How Contreras hopes to honor Molina’s legacy

ST. LOUIS — The transfer the Cardinals hope will proceed their decades-long stability at catcher and make them true World Series contenders once more — agreeing to phrases with World Series-winning star Willson Contreras in free company — isn’t anticipated to develop into official till Friday following MLB approval.

Contreras, a three-time All-Star who agreed to a five-year, $87.5 million contract that can shift him from the rival Cubs to the Cardinals, may seem at St. Louis’ Busch Stadium as early as Friday for an introductory news convention.

Cardinals officers can’t touch upon the pending deal till finalized, however Contreras spoke out about his former group and his new group — bitter rivals courting again to 1892 — to the Players’ Tribune on Thursday afternoon.

“This is a [Cardinals] team that’s built to win,” Contreras mentioned of his soon-to-be new membership, which had three gamers in Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado and Ryan Helsley on the NL All-Star roster with him in 2022. “They’re built to win now, and they’re built to win in the future, too. It’s a team that’s consistent and this roster is filled with amazing players — Arenado, Goldschmidt, [Tommy] Edman, [Nolan] Gorman, all those pitchers … I could go on and on. It’s just super exciting to me. I can’t wait to get to spend time and get to know them and start working toward a world championship.”

Contreras, essentially the most achieved catcher on the free-agent market, met with Cardinals president John Mozeliak and supervisor Oli Marmol at an Orlando, Fla., resort final week to debate his baseball motivations. That getting-to-know-you effort by the Cardinals proved particularly impactful to Contreras, resulting in him to saying: “I asked a bunch of questions, of course, and every answer was music to my ears.”

Marmol heard most of the issues that retired St. Louis icon Yadier Molina mentioned in regards to the 30-year-old catcher. The supervisor was impressed that the fiery catcher was nonetheless so pushed to be nice.

“When you set aside everything from a competitive standpoint and you’re just having a conversation, you’re learning what motivates him and drives him and what he’s looking for moving forward. It’s telling,” Marmol mentioned on the Winter Meetings on Tuesday. “We talked about loving winning and this is a guy who loves to win. We’ve seen that quite a bit across the way [in the Cards-Cubs rivalry]. It’s a guy you don’t want to compete against, because you know he’s good. He’s a great competitor and you respect his game.”

The Cardinals pursued Contreras, a Venezuela native, as a result of they thought he had the mettle and credentials to comply with Molina, the potential Hall of Famer who manned the catcher’s place in St. Louis for 19 seasons earlier than retiring. Contreras spoke glowingly of Molina’s grit and want to win, and he mentioned attempting to uphold Molina’s custom of excellence can be “one of the great honors of my life.”

“First things first: No one could ever replace Yadier Molina. We all know that,” Contreras mentioned. “It’s impossible. Actually, if there’s some word that means even more than the word impossible … that’s what it is. Yadier Molina is a legend.”

Contreras helped the Cubs win the 2016 World Series, however this previous season he turned the final remaining hyperlink to that squad when Chicago systematically dealt away numerous veteran gamers in hopes of rebuilding. Each of these transactions appeared to spark ideas of leaving the North Side and taking part in elsewhere — even with the rival Cardinals, Contreras mentioned. Cubs president Jed Hoyer mentioned that, regardless that Contreras can be taking part in on the opposite aspect of the rivalry, he can be pulling for the standout catcher to search out happiness.

“Listen, I wish him the best,” Hoyer mentioned in San Diego. “He was a Cub for a very long time. He clearly got here up via our system. I love how a lot he fought via his early struggles and clearly, beginning in 2015, he actually got here on. We gained a World Series with him.

“I admire his toughness and resilience behind the plate. He played hurt a lot. He always came to the ballpark wanting to play. Obviously, he signed with the Cardinals, but I wish him happiness. He gave us a lot of happiness and I wish him the same.”