The St. Louis Cardinals brought back a franchise legend this offseason.
St. Louis is loaded with young guys all over the place and traded veterans away, including Nolan Arenado, Willson Contreras, Sonny Gray and Brendan Donovan. That’s a lot of experience out the door and the club made an intriguing move in response. After a year of rumors, the Cardinals officially brought back legendary catcher Yadier Molina as a special assistant to the president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom.
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Rumors swirled for a long time about the possibility of Molina coming back to the organization in an official capacity, and the team finally announced the move.
The Cardinals legend spoke about his role
Aug 9, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals guest coach Yadier Molina (4) looks on from the dugout during the ninth inning against the Chicago Cubs at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images
Now, Spring Training is in full swing and Molina is in town. On Tuesday, he spoke with Tamar Sher of KMOV about coming back to the organization in an official capacity.
“It’s been awesome,” Molina said. “First day here and I can see the facility. To be around the players, coaches and people I haven’t seen in a long time, it’s great. It’s a great honor to be back as a coach now and working with the young guys. I’m excited about it. … I think it’s important to keep the tradition going. We have some veteran guys who show up and try to help the organization and the city. I want to be part of that. I want to be part of that. I love teaching. I love coaching. To be around the young guys, they maybe don’t know me because they’re so young, but I will love every day to get to know them and try to help them in their career.”
Molina also opened up about what his role itself will look like.
“I think my role will be that I’ll spend probably two series [or] three series home and then I have to go to the minor leagues to work with the catchers.”
Bringing Molina back into the fold is great. The Cardinals don’t have many veterans around, so bringing back a person who has been a part of history with the organization only can help as the club navigates this reset period.
Plus, the Cardinals are loaded with catching prospects with No. 3 prospect Rainiel Rodriguez, No. 5 prospect Leonardo Bernal, No. 7 prospect Jimmy Crooks and young slugger Iván Herrera. Having a future Hall of Famer in Molina around to learn from only will help the club in the long run behind the plate.
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