Yadier Molina

Coaching Notes: Varitek, Ramirez, Molina

By Leo Morgenstern | October 16, 2025 at 4:40pm CDT

Jason Varitek has filled various roles for the Red Sox since he hung up his catching gear after the 2011 season. For the past five years, he has held a full-time role on Boston’s coaching staff. Initially, the team’s game planning coordinator, he later added catching coach to his duties. When the Red Sox hired Parker Guinn last offseason, Varitek’s title changed to game planning and run prevention coach for the 2025 campaign.

The three-year deal Varitek signed before the 2023 season expired at the end of this year, but MassLive’s Chris Cotillo reports that the Red Sox and their former captain are hammering out the details of a new contract. The “likeliest outcome,” according to Cotillo, is that Varitek will return in the same capacity in 2026. Earlier this week, Cotillo reported that all but one of Boston’s coaches were expected to return to their roles next season, with assistant hitting coach Ben Rosenthal the only exception.

Of course, the fact that Varitek has not yet signed a contract with the Red Sox leaves open the possibility that he could seek a more prominent role elsewhere. Several teams are still hunting for new managers, and while Varitek’s name hasn’t come up in many managerial rumors recently, the Giants reached out to him with interest in 2023, and he interviewed with the Mariners in 2015.

In other coaching news…

Another Red Sox great is looking to break into the coaching game. Nine-time Silver Slugger winner Manny Ramirez, who won two World Series titles alongside Varitek in Boston, has once again expressed his desire to become an MLB hitting coach, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Heyman notes that Ramirez is “getting word out to all 30 teams” that he is interested and available. The 12-time All-Star reportedly offered his services as a hitting coach to one unspecified MLB manager last offseason (per MassLive’s Sean McAdam), but this is his most overt attempt to secure such a gig. His accomplishments on the field speak for themselves – a .312 batting average, 555 home runs, and 1,831 RBI – but his coaching experience is limited. He spent a few months as a player-coach for the Triple-A Iowa Cubs in 2014 and continued on as an organizational hitting consultant through 2016. Years later, he signed on with the Sydney Blue Sox of the Australian Baseball League as a player-coach for the 2020-21 campaign. However, COVID-19 delayed the start of the season, and Ramirez was eventually released two games into the year due to injuries. This past September, he told Foul Territory that he spoke to the Red Sox about a potential coaching opportunity last year, but their conversations never progressed to anything serious.
Yadier Molina, himself a former perennial All-Star and two-time World Series champion, has also thrown his hat in the proverbial ring for a coaching job. He posted a message on his Instagram account today saying that he is “ready to return to the field – whether as a coach or a manager – in MLB, Mexico, or wherever.” Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch notes that Molina’s desire to coach isn’t new information, but his comments today move up the timeline. Meanwhile, MLB.com’s John Denton reports that Molina has already had conversations with the Cardinals and manager Oliver Marmol about taking on a formal coaching role with the club. The nine-time Gold Glove winner returned to St. Louis this past summer as a guest coach for two games. At the time, he told reporters, including Denton, that coaching and managing were in his future plans, but that he was focusing on his family for the time being. He has, however, gained international managerial experience in recent years, including managing Team Puerto Rico at the 2023 World Baseball Classic. He will return to manage the team in this winter’s upcoming WBC.

Cardinals Have Received Trade Interest In Catching Depth

By Mark Polishuk | October 8, 2025 at 2:55pm CDT

“Other teams have asked about” the many catchers in the Cardinals organization, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote as part of a lengthy chat with readers. No specific names are mentioned, yet since youngsters Jimmy Crooks, and Leonardo Bernal seem pretty untouchable at the moment, Ivan Herrera, Pedro Pages, and Yohel Pozo are the likelier trade candidates, to varying degrees.

