Jays sign Ben-G?

by proletariat on Feb 6, 2006 1:44 PM PST Comment 21 comments

I heard on the radio...

Bengie might have signed a one-year contract with the blue jays... 5 mil's not too shabby. The story from the Canadian Press can be found here.

This Fan-Post is authored by an independent fan. Tell us what you think and how you feel.

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http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/5311552

Ken Rosenthal portrays it as being imminent

by Higz on Feb 6, 2006 1:59 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Sad day

I hope is brother handles the pitching staff as well as he did. He will be missed!

Jonesie

by Jonesie on Feb 6, 2006 4:34 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

B-mo

I agree he will be missed this year, but him wanting the Halo's to sign him for three years is ridiculous.

B-mo was a class act player and person. Good luck B-mo njoy canada and all it has to offer, ey

It would have been nice to have him for $5 mill for one year and let Mathis back him up for one year and then hand the job to Mathis...I do agree with the Halos for not signing him for a multi-year deal though...no way his body would have help up for three years..

Halo Fever P237

by P237 on Feb 6, 2006 4:41 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Uhhh...

This kinda pisses me off. Why didn't WE sign him to a one-year deal? Come on, Stoneman.

by NPCody on Feb 6, 2006 5:55 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Bengie didn't want 1 year until it was too late

he probably wouldn't accept a one year deal with us at the time and after the deadline a while ago he wasn't allowed to re-sign with us until spring training.

by Neo8234 on Feb 6, 2006 6:44 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

it was the right move...

I like Bengie more than anyone, but his defensive skills deteriorated rapidly. I can't remember the last time he threw someone out without the aid of a pitchout, and his inability to slide over and block pitches got worse every year.

I remember the staff ERA in '04 being quite a bit better when Jose caught, not sure about last year but he didn't seem to get as many opportunities. I'd like to see Jose get the majority of the playing time and have Mathis move into Jose's role.

by thewebb on Feb 7, 2006 7:03 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

Are you kidding?

I like Jose too, but he is NOT a better defensive catcher than Bengie!

by Jack Frost on Feb 9, 2006 3:39 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Bengie's not that great anymore defensively

Jose may not match Bengie at his peak, but he is much more nimble behind the plate PRESENTLY than his brother is now.

by Rev Halofan on Feb 9, 2006 5:31 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

defensively close to even

but jose has yet to prove he can hit. bengie, on the other hand, hit .295 in his best hitting season of his career last year.

i'm not 100% against letting bengie go, but it seems like a little effort might've kept him here for a reasonable price, allowing jose and The Kid another season to grow before taking over the catching spot.

by yeswecan on Feb 10, 2006 11:04 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Bengie vs. Jose

There's much more to being a great defensive catcher than blocking pitches in the dirt.

by Jack Frost on Feb 10, 2006 11:07 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Throwing out runners

Jose does it better than Bengie ever did.

by Rev Halofan on Feb 10, 2006 11:42 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Bengie vs Jose

You cannot compare the two when it comes to hitting, ofcourse it took Bengie some years of at bats to be good at the plate as well, so we'll see. I have a bad feeling Mathis is going to get the majority of the work, hope it works out.

Defensively, Jose has had comparable or better pitching stat numbers when he was out there, he throws runners out better, and blocks balls in the dirt better. I have no question that Molina was great at that elusive 'handling pitchers' stat but who says Jose isn't right there with him and might even be better if he got more playing time?

Again, no one likes Bengie more than me but Bengie at 6-10 million a year or Jose at his price seems like a good move. My biggest worry is that we gave up one of our best right handed bats last year. The other side of that is I'm not sure it's good to have arguably your clutchest hitter also be the biggest double play threat. I was always loved when Bengie came up with guys on 2nd and/or 3rd and was always terrified when he came up with a guy on 1st.

I still never figured out why any Major League shortstops didn't play about 10 yards into the OF against him. Maybe it's because they were afraid of him confronting them the next time they were up like he did to Arod when he thought he was making fun of him. (maybe my all time favorite Bengie moment)

by thewebb on Feb 10, 2006 12:22 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

what I'm really worried about...

...is Jose as good of an actor as Bengie is in case DiTech.com needs him to star in their commercials with Bartolo? This is really the more pressing issue

by Higz on Feb 10, 2006 12:38 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

and don't forget...

Jose has an incredible arm

by Higz on Feb 7, 2006 9:28 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

bengie's pissed

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2324660

if what he says is true, then shame on you, billy.

by yeswecan on Feb 9, 2006 10:20 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

HA

"I took a lot less money to come over here for a reason, and that's to win," Molina said.

Bullshit. Looks as though he took less money because the Mets wanted LoDuca instead of him and no other team was willing to pay him 6 mil a year. After that ridiculous comment, I'm not so sure I believe Bengie regarding the lack of a phone call. Sounds like sour grapes.

by Higz on Feb 9, 2006 10:57 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

good point

if bengie thinks toronto has a better chance to win than the angels, then jeff weaver must've given him some of his hippie lettuce before bengie headed to canada.

by yeswecan on Feb 9, 2006 11:03 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

WOW

"I don't think I did one thing to disrespect them at all for all those years," Molina said. "If anything I went out of my way for them. I even helped them get Bartolo Colon on to that club. I gave him a call. I called a couple of guys for them. And now when I needed a call, they never called me."

Same thing allot of the players have said about the front office... Eckstein even alluded to it last year. It may seem petty and I know it's not necessary to call your player to tell them that you're gonna let them go, but it's unfortunate that our front office doesn't take the extra step for our veterans.

I mean for crying out loud, Bengie just snapped... you know it's bad if he's dishing it out.

"I don't have to be nervous... It's a baseball game."

by proletariat on Feb 9, 2006 12:12 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

agree...

A huge part of getting free agents is if the players trust your organization. I just hope the Angels don't have this reputation on the 'inside' or that could hurt the future.

by thewebb on Feb 9, 2006 2:33 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Players feelings about management

Your comments got me thinking about the Frankie situation. The fact that he would go ahead and continue to play winter ball when he KNEW the Angels didn't want him to. I mean, it sounded like when Stoneman et. al sat down with him that they were respectful about this request. I realize that his compatriots and countrymen really want him to play, but as "Matt UK" already mentioned, it is the Angels who pay his salary.

Does anybody think this whole affair might have played a role in Frankie not getting a long term contract? Or do you think he's just falling in line with this "new" way the Angels are doing business?

by Jack Frost on Feb 11, 2006 2:21 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I don't think

he meant there as opposed to the Angels, since the Angels wasn't an option for him. I think that was opposed to some other teams.

It was written somewhere that he chose Toronto over LAD because of a better chance of being there long term since LAD has some stud catchers coming up.

I just hope there isn't this feeling toward the Angels from a lot of current players. They kind of have a no nonsense attitude with their players, which is in many ways good, you just hope it doesn't cause a revolt! Just scary since Jose is still on the team.

by thewebb on Feb 9, 2006 11:23 AM PST reply actions 0 recs