Lock Yadi up with a long-term deal? Yes, please

[mizzoupacers]

Vivaelbirdos comes to pretty much the same conclusion--it's probably a good idea to lock in Molina, so long as the Cardinals don't go too crazy with it:

http://www.vivaelbirdos.com/story/2008/1/11/25112/5722

Interesting, because VEB pretty consistently seems to want to see Bryan Anderson replace Molina as the starting catcher ASAP.

I've never quite gotten the fascination with Anderson. Granted, I've never seen the guy play. But by all accounts he is sub-par defensively behind the plate. And I can't see that he is THAT great a hitter either. Let's just compare a few of his hitting numbers last year to Molina's:

OBP: Anderson .350, Molina .340
Slugging pct.: Anderson .388, Molina .368
OPS: Anderson .738, Molina .708

Anderson's numbers are better, but not that much better. And keep in mind that Anderson's numbers are from Double A. Yes, his numbers were better in the lower minors, but that was the lower minors. Yes, he may have just had a down year and certainly he is still very young anyway, but you can't just assume that the numbers will improve, particularly as he rises to higher levels of competition with better pitchers. In fact, the trend so far is downwards as the competition level rises.

What makes anyone so confident that Anderson will not be, like Molina, a hitter with virtually no power? Is it worth it, really, to take a huge drop in defense for the sake of a guy who hits a few more singles? I don't think it is.

One more thing, here are some of Molina's hitting ranks from last year among all NL catchers with at least 300 AB:

OBP: tied for fourth in the league
BA: fifth
OPS: seventh

That puts him in the middle to slightly in the top half in those hitting categories. He will never hit for power, but a .340 OBP is not too bad, especially coming from the guy who is the best defensively at his position in the major leagues. And I think his numbers from last year are going to prove to be a lot closer to what he averages the rest of his career than his numbers from 2006.

I hope Anderson turns out to be a good player, that can only help the Cardinals. But our front office should do what it can to keep Molina around for awhile.

[chatard5]

Molina is one of the best defensive catchers out there. He blocks the plate with the rest of um, and when players decide to run on him, they usually regret it.

[mizzoupacers]

Molina signs for four years, $15.5 million

Ask and ye shall receive.

Money well spent.