For more about Max, see his introductory post here. At the end of the 2011 season, the Tampa Bay Rays declined catcher Kelly Shoppach’s $3.2 million option for 2012, setting him free to explore the market for his services. On November 28th, they signed Jose Molina as his replacement for one year and $1.8 million. The middle Molina has been a backup catcher throughout...

Remember back in the fall when I was doing a weekly positional breakdown of the Jays as baseball traipsed through its eventful off-season and into the spring? Well, I went across to diamond to every fielding position off the mound – and little has changed since then. At catcher, former Angel Jeff Mathis will take over the role as J.P. Arencibia’s back-up that was vacated by Tampa...

In this addition of Rays Roundup: The team feels pretty good about their off-season after upgrading at first base, designated hitter, catcher and adding bullpen depth, questions remain about who will share catching duties with Jose Molina, Jeff Niemann loses his arbitration case, two former Rays are now in Cleveland, and Game 162 hero Dan Johnson hopes for a shot on the South Side in Chicago.

Many of you read probably read the TRI projections for players at different positions and wondered what you were looking at. How does that single number translate into something you could use for your fantasy draft. Plus, how can you possibly know whether this fly by night metric is actually worth anything in fantasy projections? Well, we’ve decided to do the heavy lifting...

Villarreal claimed their first competitive victory in over two months as they beat Sporting Gijon 3-0 to climb out of the Primera Division relegation zone. The Yellow Submarine should probably have been ahead at the break but they had to wait until the 57th minute to take the lead when Marco Ruben slotted in. Borja Valero then doubled their lead two minutes later with a fine strike...

It appears that most of the offseason movement is almost over. Additionally, total run index has evolved enough to where I can present to you the final fantasy projections at the catcher position. As I have done in the past, we will look at the top fifteen fantasy catchers for the 2012 season. The list may look a little different this time around because of the advances in total...

Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone won on his home debut Sunday as his new team beat Villarreal 3-0 in the Spanish league thanks to Radamel Falcao's brace. Falcao broke through for a dominant Atletico in the 40th minute at Vicente Calderon stadium by scoring from a pass by Adrian Lopez inside the six-yard box. Falcao scored his 11th league goal from the penalty spot in the...

The Rays announced their one-year deal with Luke Scott today, but they haven't finished tweaking the offense, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. Executive VP of baseball operations Andrew Friedman says the Rays have "a long list" of hitters they're considering. Casey Kotchman and Carlos Pena are among the free agent first base options the team could...

Jose Molina's inaugural match ended level despite the Yellow Submarine opening up a two goal advantage against Los Che keeping them deep in relegation trouble.

It is an exciting time for Total Runs Index. After finishing the overviews of the positions this past week we went back to work on TRI. When you are talking data with any sabermetrician there is one cardinal rule they all live by: the larger the sample size the better the data. 2011 has come and gone and when you take a snapshot in time you sometimes can be misled. So, I went back...

Jose Molina faces a difficult challenge in his first match as coach when his side welcomes Unai Emery's team, which sits third in La Liga, to El Madrigal.

New Villarreal manager Jose Molina has faced many battles in his eventful life but the latest chapter starts afresh in a new year and a new beginning when hostilities resume in La Liga. Jose Molina, pictured here playing for Deportivo, had an illustrious playing career. (Getty Images) On Sunday, Molina will take his position on the bench as a manager of a top-flight club for the...

If you have been hanging around these parts for a while, you know that the model for this site is to tell you what the Rays have done, what they are doing and try to project what they will do based on what we have learned. Think of RI as “Tampa Bay Rays 101.” However, for the next 12 days we will step away from the standard, and we present to you 12 “presents” the...

Wakaso MubarakGhana and Villarreal midfielder Mubarak Wakaso hopes his fortune will change with the arrival of new coach Jose Molina. The midfielder has been consigned to the bench under the management of Juan Carlos Garrido, who was sacked last week.Wakaso played under Molina, a former Spain international goalkeeper, in the second team of the Yellow Submarines.“He knows me very...

Tampa, Florida – The Tampa Bay Rays appear to have interest in signing free-agent catcher/designated hitter Jorge Posada, according to a report from ESPN Deportes. Posada could serve as a backup at first base, DH and catcher, the story states, which potentially would give the Rays a 36-year-old starting catcher in Jose Molina and a 40-year-old reserve in Posada. During the 2011...

The Tampa Bay Rays have seen plenty of New York Yankees catcher Jorge Posada throughout their 13 years as a franchise. In fact, they have seen so much of him that they may now show an interest in signing Posada to split time behind the plate and at first base at Tropicana Field in 2012. Posada would see time as a back-up backstop behind Jose Molina, as well as time at first base...

From MLB.com:The Tampa Bay Rays appear to have interest in signing free-agent catcher/designated hitter Jorge Posada, according to a report from ESPN Deportes. Posada could serve as a backup at first base, DH and catcher, the story states, which potentially would give the Rays a 36-year-old starting catcher in Jose Molina and a 40-year-old reserve in Posada. During the 2011 season...

Recently, we learned that Jorge Posada would like to continue playing in 2012 if he can find the right situation.  There appears to be interest in the veteran as the Rays, Orioles, and Phillies have inquired on Posada, the catcher's father told Javier Maymi of ESPNDeportes.com (Spanish link).  Sources told Maymi that the Rays are interested in exploring the possibility of...

The Yellow Submarine have acted quickly to replace Juan Carlos Garrido, who was sacked by the club on Wednesday, and have handed the reigns to the 41-year-old

Villarreal promoted B-team coach Jose Francisco Molina on Thursday to replace the fired Juan Carlos Garrido for the remainder of the Spanish league season. Garrido, who was also promoted from the B team nearly two years ago, was sacked on Wednesday after the club bowed out of the Copa del Rey competition to third-tier Mirandes by a 3-1 aggregate score. Molina joined Villarreal...

Jose Molina will coach Villarreal for the rest of the season after Wednesday’s sacking of manager Juan Carlos Garrido. The...

Jose Molina brings to the Rays his expertise at pitch-calling and — maybe more critically — a genius at framing the strike zone.

ROGER MOONEY DALLAS Joe Maddon took his turn in front of the media this afternoon during the first day of baseball’s annual Winter Meetings at the Hilton Anatole Dallas. Here is some of what he…

Welcome to one of the most exciting times in the Major League Baseball off-season…the Winter Meetings! Front office representatives from all MLB organizations will be making their way to Texas for the next few days, with the anticipation of some wheeling and dealing starting to happen for the top tier free agents. Over this past week, there were more small market deals, until the...

Today is day one of the winter meetings, this year in Dallas. The baseball scribes are expecting a lot of activity this week now that the new CBA has been agreed to. Expect free agent signings and trades galore. But don't be surprised if not much happens. Our own AA is not a big fan of these meetings, he has said you can get more done via texts and phone calls in your office...