Yadier Molina - Most Overrated Player in the Game Today?

[knightedsoldier5000]

Watching a Cardinal game is pure torture sometimes with the way the announcers go on and on about Molina and how great he is. Puke! Ooooh he throws out a runner at first 2 times a year, so he's an mvp! THe guy just plain sucks, yet the media hangs from his sack. I've watched him play since he came up. He isn't even that good of a catcher. He literally stands up then moves over to where the pitch is going to be. You really think the batter doesn't notice that? I can't stand him. He is always a league leader in GIDP because he is SLOW and his Avg is usually abysmal with no power. He jogs to first.

I realize Catcher is not a premium offensive position but listening to the announcers just drone on and on about how great he is just makes me want to vomit.

I guess the real question is why do the announcers obsess over certain players? Is this an instance of trying to reach out to Hispanic viewers or what? That's the only reason i can think of them going so overboard in their love for this clown.

 

[Deadlift]

Is this turd really worth a 5 year, 75 million contract... insane!!

 

[Riddlewire]

I somehow overlooked ks5k's original post last year.

I watch most Cardinals games (the benefits of a flexible schedule). Molina's continued presence on the team is/was entirely due to Tony La Russa. As good a manager as Tony was, he was also infatuated with his own supposed strategic genius. He got too married to his own variety of sabermetrics as it related to team building. He had an obsession with defensive statistics as well as defensive "intangibles" that prevented the Cardinals from ever signing any potent offensive players up the middle. He actually got some kind of thrill out of sending a weak lineup to the plate, as long as they were good defenders. (The Seattle Mariners tried to copy this idea the past two years and it was a disaster).

What Tony failed to realize was that his prolonged success in St. Louis was due to always having a top-shelf starter on the team, a good (if infuriating) pitching coach, and good moves by the front office to bring in offensive punch to place around Pujols. If Tony hadn't vetoed or run off so many hitters over the years, they probably could have won a couple more World Series during his tenure.

Anyway, Tony believed that stopping the running game was crucial to winning over the course of the season. And he believed that nobody did that better than Molina. While that may have been true in Molina's first couple of years as a starter, he has been getting by more on reputation the last few years. His arm, while still good, clearly isn't the "shut down" weapon it used to be. He's still a good defensive catcher, but his defense is not good enough to make him more valuable than other available catchers who could provide more consistent production at the plate (and on the base paths). I won't even say that there's anything wrong about having Molina as your everyday starting catcher, but if you have to pay him an outrageous sum that would be better spent on a SS or 2B with some pop, then he's hurting the team. Unfortunately, Mozeliak has been infected with Tony's ideas, so it looks like Los Cardenales will continue to overspend for defensive players (while also becoming the Caribbean All-Star Team) for the forseeable future.

I sure am glad to be rid of Poo-Holes, though.

 

[jaxvid]

You must be a hard man to please..... damn those Cardinals for taking 7 games and extra innings to win the World Series!!!!! If only LaRussa wasn't such an idiot they could've won in a sweep!!

And that bum LaRussa with his paltry 3 World Series wins, 6 league championships, and only being the 3rd winningest manager in baseball history!!! What does he know about baseball?

But seriously, with the white talent the Cardinals have had and played and me only having the negro-hispaniola Tigers in the area to cheer for, I feel this much sympathy for you. :violin:

 

[Riddlewire]

Familiarity breeds contempt.

Watching the Cardinals dump promising young prospects for 16 years in favor of Tony's beloved veteran free agents tends to get on one's nerves.

And you shouldn't feel any sympathy for me, not even phony sympathy. I'm not a fan of any professional sports teams any more. So I don't care who wins what (except when the media uses those victories to further its narrative). I watch baseball because I like baseball. And I watch the Cardinals because my cable package includes every one of their games.
Fandom is a self-inflicted wound.

 

[knightedsoldier5000]

Last year's team was good, but underperformed all year until they got hot at the right time.

The 2006 WS champs will go down in history as the single worst WS team of all time with their 83-78 reg. season record and barely making it into the playoffs to begin with.

Tony is a strange bird who plays favorites - not who most deserves to be on the field.

As for Molina, the Cardinals have an excellent hitting white catcher named Bryan Anderson that has been languishing in AAA the last few years because Larussa didn't like him. Now that Molina has a blockbuster, insane contract, this kid will likely never get his shot.

 

[Don Wassall]

1973 Mets were 82-79 in the regular season, winning the East Division by 1 1/2 games over the Cardinals, then knocked off the Big Red Machine in the league championship series to make it to the World Series before losing to the A's in 7 games. They were the worst team to make it to the WS, but you're right that the '06 Cards were the worst regular season team to win it.

 

[knightedsoldier5000]

Very interesting, Don. Thanks !