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I think playing catcher leads to more wrist and hand injuries which adversely effect performance.  Just look at Roy Campanella, who sandwiched a OPS+ season of 74 between two MVP seasons in the 150s or Johnny Bench who sandwiched a pedestrian, for him, OPS+ of 107 between two MVP seasons.  While far from conclusive (catchers aren't the only position with down years due to injury), I think it is indicative of the risks involved with the position.  Heck, Ichiro preferred RF in large part because of the reduced wear and tear compared to CF.  If the position wears on you over the years, why wouldn't it wear on you from April to September?  Some athletes can take the punishment (think Reggie White missing one game over 12 years or Gary Payton playing through years of back spasms), others are fragile (J.D. Drew for instance).  Who knows how Montero will hold up and how dedicated he will be to maintaining his fitness.  All the same, I platoon him at catcher.  
I still think the M's are uncertain about him at catcher, or at least they were uncertain in the past.  If they thought he was a catcher in 2010, there is NO WAY they trade for Smoak instead of Montero.  My guess is he got a lot better and they like his trajectory behind the dish.  I also think the difference in the Yankees and the M's situations are critical in understanding the trade.  Only truly physically gifted catchers debut at 20-22 in the bigs (Mauer and Pudge types).  For most, the bat development is slow enough that they debut at 24-26 (like Ramon Hernandez and Varitek).  The issues with Montero's glove reflect, in part, his gifts with the bat.  The M's can live with the learning curve of a MLB bat and a AAA glove, but the Yankees can't.  This coupled with the age of the Yankees roster and the need to give A-Rod et al. a day off at DH, makes Montero less valuable to the Yankees than to the M's.