Cardinals re-sign Yadier Molina to one-year deal

The St. Louis Cardinals have re-signed Yadier Molina, re-taining their long-time catcher. Molina signed a one-year contract worth $9 million, per Jon Heyman. He played in 42 games last season, finishing with a slash line of .262/.303/.359.

This will mark Molina’s 18th season as a member of the Cardinals. He had signed a three-year contract through the 2020 season that made him the highest paid catcher in baseball, and had talked of retirement when the deal ended. He eventually changed his mind and re-upped for another year.

Molina has spent his entire career with the Cardinals. The club drafted him in the fourth round of the 2000 amateur draft and he made his major league debut in 2004. 17 years later, he has 2,001 career hits with the club and a career slash line of .281/.333/.404. He has played in 2,025 career games with St. Louis, which is third all-time on the franchise leaderboard behind Stan Musual and Lou Brock. He has played 1,989 games behind the plate, which is tops all-time among catchers in the franchise’s history.