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Yadier Molina

Quick Hits: Walden, Indians, A’s, Appel, Molina

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Here are some notes from around the majors…

  • The Angels renewed the contract of closer Jordan Walden, the team announced.  The Halos also agreed to terms with 21 other players on one-year deals for 2012.
  • The Indians are "looking around for a left fielder" in the wake of Grady Sizemore's injury, tweets Danny Knobler of CBS Sports.  With so many outfielders already in camp, the Tribe are likely looking for no more than another part-timer on a minor league contract.
  • Bill Madden of the New York Daily News believes Major League Baseball won't allow the Athletics to move to San Jose.  Madden doesn't think three-quarters of the teams would approve of violating the Giants' territorial rights to San Jose, quoting a baseball lawyer who says teams would be wary of voting for a measure that could cost them in the future.  As an example, the Phillies, Mets and Yankees wouldn't be likely to vote against territorial rights since such votes be used as precedent for a team to someday move to New Jersey.
  • Right-hander Mark Appel hasn't quite pitched up to expectations for Stanford this season, writes Baseball America's Conor Glassey.  In particular, Appel's K/9 rate is lower than several recent high-drafted pitchers during their sophomore years.  Appel is a contender to be the first overall pick in the June amateur draft.
  • Yadier Molina's five-year, $75MM extension with the Cardinals was driven by the catcher's defense and leadership, reports MLB.com's Matthew Leach.  "[The St. Louis pitchers] understand his value more than sabermetricians could ever start to pick it apart, and what other people inside the game even understand," said Cards manager Mike Matheny.  "There's so many intangibles. You can't put numbers to the things that this guy does in helping this team win. And I think that's [exemplified by] two world championships since he's taken over behind the plate."

NL Central Notes: Burnett, Cardinals, Astros

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Though two NL Central veterans dominated headlines this offseason, Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder signed with American League teams and Aramis Ramirez's three-year, $36MM deal with the Brewers was the largest free agent contract by any of the division's six teams. Here are the latest links from the NL Central…

  • The Pirates announced that they expect A.J. Burnett’s eye injury to sideline him until two or three months from now. The right-hander underwent surgery today after injuring himself in a bunting drill.
  • Cardinals chairman and CEO Bill DeWitt Jr. told Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com that the Cardinals couldn't take the chance of letting Yadier Molina hit free agency. "We didn't extend Molina because he had a good year offensively last year,” he said. “We extended him because of the bulk of the work since he became a regular in 2005." Molina and the Cardinals finalized a five-year, $75MM extension yesterday.
  • Four of the ten people Astros GM Jeff Luhnow has hired might be described as geeks or nerds, MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes reports from the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference in Boston (Twitter links). Luhnow said he’s had a clean slate, since the Astros weren't doing much in terms of analytics before hiring him.

Catcher Extension Notes: Perez, Molina, Ruiz

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The 2013 class of free agent catchers is taking shape. Yadier Molina and the Cardinals signed a five-year, $75MM extension this week, but Miguel Montero and Russell Martin have tabled extension talks for now and Mike Napoli expects to test free agency. Here are the latest notes on catcher extensions in MLB…

  • One agent joked to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com that Royals GM Dayton Moore “must have been wearing a ski mask” to convince Salvador Perez to sign a five-year, $7MM extension (Twitter link). I examined the extension earlier in the week, explaining what Perez will have to do for the Royals to break even.
  • Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports suggests the Diamondbacks and Braves might be ticked off by Molina's extension. The deal figures to shift the market for catchers and it may now cost more to retain the likes of Montero and Brian McCann. Rosenthal says the Cardinals' deal with Molina is an overpay, but an understandable one given the value of Molina's defense. 
  • David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News explains that the Molina deal isn't a fair point of reference for Carlos Ruiz. Though Ruiz and Molina have posted similar offensive numbers in recent years, the Phillies’ catcher won't hit free agency until he's entering his age-35 season and allowed stolen bases with much greater frequency than Molina in 2011.

Cardinals Extend Yadier Molina

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The Cardinals announced a five-year, $75MM contract extension with catcher Yadier Molina this afternoon.  The deal includes a no-trade clause and a mutual option for 2018 that's worth an additional $15MM.  Molina is represented by Melvin Roman of MDR Sports Management.

Molina, 29, is considered by many to be the game's best defensive catcher.  His offense took a leap forward in 2011, as he posted a .305/.349/.465 line in 518 plate appearances.  Molina has been durable, averaging 145 games over the last three years including the postseason.  The $15MM salary and five-year term probably represents market value for Molina, but it may have been more difficult for GM John Mozeliak to hammer out a deal after the season.  

Molina's contract is the third-largest in baseball history for a backstop, behind Joe Mauer's $184MM and Mike Piazza's $91MM.  On the Cardinals, Molina is second only to Matt Holliday in average annual value.  This is Molina's second multiyear deal with the Cardinals, as they locked him up affordably four years ago.

The 2012-13 free agent class for catchers remains deep with Molina off the board, with Miguel Montero, Mike Napoli, Russell Martin, and Chris Iannetta.

Jon Heyman of CBS Sports first tweeted the news and added existence of the vesting option later on.  Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported the value of the contract.  Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch first said the deal was all but done and Derrick Goold of the Post-Dispatch first reported the mutual option.

Extension Updates: Hosmer, Stanton, Molina

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The Cardinals will officially announce their five-year extension with Yadier Molina this afternoon. In the meantime, here are some extension-related links…

Cardinals, Yadier Molina Closing In On Extension

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8:28pm: The deal is in the $70-75MM range, Rosenthal tweets.

