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No apology needed for speaking your mind, but this appeared definite to me. That is what I responded to, as you referred to why they should just trade Knizner.
“He’ll never see the inside of Busch while Molina is there…”
This is a piece written by Kyle Reis about Yadier from 2003. Good stuff…. what ever happened to this Molina. I guess people change… some 180 degrees.
However, there is no doubt that Yadier Molina will make it to the majors if for no other reason than he is a damn fine defensive catcher. It’s always difficult to gauge a catcher’s game calling abilities at the minor league level, but his high baseball IQ is one of the many defensive accolades that you hear most frequently about Molina. Yadier’s arm is also a huge asset in his repertoire, as he’s thrown out 111 of a potential 244 base-stealers over three minor league seasons. That’s good for 45.5%. The one aspect of his game that might need work is in regards to blocking balls in the dirt. There are few catchers in the history of baseball that are as good at it as Matheny is and it’s probably unrealistic to expected Molina to ever get to that level. However, Molina and Matheny have developed quite a bond and the rumor is that Yadier’s main focus this spring training will be to improve that aspect of his game. I’m willing to bet that he’s still better at it than any other 21-year-old in the world, but it isn’t yet up to par with the other aspects of his defensive skill level.
As I keep bringing up Matheny, it’s worth noting that the question that I am most often asked about in regards to Molina is “Will he replace Matheny when Matheny’s contract is up at the end of the 2004 season?” I know that it’s a poor answer, but the best that I can do is “I have no idea.” If I were in charge, I’d wait to see how Yadier’s AAA season goes and I’d give him a September call-up to see what it looks like. Cody McKay is a poor backup catcher to Matheny, but he should be fine in that role for the 2004 season. If I’m being honest, I don’t personally feel comfortable handing a pitching staff over to a 22-year-old kid in 2005 without a pedigreed backstop as a safety valve in case the majors are too much for Molina. Ideally, you’d be able to bring back Matheny for another year or two and let Yadier and he split time, but that doesn’t seem likely as Matheny is probably due for a nice little payday after the contributions he’s made to the Cardinals. Just keep the hunting knife’s away from him and everything should be fine.
COMPARISON
While the last name is already there and it’d be really easy to go in the direction of comparing him to either one of his brother’s, I’m not going to go in that direction. No, instead I’m going to go even easier and stick with what most of the industry says and say that Yadier ends up being a lot like current Cardinals catcher Mike Matheny but with a higher OBP because of fewer strikeouts. He’s been void of anything that relatively resembles a slugging ability so asking for a couple of ten home run season might be a bit much. Matheny’s 162 game average of eight home runs, 21 doubles, and a slash line of 245/307/337 as a Cardinal leading into the 2004 season seems like a completely reasonable expectation for the young Molina. Not too bad for a fourth round draft pick. Like with Matheny, Yadier’s defense is going to keep him in the majors for years to come.**Author’s note – Yadi would have made me look like an ass. I’m pretty happy about that, too. It just goes to show you how imperfect it is to gauge prospects before they make the majors. Mr. Molina out kicked his coverage. Most of the greats do that. I hope this little write-up helps everyone realize just how luck the Cardinals are to have him**
well pena is a solid backup. Kelly just wasn’t good enough at the plate to override his defensive liabilities. Molina hasn’t shown he needs a lot of days off. there were a lot more guys on this team that needed far more time off than he did. does he have a little selfish streak to him, yea maybe. but at least hes passionate, a few more of the other guys could show such passion and he generally backs it up. he may go into mini slumps but he doesn’t go astray for months at a time like some others.
Francisco Pena will make 675K if in majors #STLCards
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 5, 2019
Me first works out well when you make the playoffs. Not so much for some when you don’t. I do think he’s strong armed the ownership a bit.
Guy is a franchise icon. I think a lot of baseball players are egomaniacs but he’ll make up for some rumors with a playoff bid.
I don’t need pillars in the community. I need guys who buy in and win!
This info from MLB.com from Langosch
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Biggest lingering question: Can Molina keep up this pace?“When Molina signed a three-year extension prior to the 2017 season, many expected his workload to gradually decrease as that contract played out. So far, he’s needed no such adjustment. Keeping Molina healthy and productive will be critical for the Cards this season since they don’t have Kelly as a ready backup and would prefer not to summon Knizner from the Minors just yet. While Pena can serve as a capable backup, his limitations would surface with too much exposure.”
