REPORT: Yadier Molina In Talks To Join Cardinals Coaching Staff – Will It Finally Happen?

REPORT: Yadier Molina In Talks To Join Cardinals Coaching Staff – Will It Finally Happen?

Cardinals nation is a buzz on social media again this week with a topic that we’ve heard before, but could it finally be coming to fruition? Yadier Molina, will he be joining the Cardinals coaching staff in 2026? We’ll talk about the new report coming up on Bshave Daily. [Music] What’s going on everyone and welcome in to this edition of B Shave Daily. Brendan Schaefer with you. It is Thursday, October 9th, 2025. Cubs are still alive in the National League Division Series as of this recording. We’ll see if the Brewers can knock them out on Thursday night. If you’re a Cardinal fan, what are you rooting for in that series? I assume you’re rooting against the Cubs, but Brewers are pesky division rival as well. So, let your thoughts be known in the comments section below. But today we want to talk about a new report surfacing out of uh Puerto Rican publication that has Yadier Molina potentially on the move. Could he join the Cardinals coaching staff for 2026? That’s the report out of El Vterero. I know I’m saying it wrong, but I listened to a pronunciation guide and I’m really trying. Elterero. Apparently there’s a different pronunciation in Spain versus Latin America. But anyway, that’s the publication and uh I’ll be totally straight up with you. Don’t have my wife sitting in the room. She’d be able to help out because she took many many years of Spanish. I did not. I took French. But uh I’m going to trust Google Translate to mostly give us the the information here. The newspaper, by the way, translates to the spokesman for those who may be wondering. But that’s the report. Elvotero.com. Yolina revealed he is in talks with the St. Cardinals to join Oliver Marbles coaching staff next major league season. And the word from Yachti, they kind of posted as though it’s a direct quote from him, at least in the way that it’s presented on the website, but of course he was speaking in Spanish. But the way that they break it down, we’re currently in contact with St. Louis to coach the Cardinals to help Marmal. He’s still managing, but I’ll be there by his side. I would be there by his side. Nothing’s concrete yet, but we’re working on it. According to elvotto.com, that’s from former Cardinal catcher Yadier Molina. Now, of course, we have seen Yadier Molina not that long ago. He made a couple of guest appearances on the Cardinals bench this past season. One of them happened in September. And that was a little bit curious, right, for Cardinals fans, I think, because you can go back further and I I guess this was at the start of the 2024 season was when Yachti was supposed to rejoin because 22 was his final year. 23 was a rough one. 24, I want to say, was when the reports came out that he was in talks to join the organization in some capacity, more of an official capacity for that season. But it was said it wasn’t going to be in a coaching role, not in an onfield role. He was named a special assistant to Mosa Luck on December 6th, 2023. But that never really happened. And like I still think there’s some confusion about that because Cardinals fans say, “Well, he’s on the payroll.” Yeah, I don’t know that he ever was. He was never listed on the directory by the team. It was announced that he would be, but then I don’t think they dotted the dotted the eyes and crossed the tees for that. And so it never really happened. There was no assisting happening from Yachti to Mo as far as I’m aware. I could be wrong about that, but I’ve circled back on it a few times and I never saw anything official. It was sort of one of those things that I think a lot of Cardinals fans assumed was happening because it was said by Mosa Lock that it was going to happen. And I remember it being at gosh, I remember it being at winter warm-up that that January in 2024 that it was John Mosak talking about it on the stage and saying, you know, kind of from December 6th when the Cardinals I mean, they did I guess they did announce it. There’s a tweet from December 6th. Y Molina has been named special assistant to president of baseball operations, but he never showed up, never really performed any duties that year. in January of 24. So like a month 40 days later, I recall Mos Lockach on that stage being asked like what’s the what’s the status? And he and he said, “We don’t exactly know what he will be doing, but I can tell you he will be he is back. Yachty is back.” That Mosak said that. And so like I could forgive Cardinals fans if they thought that Yachti was back because Mo said he was on a stage with a microphone. But then he never really it never really materialized. And