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Rays, Jose Molina Nearing One-Year Deal

By Dan Mennella | November 17, 2011 at 5:33pm CDT

The Rays are close to signing catcher Jose Molina to a one-year contract with an option for 2013, Major League sources tell Jon Paul Morosi of FOXSports.com.

Molina, 36, is a 12-year veteran who spent the past four-plus seasons in the AL East with the Yankees and Blue Jays as a backup. A defense-first catcher (redundant, I know), Molina is a career .241/.286/.344 hitter, although he posted a .281/.342/.415 line in 2011 with Toronto, albeit in 191 plate appearances.

The Rays went with a catching platoon in 2011, divvying up playing time pretty evenly between Kelly Shoppach and John Jaso. Shoppach, a free agent, will presumably sign elsewhere this offseason, according to Morosi, so Molina could perhaps take his place in that time-share, barring any other moves by Tampa Bay for a catcher.

Molina is a Type B free agent, so the Blue Jays will receive a supplemental first-round pick for losing him.

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Tampa Bay Rays Jose Molina

Minor Moves: Wood, Burton, Gonzalez, Buchholz
Main
NL East Links: Hamels, Mets, Marlins, Hanley
View Comments (72)
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72 Comments

  1. Triple Hawpes Brewed

    14 years ago

    YAWN

    Reply
    • Encarnacion's Parrot

      14 years ago

      Cover your mouth, please.

      Reply
  2. joeybw

    14 years ago

    A Molina for a young staff? Friedman makes another genius move.

    Reply
  3. Sniderlover

    14 years ago

    I’ll miss him. Good luck in Tampa!

    Reply
    • BlueJayMatt

      14 years ago

      The epitome of a good back-up catcher. Always played well, happy to have the role he had – good luck in Tampa.

      Thanks for the year and thanks for the pick.

      Reply
  4. joeybw

    14 years ago

    He is great at framing pitches which will help the guys who work the corners(Hellickson, Davis, Cobb) and you do not run on Molina’s.

    Awesome. Just wish he could hit.

    Reply
  5. Onetimeaccount

    14 years ago

    draysbay had it at 4:58pm

    Reply
    • John McFadin

      14 years ago

      I would hope so, considering they only follow the Rays…….  Do you think MLBTR breaks all this news first or something?  Isn’t if obvious based on the link they provide with every post that they basically scour all baseball sites and get the information posted here?

      Reply
      • Onetimeaccount

        14 years ago

        I was talking about how the article they linked to that was posted at 6:25pm.

        Reply
  6. Christopher Rydo

    14 years ago

    Great move. Wish the Angels had signed him… 

    Reply
  7. Rich

    14 years ago

    I liked him when he was on the Yanks. Glad to see people realize he is a very good catcher. 

    Reply
  8. thehalfdollarman

    14 years ago

    I hoped he would join his brother Yadi in St. Louis.

    Reply
    • The_BiRDS

      14 years ago

      Theres always Bengie.

      Reply
    • BeisbolJunkie

      14 years ago

      I bet my son $1 that he wod for sure sign with STL and back up Yadi. Brilliant move. He was always catching Rays stealing. So now that he’s on their side, that’s 1 less opposing defensive threat holding them on. I love it when he throws out former Yankee teammates. They underestimate him everytime. Plus he’s great @ getting Carl Crawford out too. Not to mention all the scouting intelligence he has on the other AL EAST rivals.

      Reply
  9. philliesfan136

    14 years ago

    Nice move by TB. Wish the Phillies would’ve got him.

    Reply
  10. Lefty

    14 years ago

    When are the Orioles going to make a move! I think they need to go with Doumit, but is he worth the money. He would provide a lot of flexibility.. to me it’s worth it. To the Orioles who knows?

    And congrats Molina, you got yourself a good team in Tampa.

    Reply
    • John McFadin

      14 years ago

      I understand Doumit could DH (and maybe OF?) and I don’t follow the Orioles at all, but Doumit’s primary position is C, and I’m guessing there just might be someone blocking him?  I bet Doumit looks for a starting job before signing as a backup C for a team with an amazing young C.

      Reply
  11. expos94

    14 years ago

    whose going to catch brandon morrow now???

    Reply
    • Encarnacion's Parrot

      14 years ago

      Obviously Morrow will be traded to the Rays.

      Reply
      • joeybw

        14 years ago

        lol, why not, we have like 9 mlb ready SP’s anyway, what’s one more?

        Reply
        • Encarnacion's Parrot

          14 years ago

          10! 🙂

          Reply
      • expos94

        14 years ago

        only logical thing to do lol

        Reply
    • Bluebirdz 2

      14 years ago

      The almost as highly defensively regarded Brian Jeroloman

      Reply
      • expos94

        14 years ago

        i don’t know about that it will probably end up being JP because there is nothing to suggest that jeroloman will have the same chemistry with morrow that Molina had. 

