Luis

Montanez

''He swings better when he plays second,’' GM Jim Hendry said. ''And our guys tell us he’s got a lot better chance playing in the big leagues at second.’' Montanez, the third overall pick in 2000, hasn’t done much offensively since being drafted. He’s just 21, but as of right now, he isn’t a real prospect.

Montanez was off to a dreadful start in the minors after failing to make the Phillies’ Opening Day roster. No longer a prospect at age-30, he’ll try to sign elsewhere as organizational depth.

Some more housekeeping for the 40-man roster. Montanez, who turns 30 next month, batted .222 (12-for-54) with one home run and nine RBI in 36 games with the Cubs this season.

The deal includes an invite to spring training. Montanez, who turned 30 last week, batted .222 (12-for-54) with one home run and nine RBI in 36 games with the Cubs this past season. He’ll likely provide some outfield depth in the minors.

Montanez was released by the Phillies earlier this month after posting a .136/.264/.159 slash line in 53 plate appearances at Triple-A Lehigh Valley. The 30-year-old will function as organizational depth for the Cardinals.

Montanez hasn’t appeared in the major leagues since the 2011 season. He was batting .313/.359/.478 with six home runs and 41 RBI in 52 games this summer for the Somerset Patriots of the independent Atlantic League.

No word on what prompted the scratch. Lou Montanez will start in center field and Julio Lugo is now slated to lead off.

Jones was a late scratch from Wednesday’s finale against the Yankees. Lou Montanez will likely fill in until he’s ready to ready to return to action.

Reimold managed a hit on Tuesday night, but he also committed an error, something that isn’t going to help his case. The 26-year-old outfielder is batting just .205/.302/.337 over 83 at-bats this season. He’s obviously a much better player than what he has shown in the early going, so it could be worth it to send him down in order to get him hot again. Of course, the conservative approach would be to demote Montanez, who is batting .114 (4-for-35). As for Patterson, he is batting .385/.439/.500 over 52 at-bats at Norfolk.

There goes one of draft day’s most popular fantasy sleepers. Lou Montanez was also a candidate to be sent to the minors, but the Orioles need to find a way to get Reimold back on track. The 26-year-old outfielder is batting just .205/.302/.337 with two homers and eight RBI over 83 at-bats this season. He just hasn’t looked right after surgery on his left Achilles tendon.