I think that's fair.

He ought to realize that, as a 34 year old catcher, his future and the future of the new draft pick are unlikely to overlap.

What a cry baby - the guy has not played a pro game yet - chill

Oh, boohoo. Every pro athlete, directly or indirectly, gets playing time by pushing others out. I have zero sympathy for aging ballplayers who act like it's not going to happen to them too.

On last year's Giants, Molina was just a youngster.

Sabean's youth movement has to feel like a betrayal.

At least Sabean didn't say he was fat.

to be fair, for the first three months Molina was with the Giants, Sabean called him "Yadier"

He's not complaining about them choosing Posey. He's complaining about the comments Sabean made about him.

Regardless of Slow-Molina's feelings, the Giants made a good pick (unusual for them). They took the best player available and he just happens to meet their needs in the coming years. If his signing bonus doesn't force the Giants to bring him up too soon, Posey should be major league ready for the 2010 season. Bengie Slow-Molina's contract expires after the 2009 season.

He ought to realize that, as a 34 year old catcher, his future and the future of the new draft pick are unlikely to overlap.

That's still no excuse for the general manager to say that "his clock is winding down". Especially when Molina is en route to the best season of his career.

Also, he's 33.

This is an utterly defensible draft pick, and an awfully stupid thing to say.

This is an utterly defensible draft pick, and an awfully stupid thing to say.

Please point to the specific part of his comment that was "awfully stupid". Personally, I don't see it.

Unless you're talking about Sabean, in which case, I agree.

The Giants had a chance to get a guy that was touted as a possible #1 overall at #5. I'm happy with that as a pick.

Teams should always be on the lookout for cheaper, younger options. Older players have to be prepared to bring it. Even if this is the real deal and he forces Molina out, as long as he's still raking, Molina will have teams lining up for his services. Did the positional scarcity at C suddenly disappear?

I'm sure he's hurt, cause no one wants to hear anything negative about them,but, rationally, he's in a great place if Posey pans out or if he doesn't.

Unless you're talking about Sabean, in which case, I agree.

That's how I interpreted it. And I also agree. Sure it's true, but it was thoroughly unnecessary.

Upon signing with Toronto, Bengie chewed out Angels GM Bill Stoneman and then called a press conference the next day to say that he had pretty much made up every allegation in his tirade the previous day.

It's even more stupid, because if Sabean wants to trade Molina while his stock is up, he just sliced off a piece of his value....

Quite dumb to say that about your best hitter. No he's not some superstar, but "El Guapo" puts in a hell of an effort.

"if Sabean wants to trade Molina while his stock is up"

There is no reason to trade Bengie, this year or next, unless some dumb team wants to give the Giants a good prospect, which makes no sense. Kenny Williams?

I’ve got to talk to him first and see what he meant

He meant your clock is running down.


if I’m not in their plans for the future, then what am I doing here?

Playing baseball?

There is no reason to trade Bengie, this year or next, unless some dumb team wants to give the Giants a good prospect, which makes no sense. Kenny Williams?

I don't know about that. It depends on how much a team wants to win now and how the standings look around the deadline. Assuming Molina keeps it up (which is a big assumption, I know), how many teams could use a reasonable defensive catcher (with a better reputation) carrying a 123 OPS+? Mets? Phillies? Marlins? Astros? Yankees, depending on how Posada is doing? Toronto? I doubt Beane would do it, but the A's (Molina may be worth a pick or two at FA time)? How about the chock-full-o-prospects Brew Crew sporting Kendall behind the plate?

Edit: And by the way, Molina is only owed a prorated share of his $6m salary this year, plus $6m next year, plus some performance bonuses. That's not bad.

"Assuming Molina keeps it up (which is a big assumption, I know), how many teams could use a reasonable defensive catcher (with a better reputation) carrying a 123 OPS+?"

