Reports: Yadier Molina’s Family Concerns Could Play Role in Contract Decision
Yadier Molina‘s desire to stay ingrained in the St. Louis community may make it a whole lot easier for the St. Louis Cardinals to retain him.
Much of the talk surrounding the St. Louis Cardinals for the past couple weeks has involved the team’s efforts to re-sign catcher Yadier Molina, who has a mutual option in his contract for 2018 but is expected to opt out and become a free agent if he isn’t given an extension. Things have been looking increasingly dire over the past week, as Molina has come out and said that he’ll test free agency if an extension doesn’t get done before Opening Day.
While his brother, Bengie, said on MLB Network Radio earlier this month that Yadier wants to be the highest-paid catcher in baseball, it appears that the 34-year-old may be willing to be a bit more flexible than initially anticipated. As Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports and MLB Network tweeted on Tuesday, Molina–who is married with three kids–may have some reluctance to move his family to a new city after spending such a long time in St. Louis:
Something to keep in mind in Molina talks with #STLCards, per source familiar with his thinking: Yadi’s reluctance to uproot his family.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) March 28, 2017
Doesn’t mean Molina would accept weak offer. But also might not require every last dollar. Three yrs, $45M-$55M remains most likely outcome.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) March 28, 2017
While there’s been quite a bit of debate among Cardinals fans and St. Louis media about whether Molina deserves an average annual value of $20 million or more as he heads into his late 30s, it seems much more reasonable to keep him in the fold if he’s making between $15-18 million per season for a shorter term.
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Even if Carson Kelly, who’s rated as the top catching prospect in baseball by MLB Pipeline, takes over for Molina as the Cardinals’ primary starter at some point during the duration of the contract, a yearly salary around $16 million for Molina surely wouldn’t be debilitating for the Cardinals, especially with their new TV contract kicking in next season.