The St. Louis Cardinals still have some competition to fight off if they want to re-sign catcher Yadier Molina.
This past Friday, reports indicated that the St. Louis Cardinals were expected to re-sign longtime catcher Yadier Molina after the Caribbean Series, ending a months-long standoff between the two. The news came hours after the Cardinals re-upped with Adam Wainwright as well. While Cardinals fans were excited to hear “Yadi” was coming back, you might want to pump the proverbial brakes.
According to MLB insider Jon Heyman, the expectation is that Molina would re-sign with the Cardinals, but there are still a couple of teams in play for the veteran catcher. One of the teams interested in Molina are the Toronto Blue Jays, whom Heyman says have “been in contact” with the backstop.
Blue Jays are in on Molina, because of course
The Blue Jays interested in another big-name free agent? Considering this is the same team who signed George Springer and Marcus Semien this past month and traded for New York Mets starter Steven Matz, we are not shocked whatsoever.
When looking at Toronto’s catching depth chart, it consists of Danny Jansen, Alejandro Kirk and Reese McGuire. Out of the three, Jansen logged the most playing time last season with 44 games. In those contests taking the field, Jansen recorded a .183 batting average and .671 OPS while hitting six home runs and 20 RBI in the batters box, while posting a .994 fielding-percentage (two errors in 354 defensive chances).
This is no knock on any of the three catchers, but Molina would serve as an immediate upgrade for the Blues Jays behind the plate. This is a nine-time All-Star and nine-time Gold Glove winner after all. Sure, he’s up there in age, but he’s still Yadier Molina.
In 42 games this past truncated season, Molina slashed .262/.303/.359 while recording four home runs and 16 RBI. Molina also posted a .985 fielding percentage (five errors on 328 defensive chances) while allowing just three passed balls.
The Cardinals not only have to worry about the Blue Jays, but the other mystery teams in potentially signing Molina away. Let’s not forget that the Cards re-signed Wainwright hours after reports indicated that the San Diego Padres were interested in the veteran. Maybe this report of interest from the Blue Jays will push the front office in St. Louis to finalize a deal with their catcher of 17-years.