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Longtime Cardinals backstop Yadier Molina is a free agent. Per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post Dispatch there are several teams interested in the veteran catcher, but Yadi is still hoping to making a deal with the Cardinals. Per Goold:
Molina remains status quo. Fielding interest from a handful of teams. Three teams and the Cardinals have expressed the most interest, from what I’ve been told. Molina continues to instruct his agent to see what deal is possible to return to the Cardinals.
It is believed that two of the three not-Cardinals teams in contact with Molina are the teams from New York — the Mets and the Yankees. According to MLBTradeRumors the Cardinals appear to be the likely landing spot.
At this point, there’s no reason to call any club other than St. Louis a favorite, as the Cards clearly have the most motivation to keep Molina through the end of his career.
Future Hall of Famer Yadier Molina has received calls with interest from both the Yankees and Mets plus 3-4 other teams in addition to the #STLCards as I just said on @MLBNetwork St. Louis is the likely favorite but in free agency you never know. Seeks a 2-year deal.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) November 12, 2020
Yadier Molina will be entering his age-38 season and has indicated he wants a two-year deal that would go into his age-39 season. According to some quick research, if Yadi is able to play enough innings to qualify, he would have the second oldest qualified season as a catcher, behind Carlton Fisk (who amassed 5.0 fWAR in 137 games at age 42). (Let me know if I messed that up, but I think that is correct.)
In other catcher news, the Cardinals have signed Tyler Heineman to a minor-league deal. Heineman apparently grew up cheering for the Cardinals, which is pretty cool.
We have signed minor league switch-hitting C Tyler Heineman to a minor league deal with an invite to major league camp. pic.twitter.com/8VipFxUSow
— Cardinals Player Development (@CardsPlayerDev) November 14, 2020
Signed!
— Tyler Heineman (@theineman13) November 14, 2020
Excited to join the club I grew up rooting for! @Cardinals
Thank you @SFGiants and fans for an unforgettable 2020. I love you all and thank you for your continued support throughout this wild ride.
Go Cards! pic.twitter.com/jlpcTT69J0
This signing likely has little impact on the Cardinals pursuit of re-signing Yadier Molina, but it is nice to add some organizational depth.
Mets, Yankees Have Shown Interest In Yadier Molina | MLB Trade Rumors
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