Miguel Montero remembers driving a hard bargain. He knew what it would take to get a deal done. He did not budge until his demands were met.

When Montero essentially negotiated his own contract extension with the Diamondbacks more than six years ago, he hardly could have known the experience would prepare him for what would come after he was finished playing.

Montero’s playing days are over, for all intents and purposes; he calls himself “pretty much retired.” His days as a baseball agent are just beginning.

Montero is the CEO of ZT Sports, a sports management agency he launched with his brother-in-law Carlos Murcia. They have 17 clients, most from Latin America. Many are prospects in the lower minor leagues, players they envision growing along with the agency. Their lone big leaguer is outfielder Gorkys Hernandez, who spent the past three seasons with the San Francisco Giants.

Montero and Murcia had talked for years about starting an agency, conversation spurred by the end of Montero’s career, a time when he found himself neglected by his own representation. He believed there was a better way to treat players, and he felt his on-field experience would lend itself well to the role he thought an agent could play in a player’s career.

“I see a lot of guys who have been successful doing this (being agents) and these guys are not that special,” Montero said. “So if these guys did it, why can’t we do it, too?”

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During his playing days, he spoke openly about a desire to go into coaching and one day become a big league manager. He might pursue that eventually, but he sees an agent’s place in the game in a somewhat similar light.

Montero, 35, believes an agent is not just the person who negotiates a contract but also someone who serves as a coach, psychologist and father figure to his clients.

“I can help them,” he said. “How can I help them change this slump when they’re going 0 for 20, the approach to take when that happens? A lot of agents, they never went 0 for 1 because they never played the game.”

Montero is the Diamondbacks’ career leader in games caught. He earned in excess of $73 million as a player, according to Baseball-Reference, the majority coming on the five-year, $60 million extension the Diamondbacks gave him.

Montero said he played a significant role in the negotiation of that contract. He said he spoke directly with Diamondbacks CEO Derrick Hall about what it would take to finish the deal.

“I remember we were in Miami,” Montero said. “He called me and was like, ‘What do you want?’ I said, ‘I want five years and $60 million.’ He said, ‘Ah, man, we’ve got four for $44 million.’ I was like, ‘I want 5 for 60.’ ‘Is that the number?’ I said, ‘That’s the number. Don’t call me again with five and 59 and a half because I’m not going to take it.’ ”

Said Hall in a text message: “I remember him being well-prepared and thought out. He will be terrific (as an agent). He is smart, likable and well known. His personality has always made him one of the most engaging personalities in the game, which should bode well for the future. He will be aggressive, yet fair and approachable.”

Montero has never shied away from speaking his mind. He was outspoken during his time with the Diamondbacks, sometimes clashing with teammates, including pitcher Trevor Bauer. His controversial remarks about who was to blame for stolen bases off teammate Jake Arrieta precipitated his release from the Chicago Cubs, whom he helped win a World Series in 2016.

That personality could serve him well as an agent. He has no shortage of energy, is naturally curious and has an array of connections around the league.

“I always was interested in everything,” Montero said. “I wanted to know what’s going on. A lot of players just sit back and play. But I want all the details about it. I want to hear what they say.”

During the final years of Montero’s career, Murcia began the process of starting the agency. The older brother of Montero’s wife, Vanessa, he and Montero had grown close after he moved to Arizona five years ago. Murcia, 38, spent years in the oil industry in Venezuela, working in planning and finance, and he had been working in the finance department of a local construction company before they launched the agency.

Montero, Murcia and Rossmel Perez, a former catcher in the Diamondbacks farm system who works with them as an agent, are based out of a modest office building in Scottsdale. With Montero providing much of the financial backing, they operate the company on a strict budget and fully expect it could take six or seven years before they’re turning a profit.

But they’re excited about the stable of players they already have been able to attract, including prospects such as Red Sox pitcher Darwinzon Hernandez, Rays outfielder Moises Gomez and Diamondbacks outfielder Eduardo Diaz.

“We’re way ahead of where we thought we would be at this point,” Murcia said. “We’ve got a couple of nice prospects, two 40-man roster guys. For just a year and a half, starting the business from zero, when nobody knew about ZT Sports, I think it’s a pretty decent kickoff for us. Now, having Miggy on board 100 percent, now it’s going to advance.”

The firm is connected to ZT Corporate, a private equity firm based in Houston, whose CEO, Taseer Badar, is an investor in the agency.

In his first offseason as an agent, Montero spent time at instructional league and fall league games in recent months, and he’ll be working the lobby at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas this week during the winter meetings.

“We’re definitely more advanced than I thought we were going to be at this point,” Montero said. “It’s fun. I’m starting to enjoy it.

“We want the best for the players. I know the organizations want the best for them, too. I want them to know let’s work together to get the best out of these guys.”

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Reach Piecoro at (602) 444-8680 or nick.piecoro@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on Twitter @nickpiecoro.