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While I have no clue about Montero specifically, for me Piazza (IMO) proved the truth about catcher defense.  It is nearly impossible for the WORST run-stopping catcher in the game to cost his team very many games.  Piazza, who threw out a miserable 23% of base-stealer's in his career, consistently runs -1 WAR for his defense.  His bat was consistently above 5.
In 1996, Piazza allowed 155 SBs (through out 34 for an 18% CS rate), allowed 37 WPs and a league worst 12 PBs.  That was one of the two years he made the playoffs with the Dodgers.  That Dodger team would finish only 12th in runs scored.  But, they would finish #1 in ERA and 2nd in fewest runs allowed.
The Yankees tend to assemble veteran pitching staffs.  Montero won't need to "handle" pitchers much.  They'll "handle" him. 
In truth, somebody like VMart at catcher is almost always a massive plus for a team.  The downside is not the defensive loss ... but the loss of 150 PAs from a good hitter.  Piazza always called a good game.  His ability to stop the ball (or runners) didn't matter in the end. 
Honestly, I think the "ick" factor is what eventually makes managers give up on catchers.  If watching the guy is "painful" (cough - Rob Johnson cough), then managers punt, even when the numbers say it isn't actually costing enough runs to matter.
It's more important to "look" competent than to actually "be" competent. 
The rest, IMO, is hype based on the reality that catching is very, very, very hard ... so perception (wrongly) equates difficulty with importance.  This is why SS is almost universally viewed as more "important" defensively than 2B, despite the reality that the two positions will get almost equal chances over a season.