While the focus of the Cards’ offseason will be moving veteran talent and creating opportunities for young players, the wide-ranging nature of this rebuild means that president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom is likely to explore every possible avenue for upgrading the roster. Given this youth movement, it is safe to assume that Bernal and Crooks aren’t going anywhere, unless Bloom swings a relatively rare prospect-for-prospect type of swap. The Cardinals could conceivably package one of their own prospects along with a higher-priced veteran (i.e. Nolan Arenado, Sonny Gray) to convince a rival club to take on more salary, yet dealing a well-regarded prospect just to save money isn’t happening unless the other team also offers a good prospect package that can more broadly address the Cards’ needs.

MLB Pipeline ranks Bernal as the 92nd-best prospect in baseball, and the fourth-best prospect in the St. Louis farm system. As Goold notes, the Cardinals will have to add him to the 40-man roster to protect him from being selected in the Rule 5 Draft, so Bernal’s inclusion would give the Cards five backstops on their 40-man. Goold suggests that Pozo will be the odd man out, perhaps designated for assignment and then re-signed by the Cardinals to a minor league contract. Such a move would allow St. Louis to free up a 40-man spot and keep Pozo all at once, though a trade or waiver claim is a possibility in that scenario.

Crooks was ranked as the sixth-best Cardinals prospect and outside Pipeline’s league-wide top-100, though he received some top-100 attention from Baseball Prospectus and Fangraphs this year. Crooks also made his MLB debut this season, but did very little at the plate in batting .133/.152/.244 over his first 46 plate appearances in the Show. He has hit considerably better in the minors (including a .274/.337/.441 slash line in 430 PA in Triple-A), but Crooks is generally viewed as a glove-first type of catcher.

Beyond this duo, the Cardinals also have Rainiel Rodriguez, the 18-year-old who finished the season in high-A ball and who ranks 55th on Pipeline’s top-100 list. It isn’t hard to view Rodriguez, Bernal, and Crooks within a broad “catcher of the future” category, which naturally creates questions about how the Cards could approach the catchers currently on the big league roster.

It should be noted that none of Herrera, Pages, or Pozo are exactly seasoned vets. Herrera won’t become arbitration-eligible until next offseason and he is controlled through 2029, while Pages is controlled through 2030. If Pozo is possibly DFA fodder, that alone could clear up the catching backlog to some extent, but could the Cardinals go a step further and move Herrera or Pages to create playing time for Crooks?

Describing Herrera as a catcher is perhaps a topic of debate unto itself, as he suited up behind the plate in only 14 games this season. Herrera missed time due a bone bruise in his left knee and then a Grade 2 hamstring strain, plus he was slated for offseason surgery to remove loose bodies from his throwing elbow. These health issues led the Cardinals to make Herrera their primary DH, and he also made a few cameo appearances in left field.

The team’s plan is for Herrera to spend the offseason healing up, and then to return in Spring Training as a viable catcher once again. There were some questions about Herrera’s long-term ability to stick at catcher even before his injury-plagued 2025 season, but there’s no doubt he can hit. Herrera batted .284/.373/.464 with 19 home runs over 452 plate appearances this year, and his 137 wRC+ was the 16th-best of any player in the league with at least 450 PA.

Moving such a potent and controllable bat this early in the rebuild process doesn’t seem too likely for Bloom, unless a major asset could be obtained in return. If the Cardinals still have misgivings about Herrera’s defense, that could leave the door open a crack for a possible trade, yet it is fair to guess that Herrera is pretty far down the list of Bloom’s potential trade chips.

Pages ended up becoming the Cards’ primary catcher in 2025, and his profile is basically the opposite of Herrera. Pages has hit only .233/.275/.368 over 607 career PA in the majors, but he is a superb defender in every aspect of catching except his blocking work. This could appeal to clubs looking to improve their glovework behind the plate, though Yadier Molina’s shadow runs long in St. Louis, and the Cardinals themselves have long prioritized having strong catcher defense.

Cardinals Notes: Molina, O’Neill, Burleson

By Nick Deeds | December 6, 2023 at 7:11pm CDT

The Cardinals announced this afternoon that longtime catcher Yadier Molina has returned to the organization as a special assistant to President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak. Following the announcement, Mozeliak spoke with reporters (including Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat) regarding Molina’s role in the organization. Mozeliak suggested that Molina will spend time as a uniformed member of the Cardinals dugout this coming season, though that won’t be his full-time role. While Molina will spend time with the club’s minor league affiliates his main focus will be working with the big league club’s players and coaching staff.