        Reply
        • Lunchbox45

          14 years ago

          Molina is just a better defensive catcher, thats all. There was no extra chemistry, he’s just better defensively

          The only problem is that Jeroloman swings a water noodle 

          Reply
          • expos94

            14 years ago

            no there was look back to morrow’s comments he said that he and molina got each other. when cito was here he talked about it all the time. 
            http://www.thestar.com/sports/baseball/article/1028019–when-a-pitcher-meets-his-match

            Reply
      • UncleCharles

        14 years ago

        The same Jeroloman that just got claimed?.

        Reply
  12. riverite10

    14 years ago

    Do the Blue Jays get a draft pick for him?

    Reply
    • Joshua

      14 years ago

      Yes, but only if the type B compensation system stays the same in the new CBA (for this off-season, at least)

      Reply
    • FrankTheFunkasaurusRex

      14 years ago

      I hope so.

      Reply
  13. yt

    14 years ago

    needs jays rumour tag

    Reply
  14. kräftig. entschieden

    14 years ago

    Friedman obviously went out and got a Molina because it guarantees a WS berth…

    Reply
  15. Cavman_Boland

    14 years ago

    Jose Molina actually gets way too much credit as a defensive catcher. The guy doesn’t move to nlock balls in the dirt, he just swipes at it with his glove.

    Reply
  16. diesel2410

    14 years ago

    FINALLY!!! A catcher who can throw out runners!!!!

    Reply
    • bacon_bitz

      14 years ago

      To be fair, Kelly Shoppach actually was better than Molina at throwing out runners last year.

      Reply
  17. Tylocke22

    14 years ago

    Shuldve resigned Kelly Shoppach

    Reply
    • esteban_none_a_loaiza

      14 years ago

      no

      Reply
  18. Tylocke22

    14 years ago

    Shuldve resigned Kelly Shoppach

    Reply
    • esteban_none_a_loaiza

      14 years ago

      no

      Reply
  19. Tylocke22

    14 years ago

    Shuldve resigned Kelly Shoppach

    Reply
    • esteban_none_a_loaiza

      14 years ago

      no

      Reply
  20. John McFadin

    14 years ago

    They should have resigned Kelly Shoppach, dammit!

    Reply
  21. esteban_none_a_loaiza

    14 years ago

    Shuldve resigned Kelly Shoppach

    Reply
    • esteban_none_a_loaiza

      14 years ago

      no

      Reply
  22. Cavman_Boland

    14 years ago

    Oh well now I guess the Jays need to sign Varitek. Apparently though he’ll only sign with a team if they give him the ‘C’.

    Reply
  23. Troutman

    14 years ago

    Is there more than one supplemental round in the draft?

    Reply
    • Phillies_Aces35

      14 years ago

      No, just one, long round.

      Reply
    • sports33

      14 years ago

      Yes. There’s a “Comp Round B” that comes after the third round. Teams that don’t sign their third-round pick end up with a pick there.

      Reply
      • Troutman

        14 years ago

        Thanks cause I thought I rememberd there being one last year with only one team picking. Angels maybe?

        Reply
        • sports33

          14 years ago

          Yup, Mariners picked Carter Capps in that comp round.

          Reply
  24. Alex 18

    14 years ago

    1) “A defense-first catcher (redundant, I know)” – With all due respect, kindly keep your opinions out of your pieces. You’re supposed to be reporting here, not pontificating. It looks unprofessional, plus the assertion isn’t even true – see Jorge Posada for the past few seasons, or Mike Napoli during his tenure with the Angels.

    2) The Jays will only get a supplemental pick if the new CBA continues Type B draft pick compensation, which seems unlikely.

    Reply
    • expos94

      14 years ago

      go pay for an espn subscription if you have a problem with how they report

      Reply
    • sports33

      14 years ago

      1) Shut up.

      2) This (apparently opinionated) site already posted something this week saying that the compensation rules would stay in place throughout this offseason.

      Reply
    • Jose_Bautista

      14 years ago

      I like his way of reporting.

      Take a hike.

      This isn’t your ESPN or Fox. AND Thank God for that!

      Reply
    • Lunchbox45

      14 years ago

       Step 1: scroll to the address bar at the top

       Step 2: type in any other website.

       Step 3: dont come back

      Reply
  25. BluMule

    14 years ago

    Not a good sign, now we need to find:
    -a back-up catcher-2ND base 
    -Ace or second to Romero 
    -2 relief guys (extra one for 6-8, and a closer) 
    -and that’s if EE and Lind play like they did before/after the sucked.Although those 2 have a little more slack because EE finally seems comfortable at DH and if I’m not mistaken it was Lind first year at 1ST which I’m assuming takes a toll.Only good thing coming from the jays is the new jerseys tomorrow!!!

    Reply
    • Lunchbox45

      14 years ago

      The hope is that JPA will continue to progress and that his bat will get better so he can play more games.

      If JPA struggles, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see D’arnaud mid season

      Reply
      • Howard

        14 years ago

         Agreed, though Jeroloman could get the call, too. Why is Johnny Mac gone, he was our emergency catcher lmao

        Reply

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