According to Jon Paul Morosi Jose Molina is close to signing with the Rays. The former Jays backstop had the best season of his career, hitting 281/342/415 while playing solid defence behind the plate. He’s thought to be one of the best catcher’s in the game when it comes to framing pitches, and there’s a fantastic article about the value Molina provides with his glove. He’s got a strong arm behind the plate, although according to The Hardball Times Molina is extremely poor at blocking balls in the dirt.
Still, given that the Rays didn’t have any real options as a backup catcher, this is a solid move. Nobody expects Molina to hit as well as he did last season – but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s still a significant upgrade over the Rays other options. Shoppach isn’t expected to return to the Rays, leaving them with Jaso and a couple of sub-replacement level options. Molina should come cheap, which is another bonus for the Rays.
As Morosi points out, Molina has spent a significant amount of time with the Yankees and Jays recently, and knowledge of their pitching staff as well as their hitters’ weaknesses should come in handy. The Rays already boast a wealth of pitching, so a quality defender who can point out the weaknesses in their rivals gives him a small advantage over other backup options.
The Molina signing isn’t going to make or break the Tampa’s season, but the Rays are going to need a quality bench to go head to head with the Sox & Yankees. They made the playoffs on the last day of the season, and they’ll likely face a similar situation next season. Adding a quality guy like Molina is a step in the right direction.
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