The news comes after a lengthy period of speculation earlier this offseason that Molina would be returning to St. Louis in some capacity, including suggestions that Molina could join manager Oliver Marmol’s coaching staff as bench coach. The #2 job in the dugout eventually went to former Cardinals infielder Daniel Descalso, leading Molina to rejoin the Cardinals in his current role. Molina has been candid in recent years about his hopes of becoming a big league manager at some point, and his return to the Cardinals organization just one year after his retirement from playing is sure to spur speculation regarding the future of Marmol, who the team has not engaged in extension talks with prior to the final year of his current contract.

Looking beyond the club’s reunion with Molina, the club’s willingness to move outfielder Tyler O’Neill has been well-documented this offseason, with Mozeliak previously indicating that the club hopes to bolster its bullpen in return for O’Neill’s services. Ben Fredrickson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch suggested in a live chat with readers yesterday that the Royals are among the teams with interest in O’Neill this offseason. While it might register as a surprise that the Royals would be interested in a rental player coming off a 101-loss season in 2023, the club’s outfielders slashed a pathetic .229/.293/.392 last season, leaving them with an 82 wRC+ that registered as the worst among all major league clubs.

Given that dearth of production, the Royals are perhaps better situated than most clubs to roll the dice on O’Neill, a 28-year-old slugger who flashed elite power and defense during a 2021 campaign that saw him slash .286/.352/.560 in 537 trips to the plate while finishing in the top ten of NL MVP voting. Unfortunately for both O’Neill and the Cardinals, things have taken a turn for the worse since then. Injuries and under-performance have plagued O’Neill the past two seasons, as the slugger has slashed a mediocre .229/.310/.397 (98 wRC+) in just 168 games over the past two seasons.

O’Neill is something of an odd trade candidate thanks to his combination of youth, upside, limited team control and recent struggles. It’s easy to see why Kansas City may be particularly interested in his services, however. O’Neill could be offered consistent playing time on the lowly Royals next season, with Kansas City able to offer the struggling slugger plenty of runway to re-establish himself as a quality bat. If O’Neill is successful in doing so, he could be a valuable asset for the club to flip at the trade deadline next summer in the event the Royals find themselves out of the race by midseason.

O’Neill isn’t the only Cardinals outfielder who could be on the trade block this offseason, as Mozeliak spoke to reporters (including John Denton of MLB.com) about the future of young outfielder Alec Burleson, who has reportedly drawn trade interest in recent days. Mozeliak seemed to be more reluctant to part with Burleson than O’Neill, saying that the club “definitely like[s]” Burleson and that they “think there’s a spot for him” on the club’s 2024 roster. That said, Mozeliak acknowledged the fact that regular playing time is unlikely to be available for Burleson as things currently stand, noting that “something else might have to happen first” in order for Burleson to get everyday at bats next season. Burleson struggled in 347 trips to the plate last season with a tepid slash line of just .244/.300/.390, but the 25-year-old youngster isn’t far removed from his days as a top-100 prospect in the sport.

John Mozeliak On Cardinals’ Offseason Spending, Molina, Bloom

By Leo Morgenstern | November 6, 2023 at 10:33pm CDT

Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak spoke with members of the media (including John Denton of MLB.com) on Monday at the GM meetings to discuss the offseason ahead. He addressed the team’s budget for 2024 and touched on how he plans to revamp the starting rotation. The executive also fielded questions about a coaching role for Yadier Molina, as well as rumors concerning a potential front office job for former Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom.

