St. Louis Cardinals: Yadier Molina Extension Finalized

The St. Louis Cardinals have finally announced that their franchise catcher will indeed remain a Cardinal for what should be the remainder of his baseball career.

All of Cardinals Nation has sat on pins and needles waiting for the official news that the fan-favorite catcher, Yadier Molina, would sign an extension with the St. Louis Cardinals. That news is finally coming today.

Yadier had made it clear that he would not negotiate during the season. This meant that Mozeliak and the St. Louis Cardinals organization had only the months, then weeks, then days, then actual hours to complete the extension before the first pitch that is to occur tonight just after 7pm CDT.

I actually thought that Mozeliak was set to announce the extension on Thursday night while the team was in Memphis. I heavily wondered this when it was announced that Mozeliak was going to participate in a special Q&A with a particular level of ticket holder. My interest was peaked even more when I noticed a large contingency of the St. Louis media present at Autozone Park.

I was wrong. Nothing was released on Thursday night. Anxiety started rising.

I wasn’t alone experiencing the rising anxiety: most of Twitter became more and more anxious as Opening Day approached. One of the major points of anxiety was whether opening day itself or the actual first pitch of the Cubs v. Cardinals game was the hard deadline. Mozeliak consistently seemed to indicate the latter but that man is a master at political speak so you can only trust every third word exiting his mouth.

During the St. Louis Cardinals exhibition game in Springfield, the announcement could have come but- again- did not.

Saturday was the MLB-mandated off day for the Cardinals (since they open the season on Sunday). Saturday was also April Fools Day. The organization could have announced the extension on Saturday, but we are hearing today that maybe they were worried no one would believe the news.

Whether this is true or not remains to be seen. Whether Yadi and the organization had a deal signed on Thursday night (a rumor I’ve heard that said it was finalized with his signature following the exhibition game in Memphis) matters not, at least not now.

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Today at 1pm CDT, the St. Louis Cardinals will hold a press conference to announce the new three-year extension for the flagship catcher. Finally. While the details will not be officially released until just before, during, or just after the presser, the deal is expected to be for three years and valued at $55-65 million making Yadi the highest paid catcher in MLB history (eclipsing Buster Posey‘s current AAV).

This extension will go into effect following the 2017 season and will keep Yadi behind the plate for the St. Louis Cardinals through 2020 when he will turn thirty-eight (during the 2020 season). This extension should carry Molina through the end of his career, thus always a Cardinal.

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I am thrilled. I know I am not alone in that either. Stay with us though Twitter and Facebook and we will keep you updated on the press conference and the details of the contract as soon as we learn about it. Oh, and Happy Opening Day! Go Cards, beat the Cubs!