a deal. The Yankees think they did.

QUESTION OF THE NIGHT: Do you like the deal?

Jorge Posada’s reported decision to retire before the start of spring training reduces what had been the Core Four and then the We Three down to the True Two.

But that is not as bleak as it may appear in the first blush of the news over the weekend.

While it might seem as if Posada’s departure signifies a further dismantling of those great Yankee teams that won four World Series in five years and then added another in 2009, the effect of this loss is purely nostalgic.

Although the retirement of Andy Pettitte last spring left the Yankees seriously short of starting pitching, the Yankees really didn’t have a spot for Posada on their roster for 2012.

And while it is true that Posada was a key part of those championship teams, it is difficult to make the argument that the Yankees could not have won without him. (In fact, they did win that first championship in 1996 with a different catcher. Guy named Girardi).

However, it is impossible not to argue that the two who remain -- Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera, the True Two -- were the most important parts of all those clubs, and remain strong and valuable members of the Yankees at least through the end of this season and in the case of Jeter, probably through 2014.

As great as Posada was -- and although I haven’t done more than a surface look at the numbers, he is probably getting my vote for Cooperstown -- the Yankees clubhouse always revolved around Jeter, and many of their most important games came down to Rivera.

Unfortunately for Posada, his offensive contributions were often overshadowed and overlooked by teammates such as Bernie Williams, Tino Martinez, Paul O’Neill and even in 1998, Scott Brosius, and the grumbling of some Yankee pitchers in recent years about his game-calling has cast a pall over what for the most part were better-than-average defensive skills.

And the Yankee roster, for the past 15 years a rotating cast of high-profile, high-salary, and sometimes high-maintenance characters, is a very tough place to stand out in.

It was Posada’s unfortunate lot to never really have been the focus of the attention from fans or the media when he was at his best. Sadly, he drew the most scrutiny in 2011, when he was at his worst. Certainly, he deserved better than that.

But the Yankees will survive his absence, the same way they got by without Pettitte with a a rotation cobbled together out of one ace, two retreads, a rookie and a talented but erratic head case.

Russell Martin proved himself a more than adequate replacement for Posada behind the plate last year, and Jesus Montero showed enough promise in September to allay any fears that the Yankees lineup will suffer the loss of Posada, especially the 40-year-old version that could no longer hit lefties.

We will miss Posada’s heart and his passion and, those of us who covered him, his candor in a clubhouse filled with diplomats.

But the Yankees will go one, because there is still Jeter to set the tone in the dugout and Mariano to settle the score at the end of the game.

The Yankees are in transition, no doubt, and within three years, the last remaining player from that era will probably be gone. But as long as Jeter and Mariano are still in that room, the spirit of Steinbrenner’s Yankees and Torre’s Yankees and O’Neill’s Yankees and Bernie’s Yankees and Tino’s Yankees lives on.

When the True Two becomes the No Mo, that’s when Yankees fans will have something not just to cry about, but to worry over.

The Yankees have been mentioned as prominent players in the scramble to obtain Matt Garza from the Cubs, who have made it clear they are open for business on the 28-year-old righthander.

But the word out of Yankeeville-- also known this winter as The Land of No -- is that the asking price is out of the question. The problem is not money this time, at least not immediately -- Garza will make about $8 million this year and is not eligible for free agency for two more season -- but prospects; like everyone else in baseball, the Cubs are demanding at least two, and possibly all three, of the Yankees Holy Trinity of Jesus Montero, Manny Banuelos and Dellin Betances.

If the Yankees wouldn't part with Eduardo Nunez for Cliff Lee, you can bet they're not parting with even two of those three for Matt Garza.

Other than as a member of the enemy or a paying customer, that is:

The only way, it seems, that Jorge Posada will return to the Yankees for 2012 is if for some reason, an irresistible trade arises in the next six weeks that persuades the Yankees to part with Jesus Montero, a prospect that seems rather remote at this point.

According to sources I have spoken with, the Yankees see Posada as strictly a left-handed hitting DH, a luxury they cannot afford to carry as long as Montero, who is expected to assume most of the DH duties in 2012, is on the roster.

Backup catcher, maybe? Out of the question. Aside from the fact Posada caught in just one game all last season, one source listed the Yankees catching depth chart for 2012 as follows: Russell Martin, Montero, Francisco Cervelli.

"I just don't see a spot for him right now," the source said.

Do you?

First thing, they need Jim Bowden to leave his burgeoning career as an on-air personality on ESPN and Sirius-XM. Then, they need him to be hired by the Seattle Mariners to run their team.

In the meantime, Bowden has an Insider column where he says the Yankees and Mariners should make a deal. This is what he says:

• Yankees acquire: RHP Felix Hernandez
• Mariners acquire: RHP Ivan Nova, C Jesus Montero, RHP Dellin Betances

Seattle Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik says he's not going to trade Hernandez, but if the Mariners eventually want to become legitimate contenders they might have to. A blockbuster four-player deal with the Yankees would point the Mariners in the right direction.

Nova and Betances would go fit into a young rotation of Michael Pineda, Danny Hultzen and Jason Vargas -- a formidable five that should develop into a quintet of 15-game winners. Montero would give them a long-term, middle-of-the-order bat they would control for the next six years. And with the money saved on Hernandez, they could put that toward signing Prince Fielder.

The Yankees, on the other hand, would have one of the best 1-2 punches at the top of the rotation in C.C. Sabathia and Hernandez, and instantly improve their chances of getting back to the World Series.

One problem with this happening is that Zduriencik told me during the Winter Meetings that he isn't trading King Felix. Still, what do you think of Bowden's proposal?

Yankees manager Joe Girardi has brought up having Jesus Montero work at first base during spring training.

"Is it something we might play with, maybe," Girardi said. "It is something we may not play with, maybe. It is something that I have brought up. We still consider him a catcher."

Girardi said the Yankees are looking for Montero to earn more at-bats as the DH and still catch.

"We expect to give him at-bats at catcher," Girardi said.

But what could be the start of a shift to a new position -- which possibly could enhance his trade value -- has been broached. Stay tuned.

A name, if you haven't already, you are going to hear connected with the Yankees is John Danks.

What would you give up for a 26-year-old lefty who was 8-12 with a 4.33 ERA? In 2010, he was 15-11 with a 3.72 ERA.

He only has one more year left on his contract and then he can become a free agent.

There was a report that the White Sox asked for Jesus Montero and Manny Banuelos for Danks. A Yankee official said that was not true. The Yankees, I doubt, would include even one of those two fro Danks.

Would you want Danks? If so, what would you give up for him?