After finishing the 2023 season with a 71-91 record, good for last place in the NL Central, there is no denying that the Cardinals need to spend in free agency if they hope to contend in 2024. That doesn’t mean the team is going to spend recklessly, however, as Mozeliak said they plan to be “prudent” with their expenditures. More specifically, he explained that the Cardinals will likely operate with a similar payroll next season as they planned to run this past year before selling off several veterans at the trade deadline. That means they have about $44MM to work with this winter (per Denton), although one would think they’d be willing to go slightly above that number for the right player. After all, sometimes the prudent move is to spend a little bit extra to land the best free agent targets.

The Cardinals have made it clear that starting pitching is their top priority, and for good reason. Their starters finished with the third-worst ERA and the second-lowest strikeout rate in the National League last season, and their numbers only got worse after the rotation lost Jack Flaherty and Jordan Montgomery at the trade deadline.

In August, Mozeliak said he planned to bring in three new starters this offseason. He essentially repeated that sentiment on Monday, although he specified that he’s looking for two full-time starters, plus “someone that can maybe split roles.” The Cardinals already have veterans Miles Mikolas and Steven Matz penciled into the rotation for 2024. They also have several talented young arms waiting in the wings, including former first-round picks Zack Thompson and Matthew Liberatore, trade deadline acquisition Drew Rom, and top prospects Gordon Graceffo and Michael McGreevy. None of those pitchers is quite ready to be trusted with an Opening Day job on the starting staff, but Mozeliak is hoping that at least a few of them will pitch “meaningful” big league innings in 2024.

There is rarely such thing as too much pitching depth, but still, if the Cardinals were to add three bona fide starters this winter, they could end up with a logjam in the rotation. That would mean limited opportunities for their young arms, and the Cardinals aren’t going to mortgage the future of the rotation for short-term gains in 2024.

With that in mind, it’s understandable why Mozeliak is interested in adding a hybrid starter/reliever who could pitch in the rotation if need be but could easily step aside if a more promising pitcher forces the issue. Nick Martinez is the most intriguing arm who fits that description, while other options on the open market include Michael Lorenzen, Sean Manaea, Jakob Junis, and Alex Wood.

In terms of additions beyond the roster, Mozeliak also answered questions regarding Yadier Molina, the beloved former Cardinal who is expected to join the coaching staff in 2024, and Chaim Bloom, the former Red Sox executive who has been connected to the Cardinals in recent days. Mozeliak could not offer much of an update on Molina, although he confirmed that the two sides remain engaged in conversations about the nine-time Gold Glove winner’s role next season. He is “hopeful” Molina will join the organization in some capacity.

As for Bloom, Mozeliak mostly avoided the question, although he did reveal that he has had “some discussions” with individuals from “outside the organization” about potentially coming on as an advisor to the front office. The long-time Cardinals executive explained that he wants to have “someone from the outside look at the inside.” Mozeliak has been the team’s chief baseball decision-maker since 2007, so it certainly makes sense that he’s seeking a fresh perspective from someone new to the organization.

NL Central Notes: Molina, Cardinals, Marlins, Kelly, Pirates

By Mark Polishuk | October 24, 2023 at 3:26pm CDT

With Yadier Molina and the Cardinals in talks about a coaching job for the longtime catcher, Molina discussed the situation in an interview with 550 KTRS radio (hat tip to Luis Nolla of KTRS for the partial transcript). “I think there is something cooking with St. Louis,” Molina said, estimating “a 90 percent chance that it happens.” After retiring following the 2022 season, Molina revealed that he had offers for some kind of coaching roles from both the Cardinals last year and from the Marlins.

In terms of his coaching future in general, Molina said “I see myself managing, coaching in the United States for a few years. I like it. I am a guy that is fascinated with baseball, and I am passionate about it. To have an opportunity like that I cannot pass….St. Louis has given me the opportunity. It is my second home. There is always a good relationship and communication with them. They are trying to guide me to that way, in the matter of being a coach. They have their staff who have a good job with the team. It would be an opportunity that it will be hard to say no to. I love St. Louis.”

