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...
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