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.
Triple Hawpes Brewed
YAWN
Encarnacion's Parrot
Cover your mouth, please.
joeybw
A Molina for a young staff? Friedman makes another genius move.
Sniderlover
I’ll miss him. Good luck in Tampa!
BlueJayMatt
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.
joeybw
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.
Onetimeaccount
draysbay had it at 4:58pm
John McFadin
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?
Onetimeaccount
I was talking about how the article they linked to that was posted at 6:25pm.
Christopher Rydo
Great move. Wish the Angels had signed him…
Rich
I liked him when he was on the Yanks. Glad to see people realize he is a very good catcher.
thehalfdollarman
I hoped he would join his brother Yadi in St. Louis.
The_BiRDS
Theres always Bengie.
BeisbolJunkie
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.
philliesfan136
Nice move by TB. Wish the Phillies would’ve got him.
Lefty
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.
John McFadin
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.
expos94
whose going to catch brandon morrow now???
Encarnacion's Parrot
Obviously Morrow will be traded to the Rays.
joeybw
lol, why not, we have like 9 mlb ready SP’s anyway, what’s one more?
Encarnacion's Parrot
10! 🙂
expos94
only logical thing to do lol
Bluebirdz 2
The almost as highly defensively regarded Brian Jeroloman
expos94
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.
Lunchbox45
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
expos94
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
UncleCharles
The same Jeroloman that just got claimed?.
riverite10
Do the Blue Jays get a draft pick for him?
Joshua
Yes, but only if the type B compensation system stays the same in the new CBA (for this off-season, at least)
FrankTheFunkasaurusRex
I hope so.
yt
needs jays rumour tag
kräftig. entschieden
Friedman obviously went out and got a Molina because it guarantees a WS berth…
Cavman_Boland
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.
diesel2410
FINALLY!!! A catcher who can throw out runners!!!!
bacon_bitz
To be fair, Kelly Shoppach actually was better than Molina at throwing out runners last year.
Tylocke22
Shuldve resigned Kelly Shoppach
esteban_none_a_loaiza
no
Tylocke22
Shuldve resigned Kelly Shoppach
esteban_none_a_loaiza
no
Tylocke22
Shuldve resigned Kelly Shoppach
esteban_none_a_loaiza
no
John McFadin
They should have resigned Kelly Shoppach, dammit!
esteban_none_a_loaiza
Shuldve resigned Kelly Shoppach
esteban_none_a_loaiza
no
Cavman_Boland
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’.
Troutman
Is there more than one supplemental round in the draft?
Phillies_Aces35
No, just one, long round.
sports33
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.
Troutman
Thanks cause I thought I rememberd there being one last year with only one team picking. Angels maybe?
sports33
Yup, Mariners picked Carter Capps in that comp round.
Alex 18
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.
expos94
go pay for an espn subscription if you have a problem with how they report
sports33
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.
Jose_Bautista
I like his way of reporting.
Take a hike.
This isn’t your ESPN or Fox. AND Thank God for that!
Lunchbox45
Step 1: scroll to the address bar at the top
Step 2: type in any other website.
Step 3: dont come back
BluMule
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!!!
Lunchbox45
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
Howard
Agreed, though Jeroloman could get the call, too. Why is Johnny Mac gone, he was our emergency catcher lmao