Central Notes: Cubs, Molina, Royals

By Nick Deeds | October 20, 2023 at 9:59am CDT

The Cubs are facing some uncertainty in their rotation early this offseason, as veteran right-handers Kyle Hendricks and Marcus Stroman both have contracts featuring options for the 2024 campaign. The club holds a $16MM team option on Hendricks that features a $1.5MM buyout, while Stroman can opt out of the final year of his contract with Chicago, leaving $21MM on the table to return to the open market. Though option decisions aren’t due until five days after the World Series concludes, Patrick Mooney of The Athletic writes that both Hendricks and Stroman are “expected” to remain with the club in 2024.

Picking up Hendricks’s club option seems to be something of a no-brainer for the Cubs, given how well he pitched last year. After a shoulder injury wiped out most of the soft-tossing righty’s 2022 season and the beginning of his 2023, Hendricks rebounded to make 24 starts for the Cubs, pitching to a 3.74 ERA and 3.81 FIP in 137 innings of work. In a market where even bounce back starters can get two-year guarantees in the range of $12.5MM (as the likes of Sean Manaea, Andrew Heaney, and Ross Stripling did last offseason), a $14.5MM decision for one year of Hendricks is a sensible investment.

Stroman’s option decision, on the other hand, is more complicated. Multi-year offers that would beat Stroman’s $21MM total salary for 2024 will surely be available to the right-hander this offseason if he decides to test the open market. While he appeared to be a good bet to approach or perhaps even beat the yearly salary offered by his option on the open market early in the season, when he was dominating for the Cubs to the tune of a 2.28 ERA across his first 16 starts of the season, he figures to be a long-shot to receive a comparable AAV this offseason after battling injuries and ineffectiveness in the second half, with an 8.29 ERA over his final 38 innings of work this year.

If both players do remain in Chicago with their options exercised, that will eat up a combined $37MM in payroll space for the club this offseason. As noted by MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes in the Cubs installment of our Offseason Outlook series, Stroman and Hendricks returning to Chicago figures to push the club’s commitments well over $200MM for luxury tax purposes, leaving little room for the Cubs to maneuver this offseason without exceeding the first tax threshold, which will sit at $237MM this offseason.

More from around MLB’s central divisions:

The Cardinals were recently reported to have interest in bringing longtime catcher Yadier Molina back into the fold just one season after his retirement, this time as a member of the coaching staff. Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat provided more details on the situation this morning, indicating that Molina reportedly has interest in acting as the club’s bench coach. As Jones notes, the contract status of current bench coach Joe McEwing is unclear, though he adds that it’s believed the Cardinals at least hold an option on his services for 2024. Jones also notes the difficult situation that Molina’s presence as bench coach could create for manager Oli Marmol; Marmol is entering the final year of his contract with the club next season and would likely face greater pressure in 2024 with a player of Molina’s status within the organization acting as his number two, particularly after Molina got his feet wet in a managerial role as skipper of team Puerto Rico during the World Baseball Classic earlier this year.
The Royals lost a longtime member of their front office yesterday, as Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that assistant GM for baseball administration Jin Wong is departing the organization. Wong, who per Rosenthal is leaving Kansas City “of his own accord,” had been in the organization for 24 years. MLB.com’s Anne Rogers relays that Wong played key roles in contract negotiations for key players in the organization’s recent history, including Salvador Perez and Lorenzo Cain, with much of his role being dealing with Kansas City’s budget and payroll management.

Cardinals Have Discussed Coaching Job With Yadier Molina

By Darragh McDonald | October 17, 2023 at 11:58am CDT

The Cardinals and Yadier Molina have had discussions about him joining the major league coaching staff next year, reports Katie Woo of The Athletic. The report adds that there’s mutual interest from both parties.

Molina is obviously well known around baseball and particularly in St. Louis. He just wrapped up a playing career that went from 2004 to 2022, all of that in Cardinal red. Now 41, he has previously expressed a desire to move towards managing/coaching in his post-playing career, having already gotten some experience outside of Major League Baseball. Molina has done some managing in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League as well as acting as skipper for Puerto Rican teams in international play, including the most recent World Baseball Classic.

