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2007 Molina`s blistering postseason erased one of the twenty worst VORP showings of the expansion era from short-term memory. That`s a fancy way of saying he was a historically bad hitter, settling in at number nine between the pre-Operation Shutdown (but still just as miserable) Derek Bell of the 1999 Astros and Jerry Morales of the 1979 Tigers. If Molina could just hit at replacement level, he`d be an extremely valuable commodity since his defense last year was superb. 2006 He`s a glove guy, but has some potential with the bat. Molina`s an extreme contact hitter, drawing a walk or striking out only 53 times in over 400 PA. A few extra breaks here and there, and Molina could invoke Jazayerli`s .300 Catcher Corollary any minute now. He`s got youth and defense on his side, so you can expect a long career, probably with a couple of performance spikes. However, those years are more likely to start in 2008 than 2006. 2005 He's every bit a Molina, like his brothers in Anaheim: admirable defensive skills, inadequate bat. However, his age is such that you can hope for improvement. Expect Matheny levels of production with maybe a handful more homers, and at much lower cost. He's best suited to a backup role, but this organization seems to be seeking some sort of methadone to battle their Matheny addiction. They've found it.
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