So what did he do? He went out and got Bengie Molina, signing him to a three-year $16MM deal.
“We needed a front-line catcher,” Sabean said. “We weren’t comfortable as an organization going forward with [Eliezer] Alfonzo in general as the No. 1 guy. The chance to get somebody experienced, especially somebody who can drive in runs, was very attractive. ... With name recognition and his background, it certainly gives us a comfort level. Believe me, that’s nothing to take away from Alfonzo’s efforts.”
Ultimately, Molina was pretty productive with the Giants. He was dreadfully slow, and didn't possess the ability to walk, but he managed to accumulate 6.8 fWAR over that three-year span, an estimated worth of $29.7MM (surely justifying his contract).
Then, Brian Sabean did something quite controversial. He signed Bengie Molina to a one-year deal for 2010; Buster Posey, who was slated to be the Giants starting catcher at the beginning of 2010, would spend the beginning of his season in AAA.
And Molina was awful. In 61 games with the Giants, he compiled 0.3 fWAR, posting a slash line of .257/.312/.332; nevertheless, he was a catcher, and catchers are scarce. So Texas sought to fill their hole at catcher by acquiring Molina, and they did so: on June 30, he was traded away for reliever Chris Ray and prospect bust Michael Main. And that ended his time with the Giants, leaving the starting catcher position in Posey's hands.
Molina would later meet the Giants in the 2010 World Series, and ended up receiving a ring -- not as a Ranger, but as a Giant.
Now, at 36 years old, he's on the verge of retirement. And he deserves some acknowledgement. He was not very productive offensively as a Giant, and certainly never an adequate cleanup hitter, but he was valuable. He was certainly worth that $16MM contract, and for what it's worth, helped to shape a young pitching staff and mentor Buster Posey.
At the risk of delving into intangibles, Molina was a "good Giant". He played hard, loved what he did, and he contributed a lot to the Giants. I truly hope his poor 2010 showing didn't sour fans' views of him, because he was actually not too shabby for the three seasons prior to that.
So here's to Bengie Molina; thanks for giving the Giants a few good years.