His potential role with the Cardinals next year isn’t exactly clear, but Woo relays that it’s expected it would be an everyday position. It doesn’t currently appear as though any of the current coaches are in jeopardy, with Molina likely to be an addition rather than a replacement. Woo points out that the club had one of the smaller staffs in the league in 2023, with some players apparently expressing that there “simply wasn’t enough coaching to go around,” in Woo’s words.

Adding another coach, whether Molina or someone else, would obviously help if that’s a real problem for manager Oli Marmol and the rest of the staff. But Molina specifically could be a good fit, given his legendary status in the organization. There’s also the fact that the post-Molina era didn’t kick off with a bang. During Molina’s time as the club’s backstop, they made frequent postseason appearances and only finished below .500 once, back in 2007. But the first season after his retirement saw the club go 71-91 and fall to the basement of the National League Central.

There were whispers that some members of the St. Louis pitching staff weren’t happy with the transition to Willson Contreras, who was signed last offseason to take over Molina’s job behind the plate. Contreras was even moved off the catching position for a time this year, working as the designated hitter only, though he was back behind the plate a week later. If there’s any lingering discord between the pitchers and Contreras, perhaps Molina’s presence as a coach could help to bridge that gap.

Turning to the club’s roster, Woo discusses the club’s impending rotation work. President of baseball operations John Mozeliak has openly expressed a desire to bring in three starting pitchers this winter, in order to replace the retiring Adam Wainwright and impending free agents Jack Flaherty and Jordan Montgomery, both of whom were traded prior to the deadline. Free agency is obviously one avenue to pursuing upgrades, but the Cardinals haven’t traditionally been big spenders in that regard. Their largest free agent signing in franchise history is the $120MM deal they gave to Matt Holliday back in 2010, with Mike Leake’s $80MM deal in 2015 the largest they’ve given to a pitcher.

It seems they are giving some thought to breaking one or both of those records. They have already been connected to Sonny Gray and Aaron Nola, each of whom would likely require a deal larger than Leake’s in order to sign. Woo adds that the club is open to a reunion with Montgomery, though he’s likely pushing his next contract well into nine-figure territory, based both on his regular season work and strong playoff performance with the Rangers thus far.

Woo also adds that the Cards will “check in” on Japanese hurler Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported last week that the club is indeed interested in Yamamoto, though the extent of that interest isn’t clear. Speculation around Yamamoto’s potential contract seems to suggest he could be in line for something around $200MM, based both on his youth and his excellent results in Nippon Professional Baseball. Having just turned 25 in August, he’s far younger than typical free agents, and he also has an ERA of 1.82 over his seven NPB seasons.

Giving out a mega deal for a starting pitcher would be new territory for the Cards, but it sounds like they are exploring every avenue in order to put this rough season behind them. That will likely involve trading from their position player mix as well, though who they are willing to part with remains to be seen.

Cardinals Notes: Wainwright, Arenado, Molina, Pujols

By Maury Ahram | October 9, 2022 at 10:20am CDT

Following yesterday’s 0-2 loss to the Phillies, the Cardinals’ magical 2022 season has drawn to a close. After an above-average first half going 50-44, the Cardinals moved into a higher gear, winning 43 of their final 68 games (.632 win percentage) to take the NL Central with authority. Pivoting towards the 2023 season, the Cardinals have two key players with decisions to make, and two players who are expected to formally announce their retirements.

One of the most important free agents for the Cardinals is 41-year-old Adam Wainwright who didn’t appear during the Cardinal’s Wild Card series. Wainwright, a rotation stalwart for the Cardinals since 2007, signed a 1-year, $17.5MM extension for the 2022 season on the heels of a strong 2020 and 2021 season, pitching to a 3.08 ERA in 272 innings. He followed those strong numbers in 2022 with a 3.71 ERA in 191 2/3 innings, following his trademark of limiting hard contact (87.8 MPH average exit velocity, 36.6 HardHit%). However, he was hit hard over his last five starts, giving up 35 hits and 19 runs over his last 23 2/3 innings.

