Yadier Molina could sign with a team that is not the St. Louis Cardinals - A Hunt and Peck

Earlier in this long, long offseason it was reported that Yadier Molina was looking to extend his current contract with the Cardinals or retire, putting him in the rare company of catchers that spent their entire careers with one organization. With the 2020 season in jeopardy or at the very least cut in half, the idea of retiring in 2020 is less appealing to Molina. Per Marly Rivera of ESPN:

“I previously said that if it wasn’t with St. Louis, that I would go home. If we were unable to come to an extension agreement, that I would retire. But the situation with this pandemic has changed everything.

It is an understandable position. No player dreams of spending their last season sheltering in place for half of it in the wake of one of the worst global crisis the world has seen in recent years. The fact remains that Molina is a 38 year old catcher with over 16,327 innings behind the plate, seventh most among catchers ever. Molina understands this, per Rivera again:

“The reality is that this business is difficult for a 38-year-old catcher; my window is smaller,” said Molina... “But I feel ready to keep on playing. I’m in good physical shape. My knees are good; my mind is great. Physically, I’m fine. That’s why I’ve made the decision to play two more years.”

The author of this post is inclined to think both parties prefer to make an agreement with each other. Yadier Molina even with his physical abilities in decline has a lot of offer and the postponed season should have allowed him some well-deserved rest. A two-year deal at the right price does not seem like a huge stretch at this point. Step one, get to a point where it is safe to play baseball again. From there, we will just have to wait and see what shakes out.

Yadier Molina now open to new team if Cardinals not option | ESPN

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