More on the Bengie Molina Trade

Jul/10

More on the Bengie Molina Trade

It’s been reported that the Giants will be sending about $2 million along with Bengie Molina to Texas, which means the Giants got almost nothing for him unless Chris Ray ends up surprising almost everyone.

Even so, the Giants needed to get Posey into the line-up at catcher, and Bengie wouldn’t have been happy being the back-up catcher, regardless of how little he’s been hitting this year. Still, I hate the idea of trading away a major league star when his value is at its lowest, just on principal. At age 36, however, and having possibly the slowest legs in MLB, it’s doubtful that Molina’s trade value would have improved much unless he suddenly got red hot between now and the trade deadline.

Dave Cameron of fangraphs.com thinks that the Royals David DeJesus would be a perfect fit for the Giants because he gets on base and is having a career year. DeJesus doesn’t hit into a whole lot of double plays, plays outfield defense and is under control for $6 million in 2011. Cameron acknowledges that the Royals are rumored to be requesting the moon in a trade for DeJesus, but thinks there’s a deal to be made hear.

Like El Lefty Malo , I have my heart set on someone like Prince Fielder, who has real pop, which DeJesus obviously does not. I could live with the Giants trading Jonathan Sanchez and a couple of top prospects (but not Madison Bumgarner) if it meant receiving Prince Fielder in return.

Like DeJesus, Fielder has one more year of control left before free agency. However, Fielder is arbitration eligible this coming off-season and will almost certainly make more than $12 million next season.

The fact that DeJesus is having a career year so far doesn’t really impress me. Fielder is a better hitter than DeJesus, and even though Fielder is having a down year so far, I would still bet on Fielder having the more productive second half of the 2010 season.

The single biggest drawback to Fielder, aside from the talent that would have to be sent to Milwaukee (although, as noted, Fielder’s trade value is down somewhat due to his slow start this year), is that Giants’ management has said they aren’t interested in “rental” players, and Fielder isn’t a good bet on a long-term $100 million+ contract, because of his body type.

SI.com lists Fielder’s present dimensions as 5’11″ and 268 lbs. It’s awfully hard for guys who weigh that much to stay in the line-up once they reach age 29 or 30, particularly in the NL where they have to play the field.

In a totally unrelated note, the Marlins have been getting some flack for the way they handled their managerial search after canning Fredi Gonzalez. Here’s an article from Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post with critical comments by Bobby Valentine, who didn’t get the job, and former Mets GM and now commentator Jim Duquette.

Bobby Valentine is a good manager, but he’s kind of a hot-head, which may not be the best thing for a perennially young team like the Marlins. Also, I’m pleased to see somebody new, in this case Edwin Rodriguez, get a shot.

I was surprised, and a little disgusted, to hear that Rodriguez is the first person of Puerto Rican descent ever to manage in the major leagues. Given how many Puerto Ricans have played in the majors since the 1950′s, it’s well past time that somebody hire a Puerto Rican manager. It certainly doesn’t hurt if the team doing so plays in South Florida, with its substantial Latino population.

Experienced former managers are always going to be around for another hurrah, so why not try somebody new first and see if he can bring something new and valuable to the table?