St. Louis Cardinals: Three players impacted by Yadier Molina’s return

Yadier Molina #4 of the St. Louis Cardinals in action against the Philadelphia Phillies during an MLB baseball game at Citizens Bank Park on April 17, 2021 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
Yadier Molina #4 of the St. Louis Cardinals in action against the Philadelphia Phillies during an MLB baseball game at Citizens Bank Park on April 17, 2021 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /
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ST LOUIS, MO – AUGUST 24: Nolan Arenado #28 of the St. Louis Cardinals fields a ground ball during the seventh inning against the Detroit Tigers at Busch Stadium on August 24, 2021 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Jeff Curry/Getty Images)
ST LOUIS, MO – AUGUST 24: Nolan Arenado #28 of the St. Louis Cardinals fields a ground ball during the seventh inning against the Detroit Tigers at Busch Stadium on August 24, 2021 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Jeff Curry/Getty Images) /

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.