Bengie Molina calls it quits

[Cowtipper]

Lots of solid names ending their careers lately.

Bengie Molina has retired, according to Andrew Baggarly of CSNBayArea.com. Molina, a catcher, played in parts of 13 seasons with the Angels, Blue Jays, Giants and Rangers, and though he did not play in 2011, he had remained open to the possibility of returning until now.

Read more:

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/02/bengie-molina-retires.html

[GiambiJuice]

Have you started his Hall Of Fame thread yet?

[Cowtipper]

He's actually not on my list of threads to do.

[Imgran]

Good career though.

IIRC all of the Flying Molina Brothers finish up with World Series rings. 5 rings between them (possibly 6, depending on how generous the Giants were with them in 2010). Not a bad accomplishment. You could conceivably induct them as a group like the Alous.

And of course, Yadier's still out there in his prime and maybe able to add to it.

[Rich the Giants fan]

Good career though.

IIRC all of the Flying Molina Brothers finish up with World Series rings. 5 rings between them (possibly 6, depending on how generous the Giants were with them in 2010). Not a bad accomplishment. You could conceivably induct them as a group like the Alous.

And of course, Yadier's still out there in his prime and maybe able to add to it.

Bengie was given a ring by the Giants, and deservedly so.

Bengie was a very good catcher, but hardly HOF material. Jose should not end up anywhere near the HOF, except as a paying customer. Yadier could end up there if he has a very long career, stays great defensively and keeps up the offensive improvement he showed last year, but that's a big "could."

[Imgran]

ya but together they were a very unique story. 3 brothers, all catchers, in the league together winning World Series titles all in the same era?

I agree that analyzing their careers, the careers don't make the Hall, but put it all together in one place and it's a unique story you don't hear about very often. The Hall collects unique stories, not just stat-gathering old athletes.

[UnderPressure]

Bengie was given a ring by the Giants, and deservedly so.

Bengie was a very good catcher, but hardly HOF material. Jose should not end up anywhere near the HOF, except as a paying customer. Yadier could end up there if he has a very long career, stays great defensively and keeps up the offensive improvement he showed last year, but that's a big "could."

Yadier might end up being a late bloomer on offense just like his Bengie. Bengie didn't hit 19-20 home runs until he was in his early 30s.

[GiambiJuice]

Yadier might end up being a late bloomer on offense just like his Bengie. Bengie didn't hit 19-20 home runs until he was in his early 30s.

His best seasons were probably with the Angels. When he was hitting 19-20 homers for the Giants, he was barely getting on base 30% of the time. He was one of the worst offensive players in baseball despite the home runs.

[Rich the Giants fan]

His best seasons were probably with the Angels. When he was hitting 19-20 homers for the Giants, he was barely getting on base 30% of the time. He was one of the worst offensive players in baseball despite the home runs.

That's not necessarily true. Molina was doing exactly what the Giants needed him to do, drive in runs. He earned his nickname, Money, for his ability to come through when it mattered the most. As a true 6 or 7-hole hitter, he did a fantastic job in the 4-hole for a lousy offense. The statement you make is derived from looking at nothing more than statistics, which are often misleading and don't paint a complete picture. He slugged .433, .455 and .452 in his 3 full seasons as a Giant, and drove in 80, 95 and 81 runs. He wasn't trying to draw walks in that offense. He played a role on that team and his role was to swing the bat and drive in runs. It says something (negative) about your offense when Bengie Molina is your cleanup hitter. I mean, in his prime he would have been an ideal 6-hole hitter. He was never built to be a cleanup hitter but he did a better than average job in his role.

[Imgran]

He certainly did better than you should expect of a catcher in that role.

[GiambiJuice]

He certainly did better than you should expect of a catcher in that role.

Just how much worse than a 90 OPS+ are you expecting from your cleanup hitter?

[Imgran]

Just how much worse than a 90 OPS+ are you expecting from your cleanup hitter?

That's on Sabean, not Molina.

[KCGHOST]

Bengie had a real nice career.