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St. Louis Cardinals: Three players impacted by Yadier Molina’s return
Yadier Molina’s return cements him only ever playing for the St. Louis Cardinals, but it also impacts the roster for next year. Who are three players?
Love it or hate it, Yadier Molina will be back with the St. Louis Cardinals for the 2022 season.
The deal, announced on Tuesday, gives Molina a raise over his 2021 salary up to $10 million in what will be his final season officially. For the last couple of years, speculation has been rampant about whether or not Molina would retire or continue. One aspect that likely helped keep him on the field was the COVID-19 pandemic. The illustrious career of Yadier Molina ending in a whimper after a season without attendance wouldn’t have been right.
Now, with an entire offseason of warning, Molina can get the retirement tour he so well deserves. In the wake of the team’s announcement about Molina’s extension, there was plenty of backlash about the price and whether or not he is worth it, but this decision was about more than just that. The storyline, the loyalty the two sides have shown each other, it all was part of it.
Molina returning for another year isn’t just about him though. It will change things for players currently on the roster and in the system. The storyline is great, but the on-field impact matters more. Who are the three players impacted most by Molina’s return?
Andrew Knizner
For three years, it has been clear that he was going nowhere and that Carson Kelly, now Andrew Knizner, have been ready for full playing time. Despite Knizner starting more this year, the way the team has handled his situation is admittedly awful.
Kelly (a bigger trade chip) helped bring Paul Goldschmidt to the team after it was clear he wasn’t going to start anytime soon in St. Louis. After playing the entire 2019 season at AAA at age 24, Knizner and his .821 OPS looked ready for time in St. Louis in 2020.
In the COVID-shortened year, he received just 17 plate appearances and the team yet again held onto him into 2021. His performance over 136 plate appearances hasn’t been great, but he’s also only played in six games in the past 28 days, starting five. Heading into 2022, I am once again asking the Cardinals to get something in return for the catcher heading into his age-27 season.
Nolan Arenado
The other player that surely was in consideration when this move was made was Nolan Arenado. When John Mozeliak made the move to get Arenado onto the Cardinals before this season, part of what he mentioned at the time was part of why he wanted to come to St. Louis was to play with both Molina and Wainwright.
Arenado, with an opt-out after the 2021 season and 2022 season, is a player the Cardinals want to keep happy and keep convinced that winning is the goal.
On Molina, Arenado said, “I wanted him to come back,” reported Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat. “I wanted to play with him for another year. Him and Waino are probably the main parts of our team.”
While Arenado himself has been slightly underwhelming at the plate this season, he has said many times this season that St. Louis is where he wants to be and where he wants to stay. To be devil’s advocate, he may have said very similar things in Colorado when he signed the massive extension that the Cardinals took on when he was moved here.
Rarely have the Cardinals let one player have control over what moves they make, but it is an added benefit to the team if Nolan Arenado is happy and playing with the players he wants to play with.
Ivan Herrera
The third name to consider is young Ivan Herrera. Herrera, 21, has spent the year at AA Springfield after putting himself on the map in 2019 at A-ball and the Arizona Fall League. The team’s third-best prospect before the 2021 draftees were added hasn’t had a great year at AA if you were to only consider the box scores. His .224 average and .741 OPS is scaring some who haven’t been watching the extremely professional at-bats that he’s been taking.
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Such is the case with the minor leagues, if you aren’t watching or listening to someone who is watching, you don’t know the whole story. Herrera is a very difficult out and has shown more and more pop as the season has gone on. Even if he’s too selective sometimes, his .346 OBP speaks for itself and he’s doing it all at a league where he’s three years younger than his competitors.
Herrera also has the first open blessing of Yadier Molina. For a long time, Molina has been unwilling to let anyone else behind the dish but him. However, Molina was Herrera’s childhood idol and this article from MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez from November of 2020 details just how much Yadi and Herrera have worked together.
By sticking around for another year, Molina can officially hand off the torch to young Herrera late in the 2022 season or beyond. It’s too far of me to say that this has been Yadi’s plan all along, but it sure looks like it’s going to play out that way.
Next. Yadier Molina likely to retire after 2022. dark
Coming back in 2022 will hopefully give Molina a better chance to compete on what should be a better team than 2021, but his career and what will be a 19-year arc is close to an end.