[h2]Bengie Molina reacts to trade, reflects on Giants tenure, offers advice to Buster Posey[/h2]
Posted by
Andrew Baggarly on July 1st, 2010 at 1:52 pm | Categorized as
Uncategorized
I just got off the phone with Bengie Molina, who is catching a flight to Dallas later today where he’ll officially become a Texas Ranger when the club begins its homestand tomorrow.
We’ve got a conference call with Giants GM Brian Sabean in 20 minutes, so in the interests of expediency, I’ll slap up the interview Q&A style.
One other note: Baseball America is reporting that RHP Michael Main will be the player to be named later in the deal. Main was a first-rounder in 2007 but had a rough season in the Single-A Cal League in 2009 and is repeating the level this year.
The bullet points from the Molina interview: He is sad to be leaving the Giants and his adopted home of San Francisco, he is shocked at the timing of the deal and he can’t help but feel sore at being traded. But he’s also happy to be wanted by the Rangers and said he’ll try to get his head right as he moves from a fourth-place team to a first-place one. He also thinks Buster Posey is ready and will do just fine.
Q: What is your reaction to the trade?
A: It’s a sad day for me and my family because we love the city so much. It’s sad to say goodbye to my teammates. I live and die for them. I left it all on the field for them every single night. The past month, I’ve been dealing with a hurt (left) elbow but I was still there for them. I wasn’t trying to miss any games. I was trying to catch as best as I could. I’ll miss all of them. A lot of times I have to be a guy that sits down with them and gives them a pep talk, not only for baseball but life itself. Sometimes I felt I was their brother and sometimes I felt like their dad. I’m very sad to be leaving.
But at the same time, you have to see it like the GM and owner probably see it: that they want me out of there. That’s another thing you gotta have in your head. I’m very happy Texas wants me and appreciates what I’ve done that they traded for me. It’s a new chapter.
I’m going to do what I did for the Giants, what I did for Anaheim and Toronto. And that’s play my heart out and give my 150 percent to win every single night.
They’re very good people, a very good group, I wish them all the best, seriously, I do, but right now it gets in your head when you give so much and all the sudden you were traded. I’m going to try to get my head ready for what’s next.
Q: Were you expecting something like this to happen?
A: It actually comes as a shock. I wasn’t expected to be traded this early. Not only that, but the pitching was doing so well with me. I didn’t think they’d consider a trade. Not yet.
It got me by surprise, it really did. They love Buster and they want him to catch. When I signed, I had that in back of my head. So that part is not a surprise. But maybe the timing is.
You know me, my life has always been uphill.
Q: What did Giants officials tell you? What was their rationale for the trade?
A: They didn’t say much. They said they needed a reliever and I didn’t understand that part very well. He said they needed a reliever so that was the main reason and they wanted to get me to a winning team.
Then I heard from other people the Rangers were the heavy suitors and came up strong, and the Giants couldn’t pass that up. For me, I don’t understand it. Because the key is the catcher. He controls the team and the pitching, especially young teams, that has to be the key. And I know I was appreciated, but when you’re traded you don’t feel that way. I don’t think they realize how much. But I think it’s part of the game.
Q: Do you believe Posey is ready to catch this staff?
A: Buster and I are very good friends. I don’t care what people think or say. I love that kid. We’re good friends, his wife and my wife too, they are friends. We are good people.
He’s going to have to talk a lot, watch a lot of video and he’ll be ready. He’s a great player, a great guy, a very open-minded guy, and he’s going to do all right for this team. I think this is his time to get these guys ready to go, and you never know. Maybe he will be the key. Maybe I was the wrong answer for them. He is very humble and that’s going to help a lot.
Q: You’re the only catcher that Tim Lincecum really knows. What’s your advice to Posey, or any catcher, on working with Lincecum?
A: The key here will be on Lincecum from the beginning. He’s going to have to take over till Buster gets used to him. I had to get used to it, too. Timmy will have to be the driver. He’ll have to show Buster what he can and cannot do, and by the third or fourth outing he’ll have a better idea of how he pitches and what he likes to do. It might be sooner, but I think he’ll get along good. This kid is going to have a great career.
