Yadier Molina

Report: Yankees inquiring about future Hall of Fame catcher Yadier Molina

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Yadier Molina, New York Yankees

For years, Yadier Molina has been one of the game’s most valuable catchers. His defensive contributions have been crucial to a couple of St. Louis Cardinals championships, and he carries a passable stick (if we consider his defensive prowess) even at 38 years old. The New York Yankees, with the struggling Gary Sanchez and a career backup in Kyle Higashioka, could be interested in upgrading at the position, and the veteran free agent backstop could provide an alternative.

To be clear, the New York Yankees haven’t shown any signs of wanting to upgrade the position. Sanchez, a career 117 wRC+ hitter who slumped all the way to 69 this season, lost his starting gig during the playoffs but still carries tremendous offensive potential.

However, fans and even some media circles have speculated that the Yankees could explore dealing the All-Star catcher. If that’s the case, Molina could make sense as an alternative. He clearly knows how to call a game and has championship pedigree.

Should the Yankees be interested?

Jon Heyman of MLB Network reported on Thursday that Molina “has received calls with interest” from the Yankees, Mets, and three or four other teams. Make no mistake: the Cards are viewed as the favorites to get his services, and he has stated a desire of retiring with that uniform. But he will likely explore all deals before making a decision.

Molina is said to want a two-year contract. With the current market conditions, it doesn’t appear likely that he gets an extremely lucrative deal given his age, but he has won nine Gold Gloves and is still an above-average defensive catcher. The Yankees could certainly benefit from having him around, but it would depend on the cost.

During the 2020 season, he slashed .262/.303/.359 with four home runs over 42 games. For his career, he carries a .281/.333/.404 slash line with a .321 wOBA and a 99 wRC+. He is eight years removed from his best season, which came in 2012: .315/.373/.501, a .375 wOBA, a 138 wRC+, 22 home runs and a 7.7 fWAR.

Chances are that Molina will return to St. Louis when all is said and done, but if you are the Yankees, it certainly doesn’t hurt to ask.

New York Yankees News/Rumors: With the Yankees quest for a catcher, will they look to another Molina brother?

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It’s no secret that the New York Yankees are in a bit of a quandary as to who will be the 2021 starting catcher for the team. Although past years have been question marks with Gary Sanchez’s strikeouts, poor defense, and the ability to stay healthy this season, the biggest question will be if Sanchez will be the primary catcher for the Yankees going forward. Sanchez stayed healthy throughout the season in which he had his worst performance in his Yankee career. He hit only .147, and his defense was again deficient.

From the time Gary Sanchez burst onto the scene in 2016, the Yankee heralded him as their catcher for the next decade and beyond. 2016 and 2017 made that statement believable. In 2017 he hit 33 homers. But his 2018 season was horrible catching and hitting. In 2019 he had a bit of a bounce-back with some improved catching and 34 home runs. But even with those stats could only garner a .232 batting average. Sanchez is not the player who gets on base; he had never had over 90 RBI’s in his career. This year he reverted to the poor catcher syndrome and merely took up space in the lineup without production.

The New York Yankees have a big decision to make with their backstop. They have to decide if his performance this year was affected by the shortened season or if it’s a sign of his future performance.  Meanwhile, backup catcher Kyle Higashioka has made a name for himself as Gerrit Cole’s personal catcher. Cole lost only one game with Higashioka catching him, and in that game, the Yankees only scored one run. As the season progressed, the Yankee brass began to lose faith in Sanchez, sitting him and letting Higashioka catch more games, even in the postseason.

There is an easy answer to solve the catching problem: for the Yankees to go out and sign arguably the best catcher in the game, J.T. Realmuto, a free agent. However, the likelihood of that happening is near zero. Realmuto will require that the catcher receive a record-breaking contract for a catcher. With the Yankees lack of revenue this year, and upcoming arbitration costs coming up, it is very doubtful the Yankees will spend that kind of money on a catcher.

There are other catchers out there that are free agents, but few that are an upgrade to Sanchez. One interesting look is Yadier Molina.  The Yankees have turned to one of the Molina brothers before. In 2007 they traded for Yadier’s brother Jose when Jorge Posada was injured. They later signed him to a two-year contract through 2009. Jose won a world series ring in 2009. The three Molina brothers are the only threesome in baseball to all win World Series rings.

The 38-year-old Molina has spent all 17 years of his career with the St. Louis Cardinals but now is a free agent. The Cards will make every effort to keep him there. Molina is without question one of his generation’s best catchers, and if younger, would require a contract similar to Realmuto. Jadier stays healthy and is a contact hitter. He has a career batting average of .281 with over 2,000 hits. The younger Molina brother would answer the pitching problem and would only cost a fraction of Realmuto’s projected salary.  Jadier has said he would love to pitch into his ’40s and would require at least a two-year contract.

Molina might be happy to catch where his brother caught with the Yankees. Molina has earned a ton of money in his career and may be more interested in career-defining moments to help him in his quest for the Baseball Hall of Fame. He knows with the present Cardinal team that is not likely to happen in the next few years. A Yankees World Series ring might entice him to become a New York Yankee.

