I saw today that the St. Louis Cardinals had announced a joint press conference with their stud catcher Yadier 
Molina. I wasn’t all too concerned; the probably had reached a contract extension and were ready to show it off and gloat about how great Molina has been. It’s true. Molina is one of the more consistently underrated catchers in the game who because of his brothers is often cast as a glove with an arm rather than someone who can help the team with his bat. Anyway, I click back on ESPN and see Molina’s new contract: 5 years $75 million. WHAAAAT???! There’s very simply no way he should be getting that kind of money.
I’d be perfectly happy if they had given him this deal 4 years ago. Molina has been an All-Star for the past 3 years, won Gold Gloves each year and been above average with the bat (for a catcher). The problem is that Molina is 29 and he’s a catcher. The shelf life for catcher is not great and the $75 million for a guy about to age represents a poor financial decision. Consider, the oldest catcher to get at least 500 at bats last year was Miguel Olivo, who managed to hit .224 with all those at bats. Catchers do not age well and Molina’s value comes from his ability to catch.
The Cardinals will tell you that he’s a hard worker and that that he’s played at least 136 games in each of the past 3 seasons shows how durable he is. They’ll try to justify the contract saying that he’s a clubhouse guy and great with the pitchers. All true. But, will it still reign true in 2017? When Yadier is 35? I think not. I found on baseball-reference.com this article which outlines the best seasons for a catcher at age 35, but it does a terrible job of justifying what I’m trying to say… So don’t read it. Instead consider that Johnny Bench had to move to third base in his age 35 season. Or that Roy Campanella managed to hit just .219 and .242 in his age 34 and 35 seasons respectively. Or consider that Ivan Rodriguez hasn’t been an All-Star since his age 35 season. We’re talking about the 3 best catchers of all time here. Molina isn’t in this class.
You know how Derek Jeter is the shortstop for the Yankees despite the fact that he doesn’t have the range of any other shortstop in the majors and it’s because of his aura and contract and status as Yankee legend? The Cardinals have done the same thing for themselves with Molina. Yes, he’s good now but at the end of the contract, the Cardinals are going to be stuck with a mediocre, overpayed, veteran catcher who really shouldn’t be catching 130 games anymore. Worse yet, there’s no DH in the National League and I don’t see where Molina’s body type projects anywhere but behind the plate. His .330 OBP is good for a catcher, but not what you want to be getting out of a $15 Million first baseman.
When the Cardinals are paying Matt Holliday $17 Million and Yadier Molinda $15 Million in 2016, they aren’t going to be happy. It’s sad that these teams feel the need to spend so much money on guaranteed contracts for guys who everyone knows is going to regress. Why can’t they just pay them well when they deserve it? Stupid, Stupid people.
Stat of the Day comes from one of our Twitter followers.
-Sean Morash
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