Yadier Molina wants to manage the St. Louis Cardinals down the road

Rumors surrounding Yadier Molina's return to Major League Baseball as a manager have been swirling since the day he retired in 2022. The future Hall of Fame catcher has long been lauded as a leader in the clubhouse, and his managing career outside of MLB has been quite successful.

Fans of the St. Louis Cardinals, rightfully so, have been clamoring for him to become the club's field manager. The team's malaise since his retirement has only bolstered those calls.

Cardinal fans were assuaged when it was announced that Molina would be an advisor to president of baseball operations John Mozeliak. Their tone changed, however, when Molina was not to be seen throughout the 2024 season, a year in which leadership and assistance for the catching triumvirate of Willson Contreras, Ivan Herrera, and Pedro Pages.

Molina's brother Bengie threw some fuel on this fire when he spoke about Yadi's desire to manage the Cardinals on The Morning After Show on 101ESPN.

"(Yadier Molina) doesn't want to go anywhere else, I'll tell you that right now. But, he's not shutting the doors either. If St. Louis doesn't offer him a job for whatever reason, he's not closing the doors on any team. He would love to come here and manage, but if it doesn't happen, hey, somebody else will give him a job."

Bengie Molina

Martin Kilcoyne followed up by asking if Yadi would take a coaching role, perhaps the bench coach or a positional coach, and the eldest Molina brother emphasized that Yadi is seeking a manager's role, not a coaching job. It's also important to note that Molina would not hesitate to accept a manager job with another club. Having to watch Molina, one of the greatest players to don the Birds on the Bat, manage an opposing team may be the death of some fans.

Molina's international coaching career has been quite successful. He led the Puerto Rican National Team to a second-place finish in their pool and a quarterfinal appearance. Molina also has experience managing in various leagues in Puerto Rico and in the Dominican Republic most recently. He also coached in the 2024 Caribbean Series.

2025 will be Oliver Marmol's final year as the team's manager, as his contract expires at the end of the year. After a successful campaign in 2022, the Cardinals have failed to make the postseason in the last two years, and they had their first losing season in 2023 in 16 years. It's possible that Marmol is given another extension, but with Chaim Bloom taking over as president of baseball operations in 2026, he may seek to implant his own manager.

It is worth noting that Bengie mentioned that Yadi would likely wait for his son to graduate, which is two years away.

With Yadi's preference to manage in St. Louis and a new man at the helm, the cards could line up for the Cardinal legend to return to the team in a more prominent role. Fans would be energized, and Molina could bring his managerial success that he's had with other teams to the Cardinals. Seeing Yadier Molina wear a Cardinals #4 jersey again will be marvelous to see.