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4 things that St. Louis Cardinals fans don’t want to hear
By Greg Simons
Cardinals looking for catching help
Yadier Molina reportedly is starting a rehab assignment Thursday. That’s the good news. The bad news is, he and his fellow backstops have been pretty dreadful this season. There’s at least one potential improvement available, though an acquisition of Willson Contreras from their forever rivals the Chicago Cubs, seems unlikely. The idea of vengeance for the Lou Brock–Ernie Broglio trade would be the one positive behind such a move from the North Siders’ perspective.
Oakland’s Sean Murphy reportedly is another option, though it’s unclear if the A’s really will part with him given his long-term control, though the 2025 season. Sure, they have two strong catching prospects in the minors – Shea Langeliers and Tyler Soderstrom – but as the Toronto Blue Jays have shown, it may not be possible to have too much catching depth, and the designated hitter makes it possible to fit three on a roster.
The remainder of the catching trade market offers little optimism for improvement, so the most likely path for the Cardinals is to bring Molina back after his weekend in Memphis, let Andrew Knizner back him up, and keep Austin Romine and Ivan Hererra in the minors as depth options in case of another injury.
A catching crew that’s batting around .200 with little power or patience is far from ideal, and Molina’s stellar glovework of old is on decline as his age increases, but the likeliest path for St. Louis is to roll with what they have, pushing for the playoffs while giving Yadi his well-deserved sendoff at the same time.