The career of one of the decade’s best baseball players now has a definitive finish line. St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina announced on Monday that he’s planning on retiring after the 2020 season.
"Three more years, that's it," Yadier Molina says. He's repeating his plan to complete his contract and then retire. #cardinals #stlcards
— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) January 15, 2018
That would take Molina through the end of his contract that will pay him $60 million over the next three years.
Molina won the 2013 Silver Slugger Award and has always been one of the better hitting catchers in baseball.
With that in mind, Molina will be primarily remembered as one of the best defensive catchers in MLB history. Ultimately, that’s what will put him in the Hall of Fame. Molina is an eight-time Gold Glove winner (2008-2015) and a four-time Platinum Glove Award winner (2011, 2012, 2014, 2015).
Other career accolades include eight All-Star teams (2009-2015, 2017), and being the starting catcher on two World Series champions (2006, 2011).