of course I believe the Molinas they they they moved to Austin at some point in time, Austin, Texas. his son, uh, whose name, I believe, is Yan Well, big-time catching prospect in the high school ranks that’s, you know, moving toward potentially deciding, uh, collegiate baseball route. Will he be drafted? I think upcoming would be his senior season, but that would happen in the spring, right? So, I’m not a I’m not 100% sure on the timeline there for for Yachti Stunn, who’s a good catcher. They moved to Austin to play baseball. Well, you know, that’s a great area to be if you’re trying to make it in sports, high school competition there, certainly in football, but believe the same is true in baseball. Lake Travis is the high school that that Yanu Molina is attending. And I believe I’m seeing on his social media now, he is committed to UT Arlington for the class of 2026. So, I guess that does mean this spring he’ll play his final season of high school baseball if I’m not mistaken on that. But that’s that kind of was the reason I think that Yachti wasn’t really ready to to do anything official even though he kind of said ah special assistant and those special assistant roles are very very loose in terms of the commitment and like I I guess it’s possible he was serving in some capacity. I don’t know that he was ultimately employed, but I don’t really think it matters. The degree to which they thought he would be involved and then the degree to which he was involved, which is ultimately nil. Uh where there was a gap obviously there didn’t seem to be any hard feelings from anybody because everybody understood, oh yeah, you know, Yachti wants to spend time with this family. His son is is, you know, playing high school baseball and that’s something that Yachti wants to be involved in, wants to be able to see. Nobody would fault him for that. It was weird the way that it all came together, but again, I don’t think there was any hard feelings, any issues from the the side of the organization. And I don’t think there were any issues from Yachti because Yachti kind of similar to how Matt Holiday was going to be the bench coach and then he was like, “Wait a minute, that sounds like a big commitment.” I think Yachti said, “Sure, I’ll kind of do some stuff.” But then push came to shove and ultimately it didn’t really happen. But there didn’t really need to be an official announcement of like Yachtier Molina has been let go from his role as special assistant. Like that was not that’s not the vibe of that role anyway. It’s it’s it’s very low-key type of role. Anybody else? They have other special assistants like Joe Mchuwing. Remember he was hired as the bench coach last minute after holiday didn’t want to do it and then they were like okay that was kind of under we were under duress hiring you for that role. We don’t really want to keep you in that role but you can be a special assistant. You can have it. It’s like the title. The degree to which he’s actually doing a ton or or doing very little is not known publicly. Uh I guess I guess maybe it’s been reported by somebody somewhere but it’s not like a major point of contention. Right. The same would have been true for Yachti’s role. but his name’s Yachty and he’s very very wellknown and people want to know what he’s up to and so that’s why it kind of took on more of a life of its own when he didn’t ultimately you know fill in the special assistant role the way that that people thought he might right people thought well he could be there at spring training that would be really helpful to the young catchers and then that didn’t really happen and so after that point it was like well what is the point if he’s not going to be in the dugout what what you know what is it that he would be doing and so it kind of fell by the wayside for 2024 2025 he’s guest coaching for a couple of series at believe the first time he was due to be in town for an autograph signing for something on a personal business sort of endeavor and and said, “Hey, I’d like to be there.” And Ali jumped at the opportunity because as we’ve talked about on the show, Ali is not threatened. He doesn’t feel that’s not the vibe for Ali when it comes to Yachty or Molina. The vibe for Ali when it comes to Yier Molina on the surface anyway seems to be plea please be here as much as you want to and and impart wisdom and be around because 2022 you were you were on that team that that made the playoffs that I managed and I I Ollie Marvel knows as good as anyone what the impact of Yadier Molina and the the Cardinal clubhouse is was and can be. So, I don’t think it should be a surprise to anybody that Ollie jumped at the chance and then he wanted to do it again in September and it happened again. Believe it was uh Giants