Hot Stove Update: Bengie Molina Fallout

The Bengie Molina signing has gotten ripped across the internet from respected bloggers like Grant on mccoveychronicles.com to random sites like AdamAdkins.net. The common themes seem to be: 1. Bengie is blocking Buster Posey. 2. His OBP is so terrible it negates everything that he might do well. 3. He's so slow on the bases it's too painful to watch. I'll defend the signing with a few points:

1. It's only a 1 year deal, so he's really not blocking anybody. I'm sure Buster could play in the majors now if he had to, but It's also likely he would have a considerable adjustment period. Now the Giants can bring him along at his own pace and don't to risk "Super Two" status like Timmy.

2. While the Giants need a better team OBP, they weren't going to find it at the catcher position this year. Buster will probably eventually be a very tough out, but it's fairly hard to put up a .300+ OBP if your BA is .220 which Buster's could well be for a considerable time.

3. OBP is not the end-all, be-all of hitting. While Rod Barajas and Yorvit Torrealba, the only other veteran catching options available, had career years in 2009, Bengie has hit at least 15 HR's for the last 5 years. It's more than just HR's too. Bengie has added 33 and 25 doubles the last two seasons. Doubles? You mean Bengie can actually run past first base on a ball in play? You'd never guess it from the negative hyperbole reverberating through the blogosphere. He's been a consistent RBI producer. OK, go ahead and sneer at RBI's. The RBI's were not just because Bengie batted 4'th. In addition to the HR's and doubles, Bengie has led MLB in Sac Flies the last two seasons with 11. Getting those runners home from 3B is crucial, especially on a team with pitching like the Giants. Bengie's done it 22 times in the last 2 years. No, Bengie is not a cleanup hitter on a good hitting team, but it's not his fault the Giants didn't have a MLB quality cleanup hitter. Bengie will almost certainly bat lower in the order this year, I project him to bat 6'th where his low OBP will hurt less and his power and RBI skills will be welcome.

4. If the Giants were going to go with a veteran catcher for 1 year, it's much better to go with the guy who already knows the pitching staff unless the replacement is an order of magnitude better in other areas, which Barajas and Torrealba are not.