Two posts in one day, it’s your lucky day. A brief graph:
(Catchers from 1956-2008 ranked by age and OPS+ scores with a limit of at least 350 PAs per season and at least 50% of their games behind the plate. Click the graph to enlarge to full-size)
Bengie Molina will be 34-years-old (in baseball age, but he’ll turn 35 by July) in 2009. You can see that most catchers past the age of 33-years-old start to decline in varying degrees. At age 35-years-old, most catchers aren’t playing for 350 PAs per season and producing above a 100 OPS+. You do see a spike in the 80-89 OPS+ range for this age-group. Maybe one last hurrah before they tumble over the cliff for good?
The mini-spike at age 37-years-old for the 120-129 OPS+ range was Greg Myers’ unexpected 2003 season, Mike Piazza, and Ernie Whitt. Anyways, interesting stuff to think about, since Molina has been such a big — sadly — part of our offense over the last two seasons.
I’ll note that I expected Molina to decline by the 2nd year of his deal, but he’s done quite well. But, as we know, catchers at his age can be a volatile group and with his weight issues, the Giants have to hope that he doesn’t join the sharp downward slope of his past catching brethren.
I’m still slightly concerned he’s our clean-up hitter. What’s your take on the whole “Giants still need a bat” issue?
They need a bat but they don’t need, need a bat to hang around in the NL West and maybe contend.
Senor Slow runs out of gas at the ASB, Sandoval takes over the position, Jesus Guzman comes up to play 3rd and mash HRs, and Buster Posey gets a call-up.
I’m in heaven.
In your fantasy, you forgot to add: “Jesus Guzman undergoes experimental procedure in which Omar Vizquel’s hands are grafted onto his body — increasing his fielding abilities tenfold.”