series if I’m recalling correctly. So, happened twice and now we’re getting the reports again that are bubbling up kind of like it happened two years ago at the end of 2023 where it’s like, hey, Yachti might want to might want to join up in some capacity. Does it feel more real this time? I think it kind of does because you’ve had that proof of concept that okay, two times he was willing to come to St. Lewis be boots on the ground and be present. Now, is this going to manifest into a full-time role? I would say still I’m skeptical of that. I’m skeptical of that. But if Yachti says, “I’m going to be by his side.” I mean, shoot, if that materializes, I think it would be a great thing for the Cardinals. I don’t think anybody I don’t think anybody sitting here thinks it wouldn’t be a good thing for the Cardinals to have Yotti around in that capacity. But it’s also kind of a little bit awkward, right? Because well, multiple reasons. Oie Marl’s the manager. His contract goes through 2026. Heim Bloom told reporters last week that there’s not really been any extension talks yet with with Oy Marmal and that nobody really feels a certain way about that. It’s just, you know, I haven’t gotten to it. But then you do kind of start to wonder, okay, eventually there is the conversation or there isn’t. and that kind of tells you how, you know, things might proceed. I have been pretty outspoken and I think Ollie Marl is is the long-term manager of the Cardinals and and can be the guy to manage this team the next time that they’re winning, the next time that that the front office and the ownership group is focused on winning. I know a lot of Cardinals fans feel differently. That’s okay. I just share my opinion and you guys can have yours. But I think Ollie is sharp. I think he’s the right guy for the job. All right. So, why is it awkward? Well, Yachti obviously wants to manage in the big leagues at some point. He is seeing that Albert’s probably going to be named the Angels manager. And it’s like, okay, Albert’s ready. You kind of I don’t know if there’s any like friendly competition there, but it’s like, you know, I I better get on the stick and make sure I’m I’m getting, you know, lining up my opportunity. Could Yachti’s opportunity come in St. Louis? I don’t know. Like I said, I think the Cardinals have their manager. I feel like Ollie Marl and Heimloom will get on pretty well. will have similar philosophies, but Heimblum didn’t choose him. But the thing about this is interesting like Heimblum didn’t choose Olly Marl. Heimblum has no reason to choose Yadier Molina, especially without really interacting with or knowing the guy. So that’s what timing wise is is tricky about this. If you’re Yotti and it was still John Mouck in charged, whether they loved each other or not, I don’t really know. There’s some friction there maybe. But they obviously knew each other very well and had reasons to respect one another. If you’re Yotty and you want to manage the St. Louis Cardinal someday, there’s a new guy in charge that you don’t know and doesn’t know you. And so, yeah, he obviously is aware of what you did for the organization while you were a player, but if you’re wanting to get your name in the running for any potential vacancy that should open up, getting your getting your nose in there a little bit, building that relationship couldn’t hurt, right? But at the same time, could it simply just be, you know, Yachti wants to be closer to the game? Maybe the Cardinals are the organization that can allow him to kind of have a foot in still, maybe a foot out into some of the other endeavors that he that he does. And maybe could it look like a part-time coaching role where he’s in the dugout? Maybe he doesn’t travel, right? Maybe he’s in St. Louis for home and then he goes back home to Austin to be with his family for road series or maybe it’s a combination of those types of ideas. Is that a thing the Cardinals would be open to? think Ollie Marvel would be open to it. And so, could you get away with that with any other organization in baseball? Maybe not. But if you’re just trying to get your feet in and be around the game again, build some of those relationships again, be on the radar for teams, maybe not just the Cardinals if you want to be a future manager. The timing could make sense for that for Yadier Molina. And the benefit to the Cardinals is obviously I think having him around makes you better. So there, you know, there’s a lot of things going on with this that depending on the type of role that we see if it comes to fruition. Again, right now, this is just the the report out of the Puerto Rican newspaper that that had the scoop. There’s not really any more smoke to it than that. But Cardinals fans are certainly talking about