photo: Oliver Marmol and Yadier Molina (Jeff Curry/Imagn Images)
The St. Louis Cardinals enter the offseason with renewed speculation about Yadier Molina’s interest in a coaching position. Our history feature looks back at key playoff events this past week in team annals, including two memorable Matt Holliday plays.
News and Notes for the Offseason
While it is not officially the “offseason” until the postseason is over, it is the working offseason for the St. Louis Cardinals. In the coming months, this section will contain information and snippets of news that don’t require extensive coverage but are of interest to Cardinal fans.
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Yadier Molina (Steve Mitchell/USA TODAY Sports) Multiple sources report that former Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina told Puerto Rican newspaper El Vocero that he is in contact with the Cardinals regarding a coaching job in 2026. No specifics about the assignment were disclosed and the team has not commented.
- As fans may recall, a job for Molina with the Cardinals was supposedly in the works two years ago that included front office exposure, but nothing came of it. Instead, Molina cited a desire to spend time with his family and particularly be present for his son’s high school baseball games, as to why he did not accept a position with the team.
- Molina was in the dugout for two separate weekends late this season, including Hall of Fame weekend, helping manager Oli Marmol as a guest coach.
- Molina’s longtime teammate Albert Pujols is reportedly negotiating with the Angels about their open managerial job. Pujols has seven years remaining on his $1 million per year personal services contract with owner Arte Moreno.
- “Banana Ball” will return to Busch Stadium in 2026. The Savannah Bananas are scheduled to return for two games. The popular entertainment baseball team will come to Busch Stadium on Friday, August 21 and Saturday, August 22 as part of their world tour. The Bananas are also slated to appear at Memphis’ AutoZone Park in the spring.
- More information about the event and how to get tickets can be found here.
The Big Picture
Throughout the offseason, this feature will follow the news about what the team is doing to prepare for next season. This includes trades, free agent signings, movement on and off the 40-man roster, arbitration and other player news, coaching staff changes, and any other relevant information concerning the team that occurs between the end of the postseason and the beginning of Spring Training.
All transactions and changes to team personnel and staff will be explained and analyzed as to its potential impact on the 2026 season.
As of this writing, the postseason is still underway. Teams are discouraged by MLB from making any major announcements until the postseason concludes.
Things to expect after the postseason ends include free agent elections, Qualifying Offer period, and later on in the month of November, the filing of Reserve Lists, and the non-tender deadline. The GM Meetings will also take place shortly after the end of the postseason.
Look to this section for complete coverage of these events and more with information about what they mean and how they affect the team for the coming season.
Trade and Acquisition Rumors
Derrick Goold of the Post Dispatch, as part of his weekly chat with fans, disclosed that “many teams” have inquired about the team’s catching depth. The Cardinals have three catchers in the majors and a plethora of young catchers in their minor league system. Teams with needs at that position will no doubt be seeking to trade with the Cardinals for some of that depth.
Top prospect catchers in the system include Jimmy Crooks, Leonardo Bernal, and Rainiel Rodriguez. Crooks made his major league debut in the final month of the season and is considered the top defensive catching prospect in the system by many analysts. Bernal ended the season with the Springfield Cardinals and most analysts have him ranked ahead of Crooks because of his bat.
Bernal will have to be added to the 40-man roster by next month to protect him from the Rule 5 draft that occurs each December. With Crooks, Pedro Pagés, Iván Herrera, and Yohel Pozo already on the 40-man, some movement there will very likely come in November when the Reserve Lists are filed, if not before. Goold believes Pozo will be the odd man out in this scenario.
Crooks, Bernal, and the fast-rising Rodriguez (who ended the season on the roster of the Peoria Chiefs as a teen) are likely untouchable as potential trade pieces. There are other catchers in the system, however, who could be packaged in a trade.
Transactions
There are no transactions to report.
Injury Report
There is no new injury news to report.
