Cardinals’ Rumors: Options to fill in during Yadier Molina absence

Oct 9, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina behind the plate in the first inning against the Chicago Cubs in game one of the NLDS at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports

The St. Louis Cardinals have a big problem with Yadier Molina having thumb surgery again today. How will the team react to this?

Earlier today, news broke out that the St. Louis Cardinals‘ best catcher of all time Yadier Molina was going to be out through the majority of the spring training. This scares me, we could be looking at this creeping into the regular season. So, my mind has been at work thinking about what the team could possibly do to make the injury/recovery hurt less.

I am not sure the team will necessarily look to go outside the organization to acquire a second backup catcher, but this is a possibility. With the loss of Jason Heyward the club does have payroll flexibility to entice a catcher to come over on a potential short term basis.

There’s not really a catcher that is ready down in the minor leagues with the release of Ed Easley and loss of Cody Stanley to suspension and release. So, naturally there is a spot available for the Cardinals to grab a guy and sign him to a low level deal. There really is only one guy in the organization, who is somewhat ready to be a serviceable MLB backup and that is Mike Ohlman and he is not that impressive really.

So, let’s take a look at who could be potentially available for the Cardinals to grab in free agency to be the backup to the backup and what we could expect out of backup Brayan Pena on a more regular basis if it comes to that.

Next: Wilin Rosario