You said it right: it's a big assumption that a guy with a career OPS+ of 88 will keep up his hitting pace established in just the first two months of this one season. A more reasonable expectation is to assume Bengie will have an OPS+ of around 97 (his average the last 3 years) the remainder of 2008. (It's actually more reasonable to assume it will be lower than that, if you weight 2007 higher than 2006 and 2005.)

Nonetheless, a catcher who is a league average hitter is good to have, and he is not terribly expensive. The problem is giving up a real prospect for him. If a team like one of those you list really is desperate for a decent catcher come the trading deadline, I would say offer some sort of C-level prospect, but nothing more. It's not like Bengie on the margin is going to be the difference between winning a penant and not for any club, this year.

There is no reason to trade Bengie, this year or next, unless some dumb team wants to give the Giants a good prospect, which makes no sense. Kenny Williams?

OK, I'm sure this is some kind of joke, but I just don't get the Kenny Williams punchline.

Teams do all sorts of irrational things in order to win now. Will the Mets give up Fernando Martinez for Molina? Absolutely not. Would a team give up a B-level prospect for him? A B-level and a C-level? Maybe.

I know that you don't think it makes sense to give much up for Molina. That doesn't mean a GM won't give up a decent amount for a guy who is actually a pretty good player with a reasonable contract. It isn't just about roster construction, either - making the playoffs is a big deal to a franchise, and a GM isn't always going to say "Molina will, at his expected rate of performance going forward, be worth 1.3 wins more than our current catcher, so it would be stupid to give up a significant prospect when our projections show that we should finish 5 games behind our division rival." There's a fair bit of dice-rolling with these deadline deals.

OK, I'm sure this is some kind of joke, but I just don't get the Kenny Williams punchline.

No kidding. Haven't we long since dispensed with the "Kenny Williams is a stupid GM" meme? I realize for the sake of the example that Brian Sabean wasn't available, and that Bill Bavasi locked up Johjima and has Clement in the wings, but Kenny?

I think it was pretty clear that Sabean was talking about Molina's time with the Giants, obviously with him doing so well, he wasn't talking about his abilities as a ballplayer.

I didn't think Molina was wouss-y enough to feel this way, much less air it publicly, but oh well. But his main complaint was that he thought he has done enough to deserve an extension, because he wants to feel the love, unlike at Anaheim and Toronto when they gave him no extensions.

And the thing is, if anything, it was a public challenge by Sabean to Posey and his agents to get the signing done quickly and not drag it out to the August deadline, time's (and opportunity) a-wasting if they are going to do that over a few hundred thousands or a million or two. And he threw out an olive branch, saying that a major league contract is not out of the question.

The thing is, with the youth movement, Molina is stupid if he thinks the Giants are planning on giving him an extention (as he seems to think he deserves) when with his outlier season this year, they will probably rather let him leave via free agency and hope they pick up two draft picks for him, presumably a late first rounder plus supplemental, because at his age, only a contender will pick him up most probably.

And there is no reason for the Giants to trade Molina, they have no strong or even decently average defensive catcher ready to come up and start for them, Holm is not that good defensively nor have I heard anything about his pitch-calling abilities. And to drive it home, none of the major prospect books thought enough of him to include him on the Giants top prospect list, including Baseball America. And I consider Alfonso done after two suspensions for PED usage.

(It's actually more reasonable to assume it will be lower than that, if you weight 2007 higher than 2006 and 2005.)

About weighing 2007 more than the other years, that is a best practice in general, but the reports over the years is that it takes at least half a season to a season for free agents to figure out how to hit in the park, and judging from JT Snow's career after going to the new park, some people never figure it out, it is just that detrimental to left-handed hitters normally, though Lewis thus far has bucked the trends and is hitting like a monster at home, and like Elmo on the road.

Regardless of Slow-Molina's feelings, the Giants made a good pick (unusual for them).

Yes, very unusual, why all they've selected in the draft in recent years are Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez, Brian Wilson, Noah Lowry, Kevin Correia, Fred Lewis, who would ever want players like that on their team?

Pablo Sandoval expressed concerns similar to Molina's but as he plays in high A San Jose, nobody cares....