The St. Louis Cardinals are in the market to replace franchise legend Yadier Molina as they close in on Wilson Contreras. Is this the right move?
One of the biggest focuses for the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2022-23 season has always been identified as finding a backup to take on one of the standout players in franchise history, Yadier Molina. One of the most obvious options throughout was to steal a star from one of the club’s biggest rivals by signing Wilson Contreras.
Now it looks like he’s getting close to fruition.
On Tuesday, MLB insider John Heyman reported that the Cardinals “remain among the favorites” to sign Contreras, a favorite of Cubs fans, as the catchers of the future and usher in a new era at Busch Stadium.
In the void, this looks like a big win for St. Louis as they move up the plate. But there is a world in which contreras are more of a gamble for the redbirds than some people might think.
Cardinals focusing on Willson Contreras to replace Yadier Molina may come off as a cautionary note
Although Molina struggled desperately to find any kind of consistency at the plate in the last few years of his career, one area where he remained a stalwart was in his defensive ability. Throughout his career, he was seen as one of the best defensive players at the position, which proved his value while also developing shooters.
As for the promotion the Cardinals would make to the plate by signing Contreras, they would be sacrificing a great deal of defense to do so. The soon-to-be Cubs catcher proved to be one of the best at the dish position, but fell behind him as he lacked consistency and, frankly, anything in the realm of what Molina had to offer.
St. Louis has a bunch of high-flying young guns in both the major leagues already and in the minor leagues as well that could use development. As such, bringing Contreras into the mix would likely upset the apple cart in a way that it doesn’t exist behind the board. That’s kind of risky just to upgrade the hit at the pickup location.
It is not yet written that the Cardinals sign Wilson Contreras as they are also linked to deals for the likes of Shaun Murphy and James McCann. But this has been one of the more consistent rumors of the offseason, and yet it is a step that the organization should take with caution regarding the aforementioned pitfalls that can result from it.
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