NASHVILLE, Tenn. — During catching great Yadier Molina’s final week in uniform as a player, the Cardinals promised him an “open door†for his return, and on Wednesday, he officially, formally walked through it, back into uniform in a special role — prepping for his second act in Major League Baseball.
Almost a month after acknowledging a mutual interest in having their longtime catcher return in some capacity, the Cardinals and Molina agreed on a title and some of the things he’ll do during the 2024 season, his first as a special assistant to the president of baseball operations.
“Look, he’s going to be a red jacket, he’s going to be a Hall of Famer in the major league Hall of Fame and he’s an icon for the Cardinals (so) over the last year or so we’ve just been ironing out what the job would look like,†said John Mozeliak, the aforementioned president of baseball operations. “He certainly wants access to working with the major league coaching staff. He’s curious. He wants to learn. He’s also ambitious. There is going to be a point in his life when he wants to be a manager.â€
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A year removed from his retirement, Molina will shape this new role as the season unfolds. The Cardinals plan on him being part of the coaching staff for a stretch of spring training, and he will have time throughout the regular season with the big league club. That could include games when he’s in uniform and in manager Oliver Marmol’s dugout.
Molina will also spend some time with minor league affiliates.
His assignments won’t be limited to mentoring catchers.
“He’s going to be a resource for Oli at the big leagues,†Mozeliak said Wednesday in the team suite at the annual Major League Baseball winter meetings. “He’s going to spend some time at the minor league level. It’s not going to necessarily be catching-specific. That will be his forte. If he can help pitchers and even spend a little time with coaches and just share some of his wisdom and experience, that’s really the point of it. The one thing that we agreed upon is we’re going to go at his pace.â€
Starting with the promise near the end of 2022 to keep that “open door†for him, the Cardinals maintained an ongoing conversation with Molina about when and how he’d like to return to aid the organization. On the same day as Adam Wainwright’s retirement celebration this past October, Mozeliak spoke with Molina about returning, and Marmol had a lengthy conversation with the former catcher about coming back to the clubhouse. The two discussed the possibility of Molina joining the coaching staff. Marmol had been and has remained a vocal advocate and recruiter for Molina, helping to facilitate his return.
The Cardinals and Molina first explored a full-time coaching role. Bench coach was not the position discussed or the one the Cardinals had in mind. Molina’s everyday position would have allowed him to define it by working with pitchers, catchers, game-planning and coaches.
Molina was reluctant to make the time commitment away from his family in Puerto Rico, and he expressed to his agent and the Cardinals a wish for more flexibility.
This week, during the winter meetings, the parties agreed on his role, full definition to follow.
“Yadi ... does want to be around the game in a meaningful and useful and helpful way, and that is from a coaching standpoint,†Mozeliak said. “He’s going to get opportunities.â€
Molina, 41, becomes the latest former Cardinal to return the team ahead of the 2024 season. The Cardinals signed former starter Lance Lynn to a one-year deal this offseason to rejoin the rotation. Daniel Descalso, a fellow World Series champion with Lynn and Molina in 2011, was hired to be Marmol’s new bench coach. All-time saves leader Jason Isringhausen, who has an adviser role with pitchers in the Cardinals’ minor league system, may spend some scheduled time with the major league club in the coming season.
Mozeliak said the team underestimated how much the absence of Molina and Albert Pujols would change the clubhouse from 2022 to 2023. Coming out of the last-place season, the front office prioritized adding veteran presences, if not the specific presences that retired.
“That was definitely part of our equation about how we thought about who we were signing for this club,†Mozeliak said, referencing the free-agent additions of Lynn, Kyle Gibson, and Sonny Gray, all seasoned, experienced starters. “I think having presence around is something that we do welcome. ... These guys, especially who played with Yadi, they admire his work ethic, they respect his preparation and they obviously admire his skills.â€
The announcement of Molina’s title and description of some assignments came on the final night of the winter meetings at Gaylord Opryland Resort.
The Cardinals did not complete a transaction during the four-day event — though so few teams did as the market awaited a thaw from Shohei Ohtani’s decision on where he’ll take his singular two-way talents and the Yankees’ interminable pursuit of a trade for San Diego’s Juan Soto. What the Cardinals did do is canvass the other clubs to gauge interest in left fielder Tyler O’Neill, and several teams wanted to talk trade for the two-time Gold Glove winner. The Cardinals also fielded interest in outfielders Dylan Carlson and Alec Burleson, though comments this week from Mozeliak indicated the club’s preference to keep Carlson as their possible starter in center field and affirm their belief in his potential.
The Cardinals also met with agents galore about the many free-agent relievers still available, and that list includes local product Phil Maton and international national talents such as Yuki Matsui, a lefty with 10 seasons and 236 saves in Japan’s top league. The Cardinals want to add two relievers. Trading O’Neill would clear up some financial space for that purpose if they do not use his ability to acquire a big league reliever.
Mozeliak did not feel a trade or signing was imminent as he left Nashville.
The relief market is creeping at a pace that allows for patience.
“We have a better idea of what that looks like,†he said. “We don’t feel like we’re at a point where we’re ready to make a deal.â€
At the same time, the Cardinals are assembling a roster, they are also outfitting an expanded coaching staff for Marmol. The Cardinals had one of the smaller staffs in the majors, and it is now permissible to have more coaches in the dugout. Molina, in that familiar No. 4, can spend some time there as a result. An area of focus for the Cardinals as they try to add pitching is also adding support staff for the pitchers such as an additional coach to work with game preparation, analytics and spotting any tipping of pitches.
All areas where Molina can assist with what Mozeliak called an “innate†ability.
“I always like to watch games with Sandy Alomar Jr., Benito Santiago and all those games where they’re calling the games — and not just those guys but Joe Girardi and I like Jason Varitek,†Molina told the Post-Dispatch in the final weeks of his career, which included 10 Rawlings Gold Glove Awards and 10 All-Star selections. “Calling games. I love calling games. When I see a good catcher, I always want to see how they call games.â€
Several times Wednesday afternoon, Mozeliak said with Molina’s schedule the team would have to “walk before we can run.†They want to be respectful of his wishes to remain flexible with his schedule, and they want to be responsive to where his interests take him. Molina, who has managed winter ball the past two offseasons, gravitates toward the dugout, and he has expressed publicly a wish to someday manage. He once explained that “baseball is my religion,†and when asked how he thought he might spend his time after retiring from baseball, he smiled and said: “Baseball.â€
While his focus will be on coaching and interacting and learning from coaches, if Molina has interest in seeing a game with a scout or running numbers with the analytics department, Mozeliak said the same policy he mentioned at Molina’s retirement applies.
Open door.
“Even a little Yadi is better than no Yadi,†Mozeliak said. “That is how we’re looking at it.â€