May 31, 2021; Los Angeles, California, USA; St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina (4) reacts after Los Angeles Dodgers center fielder Cody Bellinger (35) catches a hit which results in him out during the second inning at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina was named the manager of Team Puerto Rico at the World Baseball Classic, causing GM Eduardo Perez to resign.
Per Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times, Perez resigned in part due to Molina being named manager of Team Puerto Rico.
Yadi is in his final major-league season with the St. Louis Cardinals, but remains a reputable option for Puerto Rico. His name was floated as a managerial candidate as early as January, and managed the U-23 team in 2018. By no means is a coaching gig foreign to him. As a former All-Star catcher, he knows the ins and outs of the game better than most.
The issue here, of course, is that the baseball federation gave Molina the job without telling Perez, thus making him feel obsolete in this entire process. Other candidates for the job were Juan Igor Gonzalez, Joe Espada and Carlos Beltran.
Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina to manage Puerto Rico at WBC
Molina remains very active in his home country, as he owns a professional basketball team and even left St. Louis to watch them play in the championship game. While that wasn’t necessarily greeted well by Cardinals fans, they can’t stay too mad at him, as St. Louis is in the middle of a pennant chase.
It’s unknown whether or not Molina will play for Puerto Rico as well in the WBC. While he will retire from MLB after the 2022 season, he could still play professionally on the World Baseball Classic stage, should he choose, as a player-manager.