>>>>>Ok, so Molina is out for a month or so or more again, who starts? We’d have to go looking for someone outside the organization. When Molina comes back another problem!
**************************************************************************************“Though he rejoined the club under a Minor League contract, Pena sits behind Molina on the depth chart. He beat out Carson Kelly to win the backup job last spring”
This cracked me up. Who was selecting his backup? Ol’ Yadi himself. That meant even if Kelly hit .520 he’d be sent back to AAA. Pena is his guy.
Jenifer needs to go back to Pittsburgh, her coverage is D- stuff.
Last spring, Matheny made it very clear midway during camp that he was displeased with Kelly’s defense. I remember it very clearly because it surprised me. I actually have it on tape, but go with your story line if you please.
FWIW, I think Jen L. does a good job within her lane, and is a fine person, but one has to be realistic about content expectations given who she works for.
What happened to giving players more playing time to improve? And what happened to Mozeliak’s plan to bring Kelly slowly into MLB? Molina overruled him. Nice.
I’m sure that Jen is a very nice person.
The only place Kelly could get playing time to improve was Memphis. Very difficult to improve while rusting in the bullpen. There is no evidence whatsoever to support your theory that Molina made the decision to send Kelly down. So, please represent your theories as opinion rather than fact to not confuse matters. Thanks.
I guess my point is that Kelly should not have had to rust away. If Molina was agreeable with the plan, that would not have been the case. No one can argue that except the very naive.
I think most reasonable baseball minds would agree that giving a prized prospect only 4-8 ABs a week is not enough to develop their skills. Especially if they are looking at developing their defensive catching skills. That means that Kelly was destined to be at Memphis where he could get a lot of quality ABs and many innings to work on his receiving skills.
Molina had nothing to do with deciding who his backup was. Prospect development did. Molina is still a good hitter and catcher. If the objective is to win now, Molina plays as much as possible. “Win now” is what I keep hearing from the posters on here.
And your thoughts on Fowler playing to win us games? Double standard. No.
Breaking prospects into the game has its rewards and is a part of continued success.
What kind of silliness would it be to pull your Gold Glove catcher, who also had a very solid season with the bat, for a timeshare with a guy whose defense was lacking and couldn’t hit at all?
Personally, I think management soured on Kelly’s future and he will be a non-loss. Here’s to Yadi playing til he’s 40 at a high level to really cement his Hall of Fame status.
14NY, that’s a different discussion and scenario. There is only 1 catcher position and 3 OF positions. There is a lot more opportunity to work a prospect into the lineup more than 4-8 ABs a week.
As far as the “win now” statement, that’s attributed to posters like you. You don’t want Fowler playing because there are prospects that could do the same job or a better job than Fowler did. Yet, Molina does well and you want to cut his playing time for someone who has not proven he can do it in the majors. That is a double standard.
I have not sided with the Cardinals on their continued playing of Fowler. I do understand what their position was, though. He had done well for the 2 previous years and they felt (I assume) that he might come out of his slump any day. That was certainly as likely as any other scenario.
I was more concerned with Yadi saying his knee is on 50% than anything Ozuna related. It also upsets me that Molina chose to go to Japan instead of doing tbe surgery immediately after the season.
I am also upset that knowing this, the team appears to have chosen not to upgrade at backup catcher. I am sceptical that Molina will be 100% to open the season and (since my guess is that he will rush back) that his knee will hold up all season.
FWIW, Molina was not walking with a noticeable limp, either in Jupiter or in StL this past weekend. I trust Molina to know his timetable and at this stage of his career, two weeks should be enough spring games for him to get ready. He insisted there is no lingering issue.
On the market, the Cards have said multiple times that they have trouble getting backup catchers to sign with them because of Molina playing every day. If he was to go down for a longer period, they could still go after someone else and keep Pena as the reserve.
Maybe Molina’s strangle hold on the catching position is ebbing. Pena is presently in never-never land and Weiters has taken his spot over Yadi’s objections.
How about this editorial:
https://redbirdrants.com/2019/04/05/st-louis-cardinals-molinas-presence/
Molina, Wainwright and Fowler… this is hilarious 🙂 🙂 🙂
Add me to those who would like to read/hear more about these alleged objections as I missed mention of them the first time. Such a story would seem to be quite newsworthy and would gain considerable attention.
P.S. Citing a 2-for-24 start as supposed evidence that Molina is over the hill is laughable. Not insightful commentary, IMO.
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