Where’s Yadi? Basking in retirement, where he should be

He’ll get back to the office, or dugout, eventually.

Ever since he stepped off the baseball field for the last time as a player at the end of the 2022 season, Yadier Molina has mostly kept to himself. Other than coming in to honor his best friend, Adam Wainwright, last September, he’s been away and out of the limelight. That’s what you do when you’re retired.

It wasn’t like he signed a ten-year service contract with the Cardinals like Albert Pujols did with the Angels. There was a reported agreement on a special assistant to the GM and/or a spring training coach, but that is about loose as a job title gets. When and how is he officially supposed to show up? Special doesn’t exactly mean “always around,” because he’s not around and hasn’t been all year. And it’s fine, folks. Let him take the time.

The personal matters that John Mozeliak talked about over the past weekend could be anything from family to something dire in Puerto Rico. I’m sure there’s the occasional call between the two men to keep the road lights on, but I would pay a healthy bet on a blogger sharing more words with Mozeliak last Sunday at Busch Stadium than Molina has all year. That contract obviously has an open-ended two-way street attached to it. One that Molina hasn’t fully engaged in. Until he’s ready to fully engage in this life and the rigors of it again, from a different angle nevertheless, he shouldn’t come back. Again, take the time.

Heck, during one of his last seasons, an injured Molina left the Cardinals to go cheer on players participating in a basketball tournament… back in his hometown thousands of miles away from a Redbird pulse. Does that sound like a guy who is clamoring to get back into a game that he already gave decades of his life to? Nope. Ever since he could walk, the guy probably has worn a glove up until a couple years ago for the majority of the time. He’s lived and breathed the game at all levels, dealt with the stakes and pressures, and battled through awful injuries. Mere weeks after taking a Jordan Hicks heat-seeking fastball off his testicles, he was back. That’s freakish dedication, and it takes a toll.

There’s also the commitment part. Molina retired before he could half-ass the game as a player; he won’t do it as a coach or manager. He has to be ready to handle a full season of work as a non player, and that means serving under current manager Oli Marmol. They’re friends I’m sure, but does Molina want to enter an established environment, or create his own?

I do believe to a degree that Yadier Molina wants to manage a team, and isn’t interested in coaching or climbing through the ranks… at least not at the moment. That isn’t a situation that the Cardinals want at the moment. I don’t think Molina will be a simple yes man. He will push back, and that can fracture a once shiny relationship.

It could be a combination of wanting more time to relax and not trusting the current management system. Like Chris Carpenter and Matt Holliday experienced, what you come into, especially in retirement, is a sacred thing to consider. They poked their head in, and then moved on. Carpenter was furloughed, and Holliday backed out of a potential coaching deal last season.

I think the Mozeliak job announcement was ahead of its time. He should have kept quiet until Molina was here in camp or with the team. Let him just show up in the dugout one day or be in the office for a few days. Postgame announcement follows. Subtle and sudden all at once. Instead, they made a published announcement earlier this year, and the former player hasn’t showed up yet. It looks awkward when it really shouldn’t be.

I don’t think it’s a simple matter of family or something else personal, or a matter of wanting the right environment for his managerial beginnings. It’s a little of those things and the urge to fulfill a retirement.

It’s a lot. It’s a commitment. Molina would do himself a few favors by jumping down in the minor league affiliates, and get a real grasp on coaching and its requirements. Spending time with Mozeliak as a special assistant will help the transition, but what’s the rush? The end game, like it was for Mike Matheny before he was promoted from special assistant to manager, is for Molina to be in the dugout. But is he ready for the media hits twice a day? He managed the Puerto Rican team and that’s great, but it’s not a major league season.

Yadier Molina’s lack of intensity over his final season and the lack of commitment showed me a guy who needs a break. It wasn’t a guy showing up a team or trying to be absent. He’s just burnt. Two years later, it may not be enough time yet.

Idea: Start fresh next year, come into camp, and get started with Mo in the front office. Clear the head and see what happens. Maybe step into the dugout a couple of times in September for shits and giggles, just give fans some hope and a glimpse. Tip your cap like Jimmy Dugan.

Don’t forget that it could be a respect thing with Oli Marmol. Maybe he doesn’t want to come into his world and suck up all the attention, even in a special assistant capacity. Something also tells me Molina isn’t interested one bit in getting a corner office, unless it comes with a jersey.

Maybe. Maybe not. Who knows?

Only Yadi does, and he’s taking his time coming back. Good for him.