Yadier Molina Plans to Play Beyond Current Contract With Cardinals
By Michael Luciano
While everyone and their grandmother outside of St. Louis wants to declare Yadier Molina dead and buried as an MLB catcher, the ageless wonder himself has plans of playing well into the next decade.
Molina's contract expires in 2020, but the Cardinals backstop has plans to play past next season, per insider Derrick Goold.
Molina plans to play past current deal, possibly through 2022; La Russa, Pujols reunited with Angels https://t.co/r6Qivfeazk pic.twitter.com/FNn1ZrTQED
— St. Louis Post-Dispatch (@stltoday) November 13, 2019
Molina hit .270 with 10 home runs and 57 RBIs in 113 games, leading the Cardinals to a berth in the NL Championship Series.
Molina has retained his trademark cannon arm and impeccable game-calling ability, as pitchers that were throwing to him had the fourth-lowest ERA in all of baseball in 2019, including the lowest in the National League.
2019 Catcher ERA (min. 600 innings behind the plate)
— Tom Froemming (@TFTwins) November 12, 2019
3.57 Robinson Chirinos
3.59 Roberto Perez
3.60 Mike Zunino
3.82 Yadier Molina
3.89 Mitch Garver #MNTwins
K:BB Ratio
3.80 Mike Zunino
3.72 Robinson Chirinos
3.43 Travis d'Arnaud
3.42 Austin Hedges
3.41 Mitch Garver #MNTwins
The Redbirds don't have a prospect coming down the pike to replace him, and Molina's performance hasn't exactly fallen off a cliff in his advanced age. The team has no reason to move off of him.
Yadi might be heading into his age-38 season, but he's still one of the most consistent backstops in modern baseball history. Until the wheels fall off, there's no reason not to keep bringing him back on short deals.