Yadier Molina will never play a game with anyone but the St. Louis Cardinals

I know St. Louis Cardinals fans are starved for news. But do we really need to make a federal case out of every word that comes out of Yadier Molina’s mouth?

A virtual civil war has been brewing in Cardinals Nation after Molina said — shudder — that if St. Louis doesn’t offer him a contract for two more years that he may be willing to play someplace else.

Oh, the horror.

Here’s the translation: If John Mozeliak and Bill DeWitt Jr. decide Molina is over the hill and of not practical use to the team — in other words, if they decide to set him free — he would want to try to continue his career. He didn’t say he hates St. Louis and wants to go play for the Chicago Cubs or the New York Mets. He didn’t say he’s been talking to Albert Pujols and he’s decided he wants to take his talents to Anaheim. He didn’t even say I want $20 million a year and not a penny less. He said he wants to be with the Cardinals for life — and if St. Louis doesn’t want him, THEN he would consider playing someplace else.

I don’t want to let anyone down by saying this. But I intend to work for a few more years, too. It is my intention to work where I work for the rest of my career. But if they decide they don’t want me anymore, I’m almost certainly going to seek employment elsewhere. And the only uncertainty in that statement is hanging on whether one of my lottery tickets pays off between now and then.

It doesn’t help that social media trolls jump in and speculate that Molina is going to spend the rest of his career with the Cubs, the Mets, the Philadelphia Phillies or the Atlanta Braves. But let’s be realistic. Molina is a franchise icon that the Cardinals will be highly motivated to keep — especially if it was just for two years instead of the 10-year commitment it would have taken to retain Pujols. Meanwhile, it’s obviously in Molina’s best interest to play his whole career in St. Louis. Here, he is a legend.

I think he deserves to be in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. But I am certain that he will be in the Cardinals Hall of Fame as soon as he’s eligible. He needs to be a part of the team as a coach or an instructor after he retires and to wear his red blazer every opening day. If he went to another town, he’s just a 38-year-old declining catcher. At Busch Stadium he is the best catcher in the history of a team that has included Ted Simmons, Mike Shannon and Walker Cooper among its backstops.

People will forget Molina’s comments

My prediction is that Molina will re-sign with St. Louis long before the end of his current contract in October — or whenever the 2020 season is completed. This will all be long forgotten by then. And it wouldn’t have even made a ripple on the radar if we had a single other thing to talk about, like perhaps a game or two.

Molina has earned the right to finish his career in St. Louis. Regardless of his age, he has earned the right to compete for the starting job every year for as long as he can win it. If he isn’t the best catcher on the roster in 2022, so be it. But why should we expect a guy who gets up before dawn every morning to work his body into a finely tuned machine, who has taken a beating behind the plate for nearly two decades and who has authored some of the greatest moments in franchise history to bow his head and go away quietly? Is that the kind of guy we want him to be?

People who gripe that he doesn’t run hard enough to first base on ground balls don’t have a clue what they’re talking about when it comes to Molina’s work ethic. I love when 20 somethings tell a guy pushing 40 who has spent half his life taking foul balls off his knee caps how he’s supposed to feel physically and what he’s capable of. Do those people think Tony La Russa would have stood for a loafer being on his team? Or Mike Matheny who was hard nosed to a fault. No way.

It would be a crime to ever see Molina play while wearing the uniform of another team. So it’s a good thing that it’s never going to happen.

Scott Wuerz

Belleville News-Democrat

Scott Wuerz has written “Cheap Seats,” a St. Louis Cardinals fan blog for the Belleville News-Democrat, since 2007. He is a former BND reporter who covered breaking news and education.