Looking Ahead
The Postseason is underway. The Wild Card Series and the Division Series have concluded. The final four teams remaining are playing in the Championship Series which began on Sunday, October 12. The four teams are the Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners in the ALCS, and the Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers in the NLCS. The Championship Series is expected to conclude on or before October 21.
The World Series is scheduled to begin on Friday, October 24 and conclude on or before November 1.
The Arizona Fall League is underway and will continue through Wednesday, November 12. The Cardinals have eight players assigned to the Glendale Desert Dogs. They are RHP Chen-Wei Lin, RHP Darlin Saladin, RHP Tyler Bradt, RHP Randel Clemente, RHP D.J. Carpenter, C Graysen Tarlow, OF Miguel Ugueto, and OF Travis Honeyman. Daily reports on AFL action are published free here at The Cardinal Nation.
At 9:00 a.m. the day following the end of the World Series, the offseason officially begins.
Blast from the Past
This week’s Blast from the Past continues with the series highlighting notable events that occurred in the past history of the franchise during this time. This time of the year is postseason time and the past events chronicled here will primarily be about postseason occurrences.
For this installment, we look at events that occurred during the period October 6 through October 12 and focus on such things as records set or broken or other notable events, transactions, and any other unique event that may have occurred during the period.
For each event, its date, the individual(s) involved, a description of the event, and any other relevant details are provided.
NL WC 2012: Umps call infield fly rule on Simmons' popup
byu/aquax101 inbaseball
October 6, 2012 – On this date was the first winner-take-all Wild Card Game in the NL, played by the Cardinals and the Atlanta Braves. The Cardinals defeated the Braves 6-3 to advance to the NLDS. The game featured a controversial infield fly rule call in the eighth inning. A pop fly that fell between left fielder Matt Holliday and shortstop Pete Kozma was ruled an infield fly which was disputed by the Braves. The result was irate Braves fans throwing debris onto the field that caused a lengthy delay.
October 7, 2019 – On this date, a sac fly by Yadier Molina in Game 4 of the NLDS against the Braves scored Kolten Wong to give the Cardinals the victory and send the series back to Atlanta for Game 5. The Cardinals won the series and moved on to the NLCS against the Washington Nationals. The Cardinals lost the NLCS to the Nationals, the eventual 2019 World Series Champions.
October 8, 2009 – On this date, an error by outfielder Matt Holliday in the ninth inning in Game 2 of the NLDS against the Dodgers led to a 3-2 walk off win for Los Angeles. The infamous missed catch off Holliday’s lower exterior region was a long time sore spot with Cardinals fans, as the Dodgers went on to take Game 3 and knock St. Louis out of the postseason.
October 9, 1934 – On this date, outfielder Joe “Ducky” Medwick was forced to leave Game 7 of the World Series against the Tigers because of a hard slide into Tigers third baseman Marv Owen. The slide, following a triple by Medwick, angered Tigers fans as they hurled fruit onto the field. The Cardinals won the game 11-0 and won the World Series anyway.
October 10, 1968 – In Game 7 of the World Series against the Tigers, pitcher Bob Gibson set the record for total strikeouts in a World Series with 35. Unfortunately, the Cardinals lost that game and the Series 4-1.
October 11, 1964 – In Game 4 of the World Series against the Yankees, Cardinal third baseman Ken Boyer hit a sixth inning grand slam off Yankee pitcher Al Downing to give the Cardinals the 4-3 win. Boyer was the second NL player to hit a World Series grand slam in MLB history.
October 12, 2012 – The Cardinals make a stunning comeback against the Nationals in the NLDS. The Cardinals were down 6-0 at the end of the third inning after Adam Wainwright’s poor start in Game 5. The team crept back into contention with three runs in the fourth and fifth innings, then made it 6-5 in the eighth. In the ninth, the Cardinals scored four more runs off Nationals reliever Drew Storen in the ninth to win the game 9-7 and eliminate the Nationals with the help of RBI singles by Daniel Descalso and Pete Kozma.
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