it on Twitter, and obviously they’re making the connection to say, well, if there’s only one year on the contract for OI, bada bing, bada boom. But again, I don’t think Ollie Arml is is viewing it that way or or cares. You know, I I I really think he’s comfortable in his role to say like, look, if this makes us better, this is what we’re going to do. Could that could that be a way of falling on the sword a little bit because if you’re inviting Yachti into the situation, it the dots are not hard to connect thereafter, right? But also, it’s already kind of the elephant in the room. And so, if you’re Ollie Mar and you’re like, “No, I’m going to push back on this.” Y, you know, Yachti’s reaching out wanting to be part of what we’re doing here, and I’m going to be the one to say no. Well, how does that look? It’s like you’ve already lost at that point if that’s how you’re doing things. And so I I don’t think Ollie Marvel operates that way. I think Ollie Marl has Yanni Molina in the fold. I think he if he wins with him as a coach on his staff then, you know, more power to Ollie Marmal, right? More power to to to his potential efficacy in the job and his long-term standing as the Cardinal manager. So I I think that’s why it works. Again, I think if there was this awkward tension that people will will inevitably place into this situation, you wouldn’t have Ollie Marl falling over at the opportunity to have Yatier Molen in his dugout a couple of times last year, this past season. So, I think it works. I hope it happens honestly because I think it would help the Cardinals. I think as you’re talking about rebuilding whether you’re saying the word or not you’re talking about putting your team in a position to find a foundation in 2025 20 or excuse me 2026 2027 kind of forget that next year we got to talk about 2026 now you’re finding your footing as an organization under this kind of new era and who better to help guide than the person that guided the organization through the last honestly. And once he left, it all kind of fell apart. Now, it wasn’t just the Yachty factor, but again, if you talk to people who were around and who experienced that those those 20 years really of Yachty, maybe not quite 20 years, but the length of time that it was, he’s given a lot of credit for what happened, for the for what happened for pitchers, for just like the tenor of the club, the clubhouse led by example certainly for the longest of times. You might say, “Well, toward the end he was kind of watching his basketball team while he was a player.” Yeah, whatever. Like, I just don’t I I don’t think that’s really a reflection of what the Cardinal would be getting from Yachti in a coaching role. If he is ready to commit the time and if they can agree, hey, here’s what the expectations are. Here’s what we would love for, you know, to see from you. Can you provide this? We’ll understand that you’ve got other things going on. we’ll get come up with a part-time role. More like an expansion of the guest coaching that he just did a couple of times, expand that, but but it doesn’t have to entail 162 games and and everything. Is that something that can work for everybody? If so, I think it can be something that works for the Cardinals and for for the betterment of the team to have Yachty around. What’s your take on this? Do you think if it happens, it automatically means he’s the next manager of the Cardinals? because I don’t necessarily think that but I can’t deny that you know the optics of how that would look if he’s suddenly around and and his aspirations to manage are known and if they don’t give an extension to Ali before opening day which I am still on record as saying I think they probably will I think it could happen in spring training just like it did two years ago but again it’s a new Pobo who has grown in a relationship with the manager Ollie Marl but they didn’t choose each other. So there’s always until we see that next step of like commitment in adding to the length of his contract, then you know, we we’re just left to kind of sit and go, “All right, well, we’ll keep an eye on that.” And adding Yier Molina back into the situation when the Cardinals are again, I mean, you think about timeline wise, it does it does certainly line up. I can’t ignore that. That if Yachti’s got a son that’s about to graduate high school and he’s going to be playing in college and you know that not to say that Yachti wouldn’t want to be around to watch him play his college baseball, but watch him through the end of college. Okay, I’m I’m kind of a part-time coach. I’m not I’m not taking on the rigors of what a manager has to do. And then maybe a another year or two later, the Cardinals are kind of coming out of the rebuild. They’ve got the foundation