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The St. Louis Cardinals will bring Yadier Molina back to a one-year contract, a source told ESPN’s Jesse Rogers on Monday, confirming multiple reports.
Molina is a rarity, having spent his entire career (2,025 games in 17 seasons) with the same team, the St. Louis Cardinals. The only two players to have played the most games in the Cardinals uniform in franchise history are Hall of Famers Stan Musial (3,026) and Lou Brock (2,289).
The nine-time All-Star selected played 42 of 60 games during the pandemic-shortened season, hitting .262 with 4 home runs and 16 RBIs.
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Molina also became the 12th receiver in Major League Baseball history to join the 2,000-hit club, and his 2,001 hits currently rank fifth among all active players (and sixth in Cardinals franchise history. ). Behind the plate, Molina has been a stabilizing influence on the Cardinals pitching staff, all the while crediting 170 defensive runs saved as a catcher since 2004.
He has been behind the plate in 1,989 games throughout his career, the most with a single franchise in Major League history and No. 6 of all time among all receivers.
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Molina has been a key component to the Cardinals’ success over the years, having helped lead the team to four National League pennants and two World Series titles. He is a career .281 hitter with 160 home runs, 932 RBIs, 66 stolen bases and has caught 350 of the 869 running backs attempting to steal a base (40% success rate).
Just on Saturday, Molina was behind the plate in the Final of the Caribbean Series with the Criollos of Caguas, Puerto Rico, which they lost to the Águilas Cibaeñas, of the Dominican Republic. Molina hit a home run in the series and was selected as the best catcher when he was selected on the Ideal Team.