The St. Louis Cardinals can’t lose Yadier Molina because they have no Plan B

I have talked a lot in the past couple of weeks about how much money and how many seasons the St. Louis Cardinals should commit to Yadier Molina.

By my question is: Who will the St. Louis Cardinals play in place of Molina if the team was to let him walk away in the twilight of his career?

The Cardinals have played themselves into a corner by letting Molina dictate his playing time over the past two or three years. Does anyone really believe that Andrew Knizner is ready to slide over from a third-string role that saw him take all of 16 at-bats in 2020 and only 69 over the course of his career to carry the bulk of the load in 2021? Veteran backup Matt Wieters only got 35 at-bats last season as Molina owned the position. Not only is he a free agent and no sure thing to be back next season, but he is a .229 hitter over his past four seasons with a .296 on-base percentage. At best, Wieters is a third-rate platoon catcher. He used to justify his place on a roster with his power even though he didn’t hit for average or get on base much. But those days appear to be behind him.

So that leaves the Cardinals to go fishing on the free agent market. Let’s stop the thought that the team would trade in the greatest catcher of the 2010s for the best catcher of the 2020s by making a run at free agent JT Realmuto. If they can’t afford to keep their own guy for two years, they’re not signing the premium guy for five or six years as simple as that.

It would be a monumental shame to see a team that had such a brilliant tactician on the field, guiding pitchers through tough spots and finding a way to come through at the plate when it counts the most be replaced by a journeyman who isn’t going to do much to make the team better, hired only to warm a seat until John Mozeliak and company can come up with a better idea.

It was so simple, Molina was supposed to groom his eventual replacement to take over for him sort of lick Bill Dickey taught Yogi Berra the ropes. Instead, the front office and manager combined to come up with no exit strategy and here we sit with not a clue if the heart and soul of this team will be in the organization next year, much less who would replace him.

In my book, the Cardinals have failed pretty miserably over the past five years in their goal of building the heart of their roster from within and filling in the holes with role playing free agents. All three outfield spots are pathetic in terms of offensive production. Third base is usually a spot where an offensive impact players resides. But not in St. Louis. Kolten Wong has offered mixed results at second base. He has a good glove. But he’s never become much of a leadoff type hitter, doesn’t have much pop in his bat and he doesn’t exactly remind anyone of Lou Brock running the bases. Paul DeJong is the best in-house product left if Molina is allowed to walk away.

With only Paul Goldschmidt at first base as a potential all-star player, is there any other way for Cardinals’ fans to perceive letting Yadi walk away other than the start of a total teardown? We’ve been told for years that all these great young kids are coming. Yet there are no pillars to hold up the franchise. They’re all deeply flawed guys who strike out somewhere between a third and half the time they bat, can’t hit the ball the other way to save their lives and are terrible in pressure situations. The Cardinals need more guys like Yadi and fewer like the ones they were counting on to replace him.

At least with Molina and Adam Wainwright on the roster we can enjoy watching the duo scale the Cardinals — and Major League Baseball — record books. They’re once in a generation players who haven’t seen the next generation show up yet.

So, let’s stop fooling ourselves that the Cardinals are in the drivers seat and can casually choose to let Molina walk away or stay. When there is only thing left on the cupboard shelf, that’s what you’re going to eat -- or else you’re going to eat nothing. Talking about whether to have steak or lobster when you have a saltine cracked budget is just embarrassing.

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.