Why Is Yadier Molina The Highest Paid Catcher In Baseball?

Why is Yadier Molina the Highest Paid Catcher in Baseball?

Yadier Molina, 34, and the St. Louis Cardinals agreed to a three year extension worth $60 million before the season started. That contract now makes him the highest paid catcher in baseball by annual average. It was important for the Cardinals to get the deal done before the season started as Molina stated he would not negotiate terms of a new contract during the season. Molina had signed a five-year, $75 million contract in 2012, but even though he has become the face of the franchise and a very important leader of the Cardinals, it wasn’t a guarantee that the Cardinals were going to resign him. After the 2011 season the Cardinals chose not to resign the then 31 year-old Albert Pujols to a contract extension. At the time he was the face of the franchise and had been for majority of the past eleven years. We sometimes forget it is a business and money always talks.

Molina has been one of the best catchers, if not the best, in baseball over the past decade. During that span he has been a seven-time All-Star,

The Cardinals value him more than any other team would have. Had he become a free agent he probably wouldn’t have gotten even $40 million from another team, but sometimes it’s about more than what statistics can tell you. His contract isn’t about the next three years as much as it is about his contributions over the previous four. According to Fangraphs value estimates, over the past four years Molina was worth an estimated $92.9 million, or $33.9 million more than what the Cardinals paid him during that period. Molina’s value is even more important to other players. Molina will probably catch fewer games a season through his new contract, but he will make a positive impact on his future replacement, Carson Kelly, as well as every Cardinals pitcher and pitching prospect moving