With the Yankee’s shortage of money and other unavoidable costs, I feel the Yankees will do nothing to solve the catching problem, and instead, will focus on improving the pitching situation that many feel caused the Yankees to both lose the division and in the postseason.  The New York Yankees may very well let Gary Sanchez and Kyle Higashioka fight it out in spring training for that starting catcher spot. The Yankees should also resign backup catcher Erik Kratz, who works very well with the Yankees’ young pitching prospects.

One of the more memorable quotes of the 2020 season is when Erik Kratz, upon catching Deivi Garcia’s Major League debut, ran from the dugout shouting, “I’m going to catch my son.”

EmpireSportsMedia.com’s Columnist William Parlee is a member of the Society for American Baseball Research. Follow him on Twitter @parleewilliam.

 

New York Yankees News/Rumors: The biggest questions the Yankees need to solve

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New York Yankees, Kyle Higashioka

The New York Yankees and their fans are tired of getting to the brink of a Championship but always falling short. This past season, the Yankees lost the Tampa Bay Rays division and then lost the ALCS to them. The Yankees realize they must improve the team in doing that, they are faced with a multitude of players that become free agents this offseason, and at the same time must pay arbitration-eligible players more money. All of these decisions come as the New York Yankees lost a monstrous amount of money this past season, as Yankee General Partner Hal Steinbrenner stated.

With the need for money to satisfy all these needs, there has been much talk about trading off key players like Luke Voit and Gio Urshela. In this writer’s opinion that won’t happen and the Yankees will not have the money to fix all of their shortcomings.  Let’s take a look at the three big decisions the Yankees will have to make before the start of the 2021 season. The Yankees will have in their mind that the 2021 season may not be a moneymaker either.

DJ LeMahieu:

One of the priorities the Yankee has to deal with is the free agency of DJ LeMahieu. DJ took over the leadoff spot in the lineup from Brett Gardner when he was hired in 2019. Since then, he has been one of the best Yankee players. Just like when Rivera took the mound in the ninth inning, when DJ steps to the plate, you know he’s going to get a hit or advance a runner. In 2019 he was Silver Slugger; in 2020 he won the baseball batting title, the only player to accomplish the feat in both leagues. DJ also leading off, sparks the other players in the lineup.

The New York Yankees will prioritize re-signing LeMahieu. He has just finished a two year contract that paid him $12M per year.  DJ likes playing in New York, but will surely want a sizable raise to keep his services at the Stadium in the Bronx. In signing him it’s hard to tell whether the 32 year old will be more interested in the length of the contract or the money amount. Probably a little bit of both. Without any knowledge of ongoing talks, it will probably take $20M a year to keep DJ in the Bronx and a deal that give him a guaranty of a income stabiltiy for at least the next four years. With money short and other issues to deal with, if DJ wants much more than that, the Yankees could let him walk, and test the free agent market.

Pitching:

The pitching situation, which many beleive caused the Yankee downfall this season, must be solved.  They really only have the $324M Gerrit Cole, beyond that they are in limbo. Masahiro Tanaka, James Paxton and J.A. Happ are all free agents. If the Yankees take any of them back it will most likely be Masahiro Tanaka, who has been more or less dependable. However if they do take him back it will be at a much discounted rate compared to what he now earns.  If Tanaka does not accep that, he may very well finish out his career in Japan.

James Paxton, with his injuries might be a risk for the Yankees, and J. A, Happ’s inconsistantly most likely will lead to the Yankees not negoiating to keep him. So that leaves the Yankees with three rotation spots to fill.  Tanaka if they keep him is no longer a number two starter.  The answer is to go out and sign the best pitcher in free agency Trevor Bauer, but that will cost big bucks, a shorter contract but nearly as expensive as Cole per year. There are other options the Yankees must look at: Marcus Stroman of the Mets, Julio Teheran of the Angels, Taijuan of the Blue Jays, or Adam Wainwright of the Cards.

If the Yankees can solve the number two starter situation with a premium pitcher, they can probably get by filling the remaining two spots with the bevi of young arms they have coming along.  Montgomery, Garcia, King, and Schmidt.  The bottom line is that if the Yankees don’t solve the pitching problem they will continue to lose when it counts. The Yankees also must consider the return of Luis Severino, and if he will be effective after his Tommy John surgery.  The Yankees most likely won’t be able to test that out until June at the earliest.  At this point, whether the Yankees will take back Domingo German is unknown.

Catching:

The New York Yankees catching situation is just as complicated. The bottom line here is that the Yankees can’t continue to have a wasted space in the lineup with a catcher that can’t hit. In Gary Sanchez’s career, he has had some bright spots on the home run front but overall has failed to get on base most of the time. This past season has been his worst ever, he stayed healthy but hit only .147 on the year.  Put that together with his regressing defense, and the Yankees must do something.

The obvious thing is to go out and get J.T. Realmuto from the Phillies. He can hit 30 home runs a year; he can hit for contact and is also one of the best defensive catchers in the business. But again that would be costly.  Another possibility is getting a short-term fix with one of the Molina brothers, Yadier Molina, one of the best defensive catchers in the game. If the Yankee were to consider Molina the 38 year old would get a short term contract.

Looking at the situation, I feel the Yankees will not pay for the best catchers available, they will let Sanchez and Higashioka battle it out in spring training for that starting spot. It will also be important for the Yankees to re-sign the 40 year old Erik Kratz who works well with young pitchers and had the 3rd highest WAR of any available free agent catcher.