6:20pm: The sides are "very close" on a five-year extension worth north of $60MM, reports Rosenthal (Twitter links).

4:29pm: Both sides are "very optimistic" and terms are "all but finalized," Strauss tweets. The deal's average annual value would likely exceed $10MM, Strauss reports. Resolution is expected this week. 

2:47pm: "We are making progress and hopefully we can work something out," Yadier Molina's agent Melvin Roman said to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports today, regarding contract extension talks for the Cardinals catcher.  Rosenthal's sources say the Cards "likely are willing to give him a deal of four and possibly five years."  The FOX writer expects a salary in the $10-12MM range.

On Friday, Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweeted, "Movement on Molina is significant enough that a source familiar with the situation believes an agreement could be reached within a week."  Earlier, Roman indicated Molina did not want to negotiate during the season, according to Strauss.  The Cardinals open the season April 4th at the Marlins' new ballpark.

NL Central Notes: Oswalt, Molina, Braun

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Ryan Braun publicly denied taking banned substances at Brewers camp today, expressing a willingness to bet his life that the substance in question never entered his body. Braun called the current drug testing system ‘fatally flawed’ and respectfully disagreed with MLB’s reaction to yesterday’s news that he won his appeal. Here’s the latest from the NL Central…

  • Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch hears the Cardinals recently boosted their offer to Roy Oswalt to $5MM from $3MM (Twitter links). Oswalt announced yesterday that he will look to sign midseason.
  • The Cardinals have made enough progress in extension talks with Yadier Molina that an agreement could be in place within a week, Strauss reports.
  • Major League Baseball is a big loser in the aftermath of Braun's appeal, since an old wound has been re-opened, Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes.

NL Central Notes: Braun, Molina, Crisp, Gimenez

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Considerable uncertainty surrounds the Brewers, who don't yet know whether Ryan Braun will miss 50 games after a positive test for a banned substance. Here are the latest links from the NL Central, which will look much different than it did a year ago whether or not Braun plays a full season in 2012…

  • Braun is on his way to Brewers camp and doesn’t know whether he’ll face a 50-game suspension yet, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets. A decision is expected today or tomorrow.
  • Brewers camp is looking different this year, Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports writes. There are more distractions than the Brewers would like, as Braun's possible suspension looms and the club moves on without Prince Fielder.
  • Agent Melvin Roman recently met with Cardinals GM John Mozeliak to discuss an extension for Yadier Molina, Derrick Goold and Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch report. The most recent round of discussions took place in the past two days and went well, the Post-Dispatch reports. Roman said Tuesday that the sides won't discuss an extension after Opening Day.
  • Coco Crisp said the Cardinals offered him a multiyear deal this offseason, Joe Stiglich of the Bay Area News Group tweets. The outfielder eventually signed a two-year, $14MM contract with the Athletics.
  • The Pirates nearly signed Chris Gimenez earlier this month, the catcher told Bill Chastain of MLB.com. The Rays signed Gimenez soon after the Mariners released him.

Molina Sets Deadline For Extension Talks

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Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina's agent, Melvin Roman of MDR Sports Management, said Tuesday that his client will not discuss a potential contract extension once the regular season begins, according to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Molina, 30 in July, is an extension candidate as he enters his final season before free agency, although extensions talks have recently been put on hold. Roman intends to remain in Florida for several days to potentially resume extension discussions, although nothing is imminent on that front as of now, according to Strauss.

"It could be tomorrow. It could be two days. It could be two weeks," Roman said. "If they want us to come back, we'll come back."

Molina, a right-handed hitter, owns a .271/.331/.377 career line with 55 homers in parts of eight big leagues seasons and is generally considered among the game's best defensive catchers. He's believed to be seeking a five-year deal with an average annual salary of $10MM, Strauss reports.

Cardinals GM John Mozeliak said he and Roman talked on Tuesday but declined to comment on whether those discussions included the parameters for a potential extension.

Molina Extension Talks On Hold, Won’t Give Discount

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3:30pm: Rains' full article on the situation is posted at FOXSportsMidwest.com. While there doesn't seem to be a deadline on talks, Molina did say that like most players, he prefers to focus on the game during the season rather than his contract. He also shot down the idea of offering St. Louis a hometown discount:

"I don't know about that,” Molina said. "Like I always say, I like the town and I like the city, but at the same time, I have to think about my family. You have to worry about your family like they worry about the team. This is business. If I get good money, I'll take it. If not, I'll go away.”

2:37pm: Yadier Molina spoke very candidly about his contract situation today, according to B.J. Rains of FOX Sports Midwest, who reports that he and the Cardinals have put extension talks on hold for the time being. Rains notes that Molina said he's still willing to re-open negotiations (Twitter links).

The Cards picked up Molina's $7MM option shortly after their World Series victory, ensuring that the youngest Molina brother would be in St. Louis for at least one more season. MLBTR's Mark Polishuk recently identified Yadi as an extension candidate, concluding that he could fetch a four- or five-year deal with an average annual value in excess of $10MM on the open market.

A fourth round draft pick of St. Louis back in 2000, the Puerto Rico native has spent his entire career with the Cardinals. Molina signed a four-year deal worth $15.5MM prior to the 2008 season. That value has escalated to a total of $22.85MM over five years after his option was exercised and he picked up $350K in bonuses for his four Gold Gloves and three All-Star selections.

The 29-year-old enjoyed a career year last season when he hit .305/.349/.465 (career highs in average and slugging) and also added career highs in homers (14), doubles (32), and RBI (65).

Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts for details on Molina's contract bonuses.

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