Del-Got Him, Plus

Some more pre-Turkey day Delgado/ trade chatter from Mets fan blog, Amazin' Avenue. I'd like to add that this is a great trade. Certainly better than that Scott Kazmir fiasco, where he went to the Tampa Bay Devil Dogs for a bag of hot dog leavings and Victor "Strike Zone?" Zambrano. It would be great if New Money Minaya doesn't break the bank to sign free agent catchers like Benji Molina/ Ramon Hernandez, because neither of them is Johnny Bench. They are veterans, but Ramon Castro is under contract and performed admirably in relief of Mike Piazza:

Ramon Castro (Age 29), New York Mets

SPLIT	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BA	OBP	SLG
Season	99	209	26	51	16	0	8	41	1	.244	.321	.435

He's not a world-beater but a solid defensive catcher. Plus he has a huge head that Pedro loves to poke fun at. If the Pedro has no active player to aim big-head jokes at, the terrorists win. And we all know we don't want that.

Hernandez is a solid catcher, offensively and defensively. Molina is said to be falling off in catching would-be base stealers. Their offensive numbers:

Ramon Hernandez (Age 29), San Diego Padres

SPLIT	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BA	OBP	SLG
Season	99	369	36	107	19	2	12	58	1	.290	.322	.450

Bengie Molina (Age 31), Los Angeles Angels of the Orange County of California, City of Anaheim

SPLIT	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BA	OBP	SLG
Season	119	410	45	121	17	0	15	69	0	.295	.336	.446

The compararison shouldn't be made with batting average but against on-base percentage (OBP) and slugging percentage (SLG). Ramon Hernandez is rumored to be asking for $5-7 million, and Bengie Molina probably will ask for the same. Castro is making $500K, so compare the added value.

One more mercenary free agent won't make this team work. Unless of course that mercenary's name is Billy Wagner.