‘I can’t wait to put that red jacket on’ Molina says of final contract with Cardinals
Legendary St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina signed a one-year, $10 million extension with the club on Tuesday evening, guaranteeing that the future Hall of Famer will spend his entire career with only one organization.
The club announced, and Molina confirmed, that he will retire at the conclusion of the 2022 season.
“It will be my final season,” Molina said. “That’s why my agent and myself came to Mo and told them that I want to stay here.
“I want to finish here in this great organization.”
Cardinals President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak called it the “oddest negotiation I’ve ever been a part of.”
“I think anybody that was sitting on my side of the table realized that, you know, here you have this treasure, this person that’s been iconic for an organization. What am I supposed to do, fight over money?” he said. “Yadi knows us. We’re friends. We would try to do anything to resolve this.”
Molina described a desire to avoid the stresses of the free agent market which he experienced following the 2020 season. Though he drew interest from a number of clubs around the league, it became clear — to the Cardinals, as well as to him — that there was no available fit that could approach the situation he would be leaving.
“Last year in free agency was tough for me,” he acknowledged. “I didn’t want to go through that again.”
By securing a deal for 2022 before the close of the 2021 season, both he and the club are assured of providing him with the send-off he deserves. He described watching legendary baseball figures like Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and David Ortiz receive salutatory plaudits in their last seasons, as well as his desire to receive the same.
“I was thinking, going to Cincinnati and hearing all the boos there, and going to Chicago and hearing all the boos there,” he said with a smile. “You want to be part of that. Hopefully, people respond to that for me, and it would be great for me. It would be awesome.”
Molina ranks third in club history in games played, trailing only Stan Musial and Lou Brock. He is the only player in Major League history to catch more than 2,000 games for a single franchise, and will move into fourth place in total innings caught in a career within a week.
He has made 10 All-Star teams and been awarded nine Gold Gloves and is widely considered a no-doubt candidate for induction in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
“He’s just a special, special talent and does things that really can’t be quantified,” Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said, joking that baseball writers who vote for the Hall of Fame might need to be tested for drugs if they fail to induct Molina.
As his career on the field draws to a close, Molina pledged that his presence in the organization will remain a constant.
“I can’t wait to put that red jacket (for Cardinals hall of famers) on,” Molina acknowledged. “How they take care of their legends here is great. I want to do that too.”
That path could include guest appearances at spring training. It could include extended stretches as a coach at various levels in the organization, similar to the role currently held by José Oquendo.
It could even, potentially, include a permanent coaching position like that held by Willie McGee, or a seat further down the bench, where Shildt currently sits as manager.
In the short term, Molina remains to catch, and to act as a motivating factor for pitcher Adam Wainwright, whose contract also expires at the end of the season and who could, with years of health for both, end the 2022 season holding, with Molina, the record for most career starts by a battery of pitcher and catcher.
“It’s my turn to call him every day and tell him, hey, you need to come back,” Molina grinned.
Secure in his own future and in his own place in team history, Molina acknowledged the inevitability of an end that — after 19 seasons and a professional career that goes back to the George W. Busch administration — finally has an improbable date.
“When you have guys like Lou Brock and Red Schoendienst — rest in peace — you feel like you want to be part of that. You want to be part of that, what they leave after baseball, after their career,” Molina said.
“You want to be part of that. You want to come over here in spring the moment the game’s over when you retire. I’m looking forward to that.”
This story was originally published August 25, 2021 at 2:24 PM.
