St. Louis Cardinals star catcher Yadier Molina is a fan favorite and likely future Hall of Famer. But his recent decision to leave the team for a few days will raise some eyebrows. Molina, who owns a professional basketball team in Puerto Rico, told the Cardinals he missed their Saturday and Sunday games against the Arizona Diamondbacks for ‘business reasons‘, per si.com.

Cardinals reporter Derrick Goold shared what Molina had to say about his decision to leave the team for ‘business reasons.'

“Yadier Molina spoke with media, asked about his decision to leave #stlcards, leave teammates to be with basketball team, he says he had a responsibility to team as owner, its history, and ‘important to the people' of hometown. Says he thinks his Cardinals teammates understand,” Goold tweeted. 

Molina's basketball team was in the championship and he felt he needed to be there to support them. It will be interesting to see how his teammates respond.

If this was any other player, with the exception of Albert Pujols or Adam Wainwright, there would rightfully be a decent amount of scorn. But Yadier Molina is a respected veteran who is going to receive a number of days off anyway. Sure, there will still be plenty of fans who are upset with his decision. But in the end, Molina was only away for two days and will still play a big role for the Cardinals as the playoffs draw near.

Yadier Molina is back in the lineup and hitting 8th for Monday's game against the Chicago Cubs.