Cardinals zeroing in on obvious Yadier Molina replacement, but is it a mistake?

The St. Louis Cardinals are in the market to replace franchise legend Yadier Molina and they are closing in on Willson Contreras. Is that the right move?

One of the big focuses for the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2022-23 offseason has long been set as finding a backstop to face one of the iconic players in franchise history, Yadier Molina. And one of the most obvious options all along has been stealing a star from one of the club’s biggest rivals by signing Willson Contreras.

Now it appears that’s coming closer to fruition.

On Tuesday, MLB insider Jon Heyman reported that the Cardinals “remain among favorites” to sign Contreras, a Cubs fan favorite, to be their catcher of the future and usher in a new era at Busch Stadium.

In a vacuum, this feels like a huge win for St. Louis as they upgrade at the plate. But there is a world in which Contreras is more of a gamble for the Redbirds than some people might think.

Cardinals zeroing in on Willson Contreras to replace Yadier Molina might come with a warning label

Though Molina struggled mightily to find any kind of consistency at the plate in the final few years of his career, one area in which he remained a stalwart was his defensive ability. Throughout the entirety of his career, he was regarded as one of the best defensive players at the position, which proved valuable with the development of pitchers as well.

For the upgrade that the Cardinals would be making at the plate by signing Contreras, they would be sacrificing a great deal of defense to do so. The soon-to-be former Cubs catcher has proven to be one of the best at the position at the dish, but it’s behind it where he’s lacked consistency and, frankly, anything in the realm of what Molina offered.

St. Louis has a stable of high-upside young arms both in the majors already and in the minor leagues as well that could use development. As such, bringing Contreras into the mix would potentially upset the apple cart in a way that having Molina behind the plate wouldn’t. That’s a bit of a risk just to upgrade the hitting at the catching position.

It’s not written in stone yet that the Cardinals are signing Willson Contreras as they’ve also been connected to trades for the likes of Sean Murphy and James McCann. But this has been one of the most consistent rumors of the offseason, yet it’s a move that the organization must make with caution for the aforementioned pitfalls it could yield.