Jose A or Jose B?
Welcome your newest member of the Toronto Blue Jays, Jose Molina.
In a bit of a surprising move, the bluebirds signed the former Yankees backstop to a one year $400,000 dollar contract. That salary could be bumped up to $800,000 if Molina makes the 25-man roster out of Spring Training.
I say this was a surprise move because it seemed like the Blue Jays had the catching situation all but figured out. John Buck will catch most of the games, and Raul Chavez will backup. If need be, they could dip into the 51’s roster and call up Kyle Phillips or J.P. Arencibia.
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The Molina signing signals that something must be horribly horribly wrong with the development of the once highly-touted prospect J.P. Arencibia. Now that Travis d’Arnaud has even snuck ahead of Arencibia on the Blue Jays top prospects list, it must be a sign of things to come.
So welcome to the club, Jose. I just hope that you’re a little quicker on the base path than your brother Bengie.
I'm hoping this move puts pressure on our prospects and they perform better as a result. That would be the optimist in me saying that.
Maybe I was a little panicked on Arencebia, but at least the Blue Jays now have a contingent plan for 2011 if J.P. isn't ready next year. With Molina's option, they at least have one catcher for 2010.
J.P. was pretty young for AAA last year. I'm looking forward to seeing him back here in Vegas this year, and to see the progress that he has made.
I'm not expecting miracles or anything, but I hope J.P. has a great year in Vegas. There's no rush in bringing him up to the majors, since the Jays already have three viable catchers – but it would be cool to see him as a September call-up.
That would be cool. He's my 7 year old son's favorite 51s player, and J.P. gave him an autographed bat, baseballs, etc. last year.
Very nice, he sounds like a cool guy and I wish J.P. all the best. Enjoy those 51's (and Jays) games this season!