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Molina announces Pena’s return for 2019 in this article with a Puerto Rican newspaper. Gotta love it.
He had knee (left) surgery 10 days ago. He has been mostly good about following the instructions after surgery but totally good. He was sporting a knee brace during the interview. He expects to be ready for Spring training. He says he is not sure he will retire after 2020 but will only play for the Cards if they want him back. He is thinking moving back to Puerto Rico when he retires. and as Brian he announced Pena is back. All I can say is ugh.
Source: C Francisco Pena has agreed to a minor-league deal with the #STLCards to return as Yadier Molina’s backup.
— Mark Saxon (@markasaxon) December 27, 2018
I should have also mentioned that Molina says in the translated article that he is open to an extension, but would retire rather than play somewhere else. Poor 14NyquisT is going to explode! 😉
(Sorry, NJ mentioned this above. I missed it initially.)
Well it is easy for me to translate since I am Puerto Rican. I just didn’t care about his attitude about his knee surgery. It is difficult to translate basically he said he has been doing things (little things) that he wasn’t supposed to do during his recovery.
“That’s hilarious. Some people on here are about to go into fits of apoplexy, I’m guessing.”
I enjoy getting upset, about baseball. But what should I be upset about?
The fact that Pena is back? Or that Yadi hasn’t adhered strictly enough to recuperation protocols? Or that Yadi might want to return after the 2020 season? None of these surprise or upset me very much, if at all.
Or is it something else? I apologize for my obtuseness.
Bob, there was a discussion about Molina’s contract and the Cardinals catching strategy yesterday morning in an unlikely place – the top 50 prospect rollout thread – because Knizner’s day in the sun had apparently provoked unhappy thoughts from at least one of our regular commenters.
Bob, I think some might be upset that Yadi apparently “announced” the Pena signing before the team did thus reaffirming to some fans who is really calling the shots here. I don’t really know if he announced it before the team did the but that is the impression anyway.
I don’t mind Pena coming back. It is hard to find a catcher who knows he will probably only get about 100 AB’s at most but I’ve never like the idea that a player could have that much influence in personnel decisions.
Doesn’t this mean the cardinals will have to release a minor leaguer? I thought the rosters were full after the Rule 5 draft.
There is no doubt that Molina was first. The team has still not made an announcement.
Having said that, I am not upset. I think it is amusing. Just a slip of the tongue. In his defense, Molina is back home and probably not following the timing of the transaction announcements. Here is my guess about what happened. His buddy told him he is coming back and Molina mentioned it as an aside in the conversation with the reporter who was checking on his knee. Anyone who gets upset about that is just looking to be critical.
C27, good question. No, the minor league rosters are not full. They have special rosters just for Rule 5 only. Now that Rule 5 is history, so are they. During the regular off-season, there are no limits except the 40-man.
As an aside, what I show on the Roster Matrix is where players ended last year, or in the case of Pena, I have him at Memphis because he is not yet back on the 40-man.
If this is not clear, say so and I will try to explain further.
Well I am not upset either but I can tell you this. In Puerto Rico Molina is a bit different than when he is the US. He has a huge ego and can be abrasive at times. His whole family especially his mother cater to him and shield him from criticism. In their eyes he can do no wrong. When Yadi signed his 5-75 deal his mother went off saying how terrible it was he had signed such a low contract just because he loved St. Louis. She keep harping that it was a mistake. He has changed since then and not for the better.
Oh, okay. Thanks much everyone, for all the clarifications/feedback.
My only concern remains the same as 24 hours ago. I hope Mike Shildt understands that he should not ever again start Yadi for 27 games in a row — much less during the summer dog days.
Yadi career OPS splits by month:
April through July, all between .721 and .728
August .797
Sept./Oct. .742Yadi 2018 splits
April through July, all between .746 and .854
August .664
Sept. .672Has Shildt publicly admitted yet that he screwed up last year with the 27-in-a-row? It wouldn’t be much of an admission, since everyone already knows it. (Of course the Post-Dispatch won’t ever mention it, since criticizing Shildt in any manner could be construed somehow as vaguely indirectly wordlessly praising Matheny, and we certainly can’t have that.) I’d like to see Shildt show some understanding of the Yadi situation.
It is probably a ticklish subject. Consider how Matheny’s seemingly offhand comment about resting Molina one day because he looked tired blew up on him in 2017.
I hope Molina understands that he should never start 27 games in a row since apparently he makes the decision
Yadi announcing the Pena signing isn’t that big of a deal by itself. I have many more things I could choose to be upset about. What would concern me is if Yadi is actually having great influence on roster decisions, specifically backup catcher. That isn’t how I would run the team.
Or maybe we are making something out of nothing. It wouldn’t be the first time.
Robert Reed
Yadi 2018 splits
April through July, all between .746 and .854
August .664
Sept. .672I do agree that he should have had some time off in there, but I don’t think Kelly or Pena could have done any better in that time so it is what it is. By August/September, I don’t think a day or two off would have made a difference in his production.
He had all of May off and came back strong in June/July. That would have been the time to rest him to gear up for August/September, but they didn’t do that. He did get the All-Star break so I don’t know. I think he was just slumping in all honesty. He went 1-for-18 in his last four games too, which brought his numbers down. His BABIP for those months was .232 (.167 in September), compared to .285 for the rest of the season.
To Yadi fans this is a no story. Mas o menos…. Yadi being Yadi.
To Cardinal fans this should be saying that Molina’s “ME FIRST” attitude is getting a bit out of control. Molina’s hiring of Pena is a natural preference for him… someone who talks like him, thinks like him and looks like him. No brainer, if you are Molina.
I have no gripe with Pena, he is merely a pawn in all of this, and he exudes willingness.
What’s disturbing about this is the FO and owner are somewhere cowering and shaking from fright, not wanting to say a thing regarding Molina’s blatant flexing of his muscles at their expense. They should be re-thinking the very lucrative offer that they gave him.
Me as a Cardinal team fan feel that it is a power play without the team in mind. Oh um, or it could mean nothing at all.(see head-in-sand) or (fear of speaking up as not to upset anyone’s feelings). The new American way. It should be the fair way… to treat everyone equally. This is overboard special treatment.
Anyone else with an MS in Human Resources kindly explain the rationale behind this.
My apologies to anyone here that is offended by an opinion.
Yadi’s ego is quite big. I have been a big fan of Yadi but something changed and now I am still a fan because he is a Cardinal. I will always appreciate what he has meant to the team but no longer a favorite of mine.
Ageed NJ, both my wife and I regarded Yadi as our favorite baseball player. “ME FIRST” is not a good trait to have for a team player.
The Cards may as well trade Knizner also. He’ll never see the inside of Busch while Molina is there, which may turn out to be longer than Yadi has stated. Knizner should get to play MLB when he is ready for a full time position, ala Kelly. I know the moderator has said many many times that Kelly blew his shot at being a back up catcher for three years. We’ll see how he does with the D’backs.
The FO should have just signed Pena to a two year contract with team options for more years to accommodate Yadi’s stay in STL.
I did not say it many times, but I did yesterday. I was not down on Kelly at all (in fact, I still ranked him higher than Knizner in our top 50 before he was traded), but it is true that he did not perform at the plate as an MLB player to date. Matheny did not like his defense last spring, which was stated as another reason Kelly was sent down. Too bad he didn’t get more chances, but I also said I wish him well in Arizona.
Making definite pronouncements about the future can also set one up to be proven wrong. Go for it, if that what interests you, but I don’t think the Knizner situation is as grave as you say. Only time will tell for sure.
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