Yadier Molina might leave St. Louis for one of these four teams.
The St. Louis Cardinals might actually do the unthinkable and let Yadier Molina, one of the most beloved players in franchise history and one of the greatest catchers to ever don the tools of ignorance, walk in free agency given the desire to move on to Andrew Knizer full-time. If Molina doesn’t remain a Cardinal, he thinks that he won’t be out of a job for a long time.
Per Hector Gomez, Molina still wants to return to St. Louis next year, but he is fielding interest from the New York Yankees, New York Mets, San Diego Padres, and Los Angeles Angels.
Yadier Molina can provide excellent defense and a quality bat for any team lucky enough to sign him
In the shortened season, Molina hit .262 with four home runs and an 81 OPS+ last year. While the 38-year-old, who has nine All-Star appearances and nine Gold Gloves, might have plenty of mileage on his tires, a season in which he had just 42 games played might make him more attractive to some teams.
If he signs with the Yankees, it will likely be as an A+ veteran backup to the wildly inconsistent Gary Sanchez. The same goes in San Diego, where Austin Nola has the inside track on the catcher job. If he wants to start next year, he should be looking at the Mets, who have made no secret of their pursuit of JT Realmuto, or the Angels, who could use someone with a bit more pedigree than Jason Castro.
Molina isn’t a shell of himself, as the rifle-armed backstop still has a few more years left in the tank. Still seeing him in a uniform that isn’t Cardinal red might be a bit hard to get used to at first.