Life Without Yadi; Who Could be the Next Cardinals Catcher?
After being swept by the Philadelphia Phillies in the Wild Card round, the St. Louis Cardinals season is over. However, it’s not just the Cardinals season, but the careers of Hall of Famers Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina. For the first time in nearly 20 years, the Cardinals are going into the offseason with a glaring hole behind the plate. President of Player Operations, John Mozeliak, will have to figure out who will be the heir to Molina. With all the options available this offseason, the Cardinals could have a deep selection to choose from to find their next catcher.
Willson Contreras
Willson Contreras is one of the biggest names available this off-season for teams looking for a catcher. After spending seven years in Chicago, it seems like he won’t make a return to the Cubs. The Venezuela catcher will have many potential suitors bidding for his services once free agency opens up. Contreras would make the most sense for St. Louis this off-season. Contreras would be an ideal addition to the middle of the Cardinals lineup. At only 30 years old, he would still project as a serviceable catcher if signed to a three to a four-year deal. St. Louis might already have a leg up on the other teams wanting Contreras this offseason. It’s already been reported that Contreras is interested in listening to a contract offer from the Cardinals.
Sean Murphy
Throughout the years, the Oakland Athletics have always been known to ship away their best talent in return for younger, more controllable players. This might be the case this off-season with catcher Sean Murphy. The Athletics have catching prospect Shea Langeliers waiting to step into a full-time role. Murphy is a Gold Glove-caliber catcher who has plenty of power for a team to ask about his availability. The Cardinals should be one of those teams. With a loaded farm system, St. Louis has the prospects to give Oakland in exchange for Murphy.
Salvador Perez
Comparable to Oakland, Kansas City is still filling its roster with younger players as its rebuild continues. Salvador Pérez has been one of the best catchers in the MLB during his career in Kansas City. However, the Royals could be looking to move Perez to give MJ Melendez a shot as their full-time catcher. The Royals held onto Whit Merrifield way too long which diminished their return value. The Royals’ new front office could look to capitalize on Perez still producing and getting a nice return package in return. St. Louis could look to add Perez to their lineup behind Paul Goldschmidt, and Nolan Arenado and give their offense some more juice.
Danny Jansen
During this past season, Danny Jansen served as a backup catcher to All-Star Alejandro Kirk. Toronto could be looking to trade away Jansen with Kirk still in the mix, but also with top prospect Gabriel Moreno needing at-bats after debuting and hitting .319 in 69 at-bats. Toronto could look to move Jansen in exchange for other big-league talent. Jansen shouldn’t be as expensive of an option compared to Contreras, Pérez, or Murphy, but would still give St. Louis a younger, powerful bat to add to their order.
Andrew Knizner/Ivan Herrera
Despite all the intriguing names that could become available this off-season, the St. Louis Cardinals could just stay in-house. It’s not what most Cardinals fans are hoping for, but the front office might give this year’s backup catcher, Andrew Knizner, and prospect, Iván Herrera, the first chance to become the new starting catcher. Knizner this past season hit .215 while playing behind Molina most of the season. Herrera is the seventh-ranked prospect in the Cardinals farm system. The young catcher made his debut this season for the Cardinals but spent the majority of his time in AAA.
Ultimately, the Cardinals are going to have to decide what they want to do this offseason. After two decades of not needing the catcher position, they finally will have to answer that question this winter. Are they comfortable with staying with an internal option? Most likely not, so how much are they willing to spend or trade away to get their catcher next season as they try and bounce back from their postseason woes from this past season? If St. Louis fails to land any of these options, Christian Vázquez could also be a name to keep an eye on. Whatever happens during the offseason will be different without number four behind the plate.
