As opposed to the Russell Branyan trade, which saw two non-contending teams work out a deal, last night's Bengie Molina–Chris Ray swap was pulled off by two clubs with playoff aspirations. Let's check out some early reactions to the move….
- According to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, the trade is more of a gamble for the Giants than the Rangers, though clearing room behind the plate for Buster Posey should make up for that.
- Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News says that the Rangers' new catching tandem of Molina and Matt Treanor "sounds just awful" on the surface, but that it might just work.
- ESPN.com's Rob Neyer wonders exactly how much Molina will upgrade Texas' backstop production.
- After speaking to a source in the Giants' clubhouse, Richard Durrett of ESPNDallas is optimistic about the Rangers' end of the deal, adding that Molina should only improve an already good clubhouse.
- Fangraphs' Jack Moore is less positive, calling the trade a "headscratcher" for the Rangers.
- El Lefty Malo is unsure whether there's even a spot for Chris Ray in the Giants' bullpen, but is happy that Posey is now an everyday player.
- Establishing Posey as the number one catcher should have a "positive ripple effect" for the Giants, writes MLB.com's Chris Haft.
Is anyone else curious how much weight Bengie will lose just from being a fat guy in Arlington? The dude could sweat out fifteen pounds sitting on the bench during a day game.
Bengie has fallen off HUGE from the past years of his Giants tenure.
This year he has been abysmal. Offense, Defense, and his game calling have been bad! Posey behind the plate gives us several options of where to go from here. If we can add a Josh Willingham type and Pablo’s bat comes around, we could be in good shape.
i really like molina. hopefully he can turn it around this year and turn into the player he was last year.
Molina is a fat, lazy, entitled player. Bruce Bochy insisted on playing him and tried to bury Buster Posey. Fortunately for Giants fans, the impossible happened and he was traded. Though Bochy will probably still try to ruin Posey. But yeah, Molina has no upside whatsoever and just looks done. This from a White Sox fan, no connection at all to the trade.
From the Richard Durrett ESPN blog:“As for Molina’s personality, the source tells me he’s a good leader. His teammates liked him enough in San Francisco that he won the team award for most inspirational player in 2007 and 2008.”Yup, sounds like a “fat, lazy, entitled player” to me. By the way, he’s referring to the Willie Mac award, one of the most respected Giants achievements because it is voted on by the player’s teammates. Matt Cain (who has given Bengie a lot of credit for his success) won the award in 2009. Selfish players need not apply.Good luck, Bengie.
bengie does not even try. hes a great personality but not a great baseball player. there are no excuses for batting .257 with 3 hrs and 17 rbis at the allstar break. on top of that he is fat and cant run. no personality is worth $4.5 million dollars
you’re a loser whose mad because pierzynski is horrible. the only thing wrong with molina is he literally can’t run. other than this season he hits 20 home runs and 80+ RBI’s. he almost always comes through in the clutch. he has tremendous upside.
im a giants fan but aj has better stats this year buddy. and we shouldnt look back at prior stats cuz it doesnt matter because we didnt win a championship in prior years. look at the present and future
you said you were a white sox fan.
“and we shouldnt look back at prior stats cuz it doesnt matter because we didnt win a championship in prior years”
This is just an absolutely horrible argument. Saying that Molina can’t have possibly been a good player for the Giants because the entire team didn’t win a championship in previous years just makes zero sense.
I’m not saying Bengie has been some stellar, all-star, elite catcher, just that you made no sense.
first of all i did not say he wasnt a good player because we didnt win a championship. dont misquote me.
and honestly who remembers stats from previous years anyways and even if you do who cares?!?!! what did bengie do in 2007 or 2008 or 2009 off the top of you head. dont check baseball reference.
and does it honestly matter. it was worth getting rid of him look at poseys production. its about the present and future looking forward to a championship. the giants have not won a championship in over 50 years and we are tired of waiting.
and with that go smoke a joint mr 420.
On behalf of the NY Mets, I’d like to thank one Bengie Molina for not signing on with the team last offseason. Muy amable.
Does anyone know who the PTBNL might be?
PTBNL usually happens within 6 months of the trade, so us Giants fans won’t know till a little later…we could just get cash back but that is unlikely because the Rangers are going through ownership problems
“Fox Sports reporter Jon Paul Morosi writes this morning that the player to be named later in the Bengie Molina trade, which is expected to be made official today, will be a Class A pitcher. ESPN’s Buster Olney tweets (@Buster_ESPN) that the player will be a “mid-tier prospect.” That would theoretically include candidates like Wilfredo Boscan, Jake Brigham, Fabio Castillo, Michael Main (who has been promoted to Frisco), Carlos Pimentel, Neil Ramirez, Braden Tullis, and Corey Young. Do not fear that a guy like Wilmer Font or Robbie Ross or Matt Thompson or Joe Wieland being part of this deal.”
There is no way Michael Main would go for Molina.
(BOY WAS I WRONG ON THIS ONE…AND I AM FREAKING CHOKING ON IT)
Says you!
I stand corrected if the new reports are true. The Giants truly fleeced the Rangers on this one.
I don’t know much of him…he sounds like a good prospect. Helps us replenish our pitching.
Hope Bengie works out for you guys!
Chad Tracy i figure..
we dont need to power 1B and the giants do.
i dont see it being a blue chip or anything
Durrett calls this a budget neutral deal (“The Rangers will owe the rest of Molina’s $4.5 million contract”), but he doesn’t address the (up to) $1.5M in incentives owed to Bengie if he starts 90-115 games as a catcher. He currently has 55 starts.
Given the Rangers financial limitations, is it safe to assume that the Giants would assume those payments (or a pro-rated share) if Molina achieves the benchmarks? Or is the cash payment set in stone today and the Rangers assume the risk of future incentive payments?
A heard the PTBNL is a second tier A-Ball Pitcher I am guessing Neil Ramirez
Texas catchers have hit .209/.307/.324/.632
Molina has hit much over that his whole career. The only reason his numbers are not good now is because he had an injury with a foul ball in May, which eventually required a cortisone shot. Check out his stats in April, that’s what he can do when he’s healthy.
Molina’s slash line in Mar/April was .344/.403/.422, are you really saying that he is capable of batting like that consistently? Check out his .350 BABIP during that time, which might be a better indicator of those stats than his health.
Funny how these things work: everyone was touting the Rangers for being four deep in catchers.
Boy, lots of Bengie “Bashing”. He was a clutch hitter and handled pitchers well for SF as well as the Angels. I think he has some left in the tank.
When a club hits like the Giants are hitting, just about every position player becomes a whipping boy. We all saw Molina hit into a ton of double plays and consistently offer at pitches out of the strike zone. He was an out machine. His defense has declined, and he throws out only about 22 percent of basestealers. His power has declined this year, with only 3 HRs. I think we can appreciate the contributions he made, especially in the clubhouse and as a misplaced #4 hitter, but Molina is typical of the problems that the Giants have – poor plate discipline and streaky.
Lol I’m a Giants fan & it’s amazing how our fans are bashing bengie. sure wasntt saying this when he was producing!!
Lol I’m a Giants fan & it’s amazing how our fans are bashing bengie. sure wasntt saying this when he was producing!!