down. time to find a manager, you know, that’s going to line up with with the ascension of the organization if they don’t extend oi. The timing could line up for Yachti from a personal perspective to be more available and and and ready for that increase in role because you’re the manager of the team. It it consumes you. That’s all you’ve got time for. And that’s certainly not where Yachti’s been the last couple of years in the way that it’s been described. And so, is that about to change if he’s got a son graduating from high school? It’s interesting to wonder about that. And I’m not really, you know, I don’t think I’m injecting anything into this, any speculation into this that’s not already being talked about. It’s the elephant in the room. But I’ll take the Cardinals at face value when they say Oy Marmal at face value when he says, “I want Yattier Molina on my staff as a coach because I think it helps us win. I think it helps us get better.” and then you leave all the speculative stuff and all the extra stuff until it it’s one of those we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it types of things in my opinion. I think that’s how it would be treated and I think that’s appropriate for Ali for the Cardinals to treat it that way. Take it all as it comes. But no, I do you think having Yatier or Molen in the dugout in 2026, even as they’re sort of retooling, rebuilding, transitioning still to what the future’s going to look like, could that win you more baseball games in 2026? not talking about down the road immediately if Yachti is around. I think yes. I think his presence helps. So let me know what you think in the comments below and continue. We’ll continue talking about this on Bshave Daily if any more comes of it. Keep you updated on on what if any the role ends up being for Yachti and and what we think about it once we know more. But so far, it’s a report out of Puerto Rico. And a lot of times when it comes to to Latin American players, players from this part of the world, there there are folks down there that are plugged in and and they they’ll get this kind of information first. So, we’ll see if that ends up being the situation with this or if it’s kind of more like, well, they happened to ask Yachty about it and he said, “Yeah, we talk about it.” Kind of like he said a couple of years ago and then it never really materialized. But could it feel different this time? because we did see Yachti boots on the ground a couple of times at Bush this past season, even after the Cardinals were out of it, too. That feels notable, right? It’s not like the Cardinals were in a playoff push when Yachti was there the second time. Kind of knew the deal at that point that it was a more of a lost season. So, I think it’s an interesting topic and I wanted to jump on here for 20 minutes and break it down with y’all. Appreciate you guys for jumping back in, listening, and uh as things happen this off season, we will be all over it here on Bshave Daily. I’ve got another video coming Friday. So, you’ll get back toback days here at least where my plan is to get something recorded on the topic of the Cardinals potentially willing to trade from their catching depth. That’s what Derrick Gould has uh reported. I saw that MLB trade rumors picked it up and they’re talking about that. They put Levon Herrera as the main photo, the picture on that headline. And so, people are trying to connect those dots. I’ll tell you what I think of it. I think whether I’m right or wrong, my my read on the situation is one that I’m confident in. And so that doesn’t mean it’s accurate, but it does mean that I’ll break it down how I see the way the Cardinals could explore trading a catcher this off seasonason or multiple catchers and what I expect to happen with that. We’ll talk about that on Friday’s B Shave Daily. So, make sure you’re subscribed and have the bell turned on for notifications on YouTube. you’re following on Spotify to be able to listen at your leisure to our Cardinals podcast this off seasonason. That’ll do it though for this edition of the show. Appreciate you guys as always for listening and we will talk to you next time on Be Shave Daily. Peace.

Brenden Schaeffer breaks down an oft-discussed topic of the past couple years, which is Yadier Molina potentially joining the Cardinals in a formal capacity.

While the last time we heard about this, it did not ultimately materialize as expected, could Yadi’s guest coaching stints in 2025 point toward his readiness to commit to a more significant role with the club in 2026?

And how would Yadi serving on Oli Marmol’s coaching staff potentially set the stage for his future foray into managing an MLB team down the road?

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