3 impactful players the St. Louis Cardinals will lose in free agency

Speaking of Molina, back in April he seemed plenty open to playing somewhere other than St. Louis. That ran contradictory to an earlier desire to be a “lifetime Cardinal”, and his agent just recently stated he wants a two-year deal. A two-year deal would take the 38-year old, nine-time Gold Glover to his age-40 season.

Molina still offers adequate production offensively (.262/.303/.359 slash-line in 42 games this season). Still, what he can get per year in a new deal would surely coming in far less than the $20 million per year he made on his just expired deal.

The Cardinals could give prospect Andrew Knizner an extended shot behind the plate in 2021, and may have him share work (with a re-signed Matt Wieters?). Looking further out, 20-year old Ivan Herrera is a potential catcher of the future for the Cardinals.

Molina deserves credit for bucking convention and trend by remaining a solid full-time catcher deep into his 30’s. Sentimentality and resume only go so far when it comes down to it though, and the Cardinals can easily go younger and cheaper behind the plate. To channel and paraphrase a favorite kids’ movie, the Cardinals have a strong case to just  “Let him (Molina) go!”