Jason Varitek exercised his $3 million option to remain with the Red Sox in 2010, meaning he will not be a free agent this winter.
Fortunately, Joel Sherman of the New York Post quoted two Mets officials earlier this week who said the team is looking for a catcher who can catch at least 100 games.
In a follow up report, Sherman said the Mets prefer free-agent C Benjie Molina, and are also interested in D’Backs C Chris Snyder and free-agent C Rod Barajas.
According to the San Jose Mercury News, Molina is looking for a two-year deal from the Giants, and a team from the American League is interested.
…from what i can gather, molina is looking for around $6 million or so per season… the buzz from SF suggests the Giants want him back, but do not want to commit beyond one year… i don’t blame them… he’s going to be 36 years old next summer… but, for the Mets, it would be interesting to pick up 25 or so home runs from behind the plate, when factoring in Omir Santos as well…
Molina hit .265 with 20 HR, 25 doubles and 80 RBI in 132 games for the Giants last season, while batting mostly fourth in their lineup.
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To my friends who are Red Sox fans, I am sorry.
Molina is not a bad option and i wouldn’t jump off a bridge if we got him but isn’t there anybody that isn’t a type a and that would take a one year deal
I think the Mets can be creative with the catcher spot. There isn ‘t a runaway favorite…all these guys have limitations.
Molina might cost a pick or two which a few people on this blog seemed to have an issue with…and agree. There are options.
Catcher is not an area that typically produces offense. We really need a strong defensive catcher. I know the feeling was that Schneider was that guy but he really was not that good defensively. Certainly not as good as advertised. Castro was an offensive player who did not want to play full time. My guess is we can live with a decent backstop if we can address offensive production at 2b, 1b or LF (preferably 2 of those 3 positions)
My first choice is Barajas because he’s only a type B, better defensivly, younger and will probably come cheaper than Molina.
But if we don’t sign other type A’s such as Holliday and are looking for plus offense in our holes around the diamond, I would go after Molina instead of Barajas because he is a more complete player.
Yeah. I’d give Molina a 2 year deal for 5 mill a year.
Molina for two years, 12 mil seems like a slam dunk win to me.
You can transition Thole in more in 2011 if Molina declines, but Thole isn’t nearly the type of prospect you have to keep a spot open for.
Varitek was not the answer last year, he is not the answer this year… I wonder how they will handle catching Wakefield.
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