ST. LOUIS — Sometime soon, the Cardinals and beloved cornerstone catcher Yadier Molina will attempt to find common ground on a contract extension.
They will discuss the amount of years Molina should receive, the performance-based incentives he could earn, the significance of his legacy and what, in terms of millions of dollars, will satisfy both sides.
There is one thing that will probably not come up, but should.
Instagram.
Molina doesn't just lead the Cardinals in heart and hard work.
He's becoming the all-time leader in one of those newfangled modern stats: headaches caused per Instagram post.
If the Cardinals ever are going to address the trend, now would be the time. The social media storms Molina creates tend to pass, at least for him. But there could come a time when something is posted that can't be deleted.
Please don't misinterpret this. The Cardinals should extend Molina. He should be headed to Cooperstown after his run with the Cardinals ends. Retire the number. Build the statue.
And I do think an extension will happen. Molina, 38, knows he will need to take a pay cut from his $20 million per season salary. He knows he and every other free agent are going to be affected negatively by the timing of the pandemic's impact on spending. He also knows the Cardinals gave him some gift-wrapped leverage when they extended Matt Carpenter in 2019 and said the main reason for that deal was because they could not stand the idea of Carpenter finishing his career elsewhere.
If the Cardinals are going to change how they handle legacy players, the worst time to do it would be in between an unnecessary extension for Carpenter that has aged poorly and letting Molina and battery mate Adam Wainwright depart.
Molina is the best defensive catcher of his generation. His bat has aged better than some fine wines. Unlike Joe Mauer and Buster Posey, he has remained behind the plate instead of shifting to first base to pad his stats while resting his body and mind. He's still feared by baserunners, still exalted by teammates and opponents alike, and still beloved by both the Cardinals and their fans.
Molina's competitive fire helps fuel his team's furnace. That flame shows no signs of flickering. That doesn't entirely excuse the scorch marks on Instagram.
Molina's latest Instagram flap was his worst one yet. He boiled over after he was not named a Gold Glove finalist. There's nothing wrong with critiquing the process. This season, because of the pandemic-shortened schedule and the clustering of divisions to decrease travel, players and coaches were not allowed to vote like they normally would. Instead the award was handed out based only on defensive metrics. That led to some controversial finalists, such as three National League Central catchers but no Molina. So, Molina ripped the awards. All good — until he made an unfair and hurtful accusation in the process.
Molina, a nine-time Gold Glove winner, accused the award system and to some degree Major League Baseball from attempting to keep him from tying Hall of Famer Johnny Bench's 10 Gold Gloves. Why? Molina, per his Instagram post, suggested it had at least something to do with the fact he's Puerto Rican.
Seriously?
Seriously.
Molina must have forgotten Hall of Famer Ivan Rodriguez, a fellow Puerto Rican, leads all catchers in Gold Gloves (13). Molina later deleted the post. Hopefully before Bench, a vocal fan of Molina's, heard about it.
Molina is rarely criticized, but he was this time. Criticized for firing off a post about the awards without seeming to know the details of how finalists were selected. Criticized for dismissing the metrics he trailed other catchers in this season. Criticized for a hollow insinuation of bias.
The criticisms were fair. The catcher was wrong.
The social media storm will pass. But let's not ignore the trend.
I'm not talking about the Kris Bryant 'boring' stuff either. That was a team leader sticking up for his city and his team. That was the kind of stuff that makes a rivalry sizzle. I'm talking about the kind of stuff that makes Molina and/or the Cardinals look bad.
This season Molina forced Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak to explain how the front office was going on and on about how carefully the team was adhering to COVID-19 protocols following an outbreak while Molina was hosting players and staffers for a get-together at his home.
No one broke the news of the get-together to get Molina into trouble. He broke the news himself. On Instagram. "(Bleep) Covid," read the caption. Bleep the Cardinals' claims about protocol adherence, too. Molina had recovered from the virus at the time. So had most of the people in the photo, we found out later, in part because of the information that had to be shared in defense of the photo. It wasn't as bad as it looked at first, many insisted. At best, it was bad optics. Along with a reminder of another Instagram incident.
During the 2017 season, when Molina was agitated by a comment former Cardinals manager Mike Matheny made about the catcher, social media found out first. Matheny had suggested Molina received an off day because the catcher looked tired. Molina came out swinging. On Instagram. The end result was Matheny claiming he was taken out of context. He wasn't. The manager and the catcher smoothed things over to some degree, but the fallout became a key moment in a timeline that ended with Matheny's firing.
The storm never really passed for Matheny. It did for Molina. It usually does.
Still, the Cardinals would be wise to bring this up with their catcher.
Perhaps before handing Molina his well-deserved extension.
