St. Louis Cardinals: Yadier Molina and Team Puerto Rico return home with a bronze medal

The St. Louis Cardinals’ catcher made his managerial debut over a week ago. Yesterday, his team won the bronze medal in U-23 championships.

The St. Louis Cardinals were well represented in U-23 championships this past two weeks. The St. Louis Cardinals Yadier Molina, Jose Oquendo, and young shortstop Delvin Perez were all a part of Team Puerto Rico as the competition took place in Panama.

As previously mentioned last week, Molina made his managerial debut and yesterday led his youngsters to a bronze medal in the U-23 championships. They defeated the Dominican Republic yesterday 17-1 in six innings to capture the medal. They also booked their ticket to the 2018 WBSC U-23 World Cup along with the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Venezuela.

Molina’s team finished the championships with a 6-3 record. Afterwards, Molina had this to say about his player’s efforts in Panama, “I am very happy for the guys and the level that they demonstrated. A medal always makes you happy.”

I think it is safe to say, we will more than likely see Molina return as the U-23 manager for the WBSC World Cup.

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Molina’s debut certainly casts speculation on what exactly he will do after his playing days are over. Molina’s three year extension with the St. Louis Cardinals will run until 2020. I am sure by age 38, Molina will have already worked out ho he would like to go out. I am also sure at some point the Cardinals will also have a discussion about keeping him within the organization as a coach in Spring Training.

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He could follow the same route as fellow Puerto Rican Oquendo and serve as a special coach for the team in Florida until he is ready to take the step to managing full-time.

Now, the focus becomes preparing for the upcoming season.

Molina will get some much -eeded rest over the off-season, but some have called for him to also serve as an ambassador for the St. Louis Cardinals in hopes to persuade Giancarlo Stanton to make a move to St. Louis.

If I had to select only one player from the Cardinals to go talk to Stanton, Molina would be my guy hands down.

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We also need Molina to get some rest and get ready for the 2018 season. However, for now I say congratulations to Molina and Team Puerto Rico on their bronze medal. They have brought great joy to a country in much need.