Wainwright has yet to officially announce whether he will return for the 2023 season, but hinted that he has decided on his status, as reported by Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Regardless, Wainwright is expected to release something soon, with the veteran saying postgame that “we should know pretty soon if something happens … if not, then it’s been a good run.” The 17-year veteran added that he did not “like not pitching in a playoff season,” before coyly saying that fans could take the statement one of two ways, “as it’s been a good run” or “as a motivation to never let that happen again,” per Goold.

The Cardinals’ other high-profile free agent Nolan Arenado is technically under contract through the 2027 season; however, he can opt out this offseason. Acquired from the Rockies in February 2021, Arenado has posted back-to-back All-Star seasons with the Cardinals, slashing a combined .273/.335/.513 while playing superb defense at the hot corner (30 Outs Above Average). Arenado’s 2022 season has been particularly strong, batting .293/.358/.533 with 30 homers and 15 Outs Above Average.

Arenado has $144MM and five years remaining on his current contract, but he would be the clear-cut top third basemen on the free agent market. For his part, Arenado has previously stated that he’s “not opting out” and that he “will be coming back,” per Goold. He followed up these comments after yesterday’s game saying, “I love it here. I love the guys. I just feel like I fit well with this orgnaization.” Nevertheless, the seven-time All-Star will be 37 at the end of his current contract and may opt to find a longer agreement.

Elsewhere on the Cardinals, 19-year veteran Yadier Molina and 22-year veteran Albert Pujols are set to retire with the close of the 2022 season. Both legends in Cardinals’ lore, the duo won World Series titles with the Cardinals in 2006 and 2011, among numerous other awards throughout their careers. In a fitting moment, both players laced singles in their final at-bats at Busch Stadium.

Quick Hits: Maddon, Molina, Hernandez, Gilbert

By Mark Polishuk | August 20, 2022 at 9:47pm CDT

After being fired as the Angels manager in June, Joe Maddon would like to return to baseball, but “right now I need to get tired of what I’m doing in order to want to do something else,” Maddon told Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times. The veteran skipper is enjoying a rare “summer vacation” of sorts, and would only be interested in a managerial or advisory job with a team that had a “strong balance between the old and the new” approaches to the game, and not too tilted in favor of analytics.

It seems clear that Maddon didn’t feel this balance existed in Anaheim. In general, Maddon felt the Angels’ “infrastructure needs to be improved….It’s the non-sexy stuff that has to get better. It’s not just bright, shiny objects — they have that. They need to do the infrastructure better in order to get to where we had been in the past.” Maddon also implied that the front office tried to have too much of an influence on baseball decisions, thus trying to turn the manager into a “middle man” rather than an actual leader in the clubhouse.

“It’s at the point where some GM should really just put a uniform on and go down to the dugout, or their main analytical membrane, he should go down to the dugout….And what happens is when the performance isn’t what they think it should be, it’s never about the acquisitional process,” Maddon said. “It’s always about the inability of coaches and managers to get the best out of a player. And that’s where this tremendous disconnect is formed.”

Cardinals To Designate Austin Romine For Assignment

By Anthony Franco | August 1, 2022 at 11:47pm CDT

The Cardinals plan to designate veteran backstop Austin Romine for assignment, reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today (Twitter link). St. Louis is expected reinstate Yadier Molina from the injured list tomorrow.

Romine had a brief stint on the Cards roster. He signed a minor league deal in mid-June and was selected onto the big league club in early July. The 33-year-old appeared in 11 games while backing up Andrew Knizner in Molina’s absence. In addition to three games earlier in the year with the Angels, Romine has tallied 37 plate appearances of .176/.222/.206 hitting. He’s been much better through 16 Triple-A games, hitting .291/.350/.382.

An 11-year MLB veteran, Romine will presumably find himself on waivers over the next few days. He’s a .236/.275/.354 hitter between the Yankees, Tigers, Cubs, Angels and Cardinals. Clubs are always on the hunt for veteran catching depth, so it stands to reason Romine will catch on somewhere shortly. Even if he passes through waivers unclaimed, he’ll have the right to elect free agency and seek out other minor league opportunities.

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