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Reactions to the Molina Acquisition

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As expected, sports sections were flush with articles about Monday's signing of Bengie Molina. In my opinion, there's nothing really noteworty in most of the ones I read. Other than the obligatory quotes praising Molina, the articles mostly include tidbits about his frustrating offseason and his career accomplishments.

Here are some links:

Jays catch an ace in Molina | Allan Ryan, Toronto Star
Blue Jays land Molina | Mike Rutsey, Toronto Sun
Molina catches on with Toronto | Jeff Blair, Globe & Mail
Molina Ends Up With Blue Jays | Mike DiGiovanna, Los Angeles Times

Also, well-respected espn.com writer Rob Neyer was posed a question about the signing during yesterday's SportsNation chat:

jfk: do you think the jays signing of molina was a good one? i am not sure, i thought zaun did a nice job for us last year. i would have spent the money upgrading LF or RF i think.

Rob Neyer: I think if the Jays could have upgraded right field for $6 million, they might have done it. But this is a nice, short-term and (relatively) low-cost move, and represents a real upgrade. I still don't think they've caught the Yankees and Red Sox. But again they've inched a bit closer.

Neyer, much like many others in the online baseball community, touts the acquisition as a significant upgrade at the catcher's position. However, he doesn't explain why the move represents a significant upgrade. I'm not opposed to those who defend the move, as it certainly has its merits, but I have yet to come across a compelling argument as to why Molina is significantly better than Gregg Zaun. I sent Mr. Neyer a question asking him to elaborate on his stance, but alas, my question was lost among the hundreds, if not thousands, of questions he likely received that morning.