It's the end of an era for the St. Louis Cardinals. After 19 seasons of being assured of above-average to elite defense behind the plate to go along with clutch hitting, Yadier Molina has decided to call it quits after the Cardinals got swept by the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL Wild Card round.
Molina has been a mainstay throughout the Cardinals' run of consistency over the past two decades, and now the Cardinals face the unenviable task of trying to replace their catching legend.
According to The Athletic's Katie Woo, the Cardinals will look at all avenues in their quest to fill in the huge void Yadier Molina's retirement, whether through free agency, trades, and everything in between.
“No surprises here: The Cardinals will heavily pursue the catching market as their No. 1 priority. John Mozeliak indicated today he isn't leaning towards one specific avenue in terms of how the position can be addressed. Free agency, trades, stop-gap and long-term all possible,” Woo wrote.
With the Cardinals' ambitions of building off of their (largely successful) 2022 season, they will look towards acquiring the best catching option possible that could at least approximate the impact Molina had on the team that went beyond the stat sheet.
The best option for the Cardinals in free agency seems to be Willson Contreras, who is coming off a 3.3 WAR season with the rebuilding Chicago Cubs. On the other hand, if they decide to pursue the trading route, Oakland Athletics catcher Sean Murphy and Kansas City Royals mainstay Salvador Perez seem to be attainable options.
Yadier Molina's valuable leadership and his communication with the pitching staff have made him such an invaluable piece of the Cardinals, and try as they might, it will be difficult for them to acquire a suitable replacement. At the end of the day, good things come to an end, and the Cardinals will have to move on to their next chapter as soon as possible.
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