Wow, the Molina era is over, long live the Posey era!
According to John Shea of the SF Chronicle, the Giants have traded Bengie Molina to the Texas Rangers for Chris Ray and a player to be named later. It was first reported by Foxsports possibly involving getting Chris Davis or Jarrod Saltalamacchia, and perhaps still involve them later as the Giants don't have a 40 man spot to accommodate either right now, so perhaps one of them might come over once the Giants figure out a spot. I wouldn't mind getting Saltalamacchia, who I consider a better prospect, but obviously Davis would provide power and that is something the Giants have been searching for. Molina is important for the Rangers as they lead the AL West and are many games over .500, and catcher has been a rotation among rookies and prospects, and a sore spot, so they wanted the vet.
Clearly, this has a few larger meaning for the team. Obviously, that means that Posey is now the starting catcher, for better or for worse. For worse, see how Matt Weiters has done for the Orioles in 2009 and 2010. Hopefully Posey can get untracked, apparently he was kept out of the lineup to showcase Molina for this trade. This might get him in the flow of things better, he'll be more comfortable and can start hitting again.
It also means that firstbase is now open. That could mean more Uribe at 3B and Sandoval at 1B. It would also mean more Huff at 1B, opening up an outfield position for Rowand or Schierholtz to play more, assuming that Torres and Burrell are the current starters. It could also give Ishikawa some starts, as Bochy noted that the Giants are having problems with RHP.
In addition, Chris Ray was the former closer for the Orioles once upon a time, until, I think, injuries held him back. He is not doing so well in striking out guys, so that is a negative, though, but his ERA is good.
I assume he's going into the bullpen to shore it up, but then who would go down? He's RHP so that would suggest one of Bautista, Romo, Moto, or Casilla would go down, but it could also mean Runzler, though he had a great appearance the last time he pitched, so I wouldn't think that.
Both Romo and Runzler have options, so even though Romo's ERA is good right now, I think he gets the short straw and get sent down, unless the team decides to carry an extra reliever right now in light of the poor outings by the starters lately, in which case there is no problem.
Update: Baggarly report other details. Ray still have an option so he can be sent down. The Giants are sending money to offset the difference between Molina and Ray's salary.
The Giants don't have to send anybody down for Ray since Molina leaving clears up a roster spot for him. They still may though but I am glad we traded him.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment.
ReplyDeleteSorry I wasn't clearer, but since Molina is a position player and Ray is a reliever, if they keep the number of position players constant at 13, then they would be inclined to bring up, say, Bowker or Rohlinger or Downs, but then they would need to send out a reliever.
But then, as I noted at the end, if the Giants decided that they need another reliever right now because of all the short starts that Giants starters are doing now, then they might decide to go with 12 position players for now and carry 13 pitchers.