St. Louis Cardinals: Something feels wrong about this Yadier Molina honor

The St. Louis Cardinals and all of Major League Baseball has known since last season that the 2022 campaign would be the last one for well-loved catcher Yadier Molina. With that in mind, why did it take until Thursday for the Cardinals to release a special logo to commemorate all he has done for the franchise in his 19 MLB seasons?

St. Louis Cardinals honoring Yadier Molina with a special logo just before the All-Star break seems like very strange timing

On Thursday, the St. Louis Cardinals revealed a logo honoring Molina, from the start to the end of his career in St. Louis. As Derrick Goold of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch noted below, the Cardinals choose to honor Molina with a tip of the cap to both of the numbers he has worn behind the plate.

The strange thing is that the Cardinals knew Molina would be back with the team this season as long ago as last August when he signed a one-year contract extension and told reporters 2022 would be his last behind the plate. So why wait until now to honor Molina?

Releasing the logo comes along with the Cardinals releasing a line of products commemorating Molina’s career, so the timing certainly feels like a marketing ploy, especially since the Cardinals are also “honoring” Molina and Adam Wainwright in a way of lowering ticket prices in a “Best Buds” promotion to try to drive fans to the park.

The 39-year-old Molina is slashing just .213/.225/.294 in 136 at-bats over 40 games this season. He hasn’t played in a game since June 15 and has been on the injured list since the following day with right knee inflammation. Molina has since returned to his native Puerto Rico to rehab his knee and there is no timeline on his return.

While the sentiment for honoring Molina is certainly in the right place, the timing of it feels like little more than a cheap ploy to sell some shirts and tickets. Molina deserves better than that from the Cardinals.