Lennon: Molina watches Mets' other options at catcher have moments of glory

Rarely do general managers experience the type of satisfaction that Omar Minaya got to enjoy during the past 48 hours at Citi Field. After an embarrassing blow-off by Bengie Molina during the winter, when the respected veteran catcher basically told the Mets to stick it, Minaya watched his Plan C and D catchers beat Molina's Giants with walk-off home runs on consecutive days.

Oh, and it gets better. On Friday, Rod Barajas - signed Feb. 21 to an incentive-laden one-year deal - had his third multi-homer game of the season. In the ninth inning, after Molina struck out as a pinch hitter, Barajas blasted his ninth homer, the most of any catcher in baseball this season, to deliver a 6-4 win.

Saturday, Molina was forced to leave the game in the third inning because of a tight left hamstring. And with Henry Blanco starting in place of Barajas - who had won Friday night's game despite a bruised index finger that made him think he had just one good swing in him - the Mets' backup catcher had three hits, including the winning shot in the 11th inning off Giants reliever and former Met Guillermo Mota.

Wait, there's more. Interviewed Friday by SNY, Molina, wearing a Giants uniform, said he had wanted to be a Met and already had planned to move his family to New York before scoffing at Minaya's one-year, $5-million offer. So as Molina grumbled on the bench and in the trainer's room, he got to watch Barajas and Blanco mobbed by their teammates at home plate.

"We're very pleased with the way things turned out," Minaya said after yesterday's 5-4 victory at Citi Field.

But the GM realizes he got lucky, too. The Mets quickly signed Blanco to a one-year, $750,000 deal in December as the No. 2 catcher, but Minaya had targeted Molina to be his starter after coveting him for years. Molina was at the very top of the Mets' offseason wish list and it figured to be only a matter of time. "We tried to do something with Bengie," Minaya said, "When that didn't work out, I was very concerned about our catching situation."

That prompted Minaya to stockpile five backups for the beginning of spring training, and with no clear-cut No. 1, the Mets were fortunate that Barajas was still around so late. Barajas didn't even get to Port St. Lucie until four days after official workouts for pitchers and catchers began. And when he did show up, Jerry Manuel refused to anoint him the starter despite the obvious void at the position.

Minaya can laugh about it now, but it wasn't so funny then. Ten weeks later, Barajas has become the second coming of Mike Piazza with nine homers in his first 82 at-bats. Only Ron Swoboda (77 at-bats) and Carlos Delgado (80) did it faster for the Mets to start a season.

Five of his home runs have either tied the score or given the Mets a lead, and Piazza is the only other Mets catcher to have had three multi-homer games in a season. Barajas has seven homers, 10 runs scored and 11 RBIs in his last 11 games. "He's been quite an acquisition," Manuel said. "He's been unbelievable."

That's why Manuel waited a little longer Saturday to see if Barajas' sore finger would allow him to be in the starting lineup. But the manager chose to play it safe and opted for Blanco to catch his friend and fellow Venezuelan, Johan Santana.

With the Mets struggling offensively, Manuel knew Blanco couldn't match Barajas' firepower at the plate. Or at least he didn't expect him to. Who could have imagined that Blanco would be just as clutch as Barajas - the very next day - in delivering the first walk-off homer of his 12-year career? "Crazy, huh?" Blanco said, smiling.

There's plenty of season left to play, and Molina, who had a single Saturday to raise his average to .333 before he was removed, just happened to have two bad days. But whatever criticism is hurled at Minaya from here on out, it probably won't be directed at the man behind the plate.

"I'm not a general manager, but I like the guys that we got," Manuel said. "They're also quality men. They're good for us."