Yadier Molina gets Cardinals fans excited about Albert Pujols reunion

The St. Louis Cardinals signed Albert Pujols, future Hall of Famer and team legend, to a short-term deal on Sunday night. Yadier Molina is excited to see him.

Pujols’ reunion was far from guaranteed as of just a few weeks ago, with both sides at a stalemate. Yet, the Cardinals legend has an urge to play well into his age-42 season, and return to the club he’s most known for.

Fresh off signing a one-year contract with the Cardinals, Pujols is set to arrive at spring training as early as Friday. One of his closest friends and now current teammates, Yadier Molina, says Pujols is excited to get going.

”He’s happy to be back. We have one thing in mind — to win another World Series championship,” Molina said, per John Denton of MLB.com.

Cardinals: Yadier Molina excited about Albert Pujols reunion

Pujols isn’t expected to have a full-time role right away, as the Cardinals would likely to split up time at designated hitter.

“I talked to him… I was kind of hoping for this, and now we go. Any time you have a player like Albert, with what he brings to the clubhouse, it’s great. By the phone, he told me. He’s happy to be here and I’m glad everything worked out,” Molina continued, via Denton.

St. Louis has plenty of young players they’d like to get time at DH, such as Lars Nootbaar and Juan Yepez. Pujols, however, brings with him a large persona and increased expectation. In limited time with the Dodgers last year, he looked as though he’d reinvented his approach, coming alive when Los Angeles needed him most.

If the Cardinals get that version of Pujols, perhaps he can be a real contributor on a playoff team. 700 home runs could be right around the corner, as well.