Cardinals fans don’t have to look any further than Albert Pujols, who decided to head west back in 2011 after winning his second World Series trophy with St. Louis. It can be baseball or real estate, and it will come down to money and respect in free agent negotiations. Pujols felt disrespected, and left. Thankfully, his best friend, Yadier Molina, has chosen to finish his career right where it started: behind home plate at Busch Stadium. 

 

Once the cavalry was brought by Bill DeWitt Jr. and company, it was only a matter of time before he signed-but I wouldn’t call this an easy process to endure. A drama series could have been carved out of the back and forth between player and team. Molina telling the media three years ago he would retire after the 2020 season, and continuing into December, where the catcher reportedly balked at an offer from the Cardinals. In January, he threatened to retire. Heck, at one point, Wikipedia tried to kill him off prematurely. 

 

As MLB reporter Craig Mish told me on the phone Monday, no other team in Major League Baseball will treat Molina like St. Louis does, and that’s not even including the team themselves. Molina is the unofficial king of this town. The Blues can win a Stanley Cup and hold more weight in the city, but none of their players reach as far as Molina does. Honestly, at this point, Doug Armstrong would have already traded Molina. But when he went to a home game at Enterprise Center in 2019 and was seen holding a Bud Light with Adam Wainwright during a Blues game, and the crowd went more nuts than when the team scored minutes later. If that’s not proof of a player’s hold over a town, nothing really is. Right or wrong, #4 is rewriting how the end is written.

 

But what Molina offers on a field can’t be duplicated by another catcher right now. A man who loves to be in the box, carrying a bat or staring down a runner, Molina prides himself on being able to compete, and bringing the Cardinals a trait that Andrew Knizner simply doesn’t own yet: an ability to turn a close game into a win without hitting a walk-off home run. If the Cardinals aren’t adding another starter, they will need Molina to nurture the young and troubled arms on the team. Seeing him behind home plate will make Jack Flaherty, and pretty much any Cards starter, deliriously happy. He controls the game from a single spot, and there’s nine Gold Gloves to prove it. Along with Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt, Molina gives the team a starting lineup carrying 20 Gold Gloves (21 if Tyler O’Neill starts in the outfield). 

 

Don’t think Molina’s bat is useless, either. He showed in the brief playoff run of St. Louis last year that he has quite a few hits left in him.  The man can still hit with runners in scoring position. He’s still got the clutch factor at the plate. And let’s be honest: A little pressure has fallen off everyone’s shoulders on the roster since Jan. 29. When you acquire someone like Arenado-a game-changer in the field and lineup-other pressures fall off certain players. Harrison Bader is an example. Now that there’s more offense in the field, he can be free to roam in center more often and give the team a defensive edge. Like Bader, Molina doesn’t have to save the day at the plate; he just needs to do what he does best, and that’s spray the ball all over the field. And the answer is no, he shouldn’t be hitting above the sixth spot this year. 

 

If you really want to know why he finally signed, it’s due to the fact that of all the teams who wanted him on the market, the Cardinals still made the most sense. There’s no getting around the “Yadi effect” in St. Louis, and how it works both ways. They will compete for the NL pennant this year, and currently sit as a division favorite. The Cardinals represent his home, where Molina thrives the most. No other coaching staff, front office, or fan base will adore “Yadi” as much and allow him to be himself at all times, and through all injuries (for better or worse). 

 

Granted, there were times when I wondered if cell phones and text messages had stopped working on his end. What was taking so long to sign? While it’s difficult to sign and play in the Caribbean World Series (where Molina recently returned from competing in), one would think something more concrete would have come sooner. Perhaps, like fans around the city, the future Hall of Famer wanted real action from the team’s front office. When exactly has he made it easy to sign? The endgame was always St. Louis, even during the doubtful hours.

 

It isn’t like the Cardinals expect him to suddenly go out there and be a MVP at 39. Molina’s value lies in his ability to pull unlikely performances out of his pitching staff, the 18 years of knowledge around the game, and 110% laser focus from February to November. That’s why they paid Molina $9 million instead of the $11.5 to Kolten Wong. They are confident Tommy Edman can perform much of Wong’s job for far less money. DeWitt Jr. and John Mozeliak are NOT confident (obviously) that Knizner is up to the task of giving the team what Molina can at the moment. It’s as simple as that. The Cardinals know the risks, and are ready to take them. 

 

Oftentimes, a franchise legend doesn’t get to finish his career where it began, staying in one uniform for life. But Molina will be in St. Louis to the end. Count on it. He doesn’t want to be a part-time player anywhere else, and no one other team will pay a soon-to-be 40-year-old catcher better money next year. Rather it’s 2021 or 2022, Molina isn’t going anywhere. His last piece of leverage has been used. This is it. 

 

One last ride? Perhaps. “The ride to a twelfth ring” would be more like it.