Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - How Yadier Molina’s Return Will ELEVATE Ivan Herrera’s MLB Play For The St. Louis Cardinals In 2026

Starting point is 00:00:00 Which player is set to benefit the most with Yadda or Molina back in the mix. I'll tell you who it is and why on today's episode of Locked on Cardinals. You are Locked on Cardinals, your daily St. Louis Cardinals podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hey there are Cardinals fans. I'm J.D. Hafer, a former national radio sports anchor born and raised in St. Louis and a Lifetime Cardinals fan. And welcome to another episode of Locked on Cardinals. part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, now the number one sports podcast network.

Starting point is 00:00:38 Thank you to our everydayers for everything you do for our newcomers. Welcome, man. This is a show. All the info about the birds on the bat. Today's show, we will go over a couple of big trades that happened in Major League Baseball. None of them actually had to do with the Cardinals. One of them will affect what's going on in the division, that's for sure. But we'll hit those.

Starting point is 00:01:00 J.J. Weatherholt received. I don't know if it's an accolade that I want to, I don't know what I want to call it, but his preseason ranking came out about him at shortstop. So we'll get into that. But we'll start today with kind of an extension of the big news from earlier in the week, which was the announcement the Adir Molina was coming back to the org as the special assistant to Hain Bloom. Now we went over that news in our last episode.

Starting point is 00:01:27 But I wanted to focus kind of on the description of his role here today and who's going to benefit the most from it, at least in my opinion. Now, in Hymn's statement, he said that Yadi will provide input on our catching program. We'll advise our staff on catching in the game planning strategy. So we remember, and I'm sure you do, how rough things were when Yadda or Molina went away. You remember this, right? First year we thought of behind the plate, Wilson Contreras gets signed. It's supposed to be the guy to take over, not long into the season.

Starting point is 00:02:03 just 34 games, to be exact. They removed him from catching. He was relegated to just the DH for a bit, and there were talks about him having to go to the outfield because things were going so badly for him behind the plate. We had people who were blaming him for making mistakes and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Andrew Kisner had to take over the primary catching duties. Trace Barrera, remember him?

Starting point is 00:02:26 He had to be brought up as the third catcher. It was a mess. The team had already sunk to a 10 and 24 record. they had lost eight in a row by this point. A lot of bad stuff going on. It was just a mess and it was just kind of the tip of the iceberg of how crappy things were going to be and what a wasted year was in St. Louis for that team in 2023 when they finished at 71 and 91 their first losing season since 2007.

Starting point is 00:02:54 Apparently, the organization underestimated the power of Yadi, which is incredible, you know, and how big of a presence he was. shocking that they would make such a mistake like that when like, how do you not know how irreplaceable someone like Yaddy or Molina is? Like how do you underestimate that? That still blows my mind that they made that mistake. But anyways, so now that Yadi is coming back and one of his jobs is going to be to help the catching core that this team has helped guide them into being the, you know,

Starting point is 00:03:25 like the army, the best that they can be, right? How hands on will he be once the season starts? I don't know. I don't know. You hope he's around a lot more, but we'll see. I'm not going to bank on it because we made that mistake before where we're like, oh, yeah, he's going to be back and he's going to do this, this and this. And then we didn't hear from him.

Starting point is 00:03:42 And then we didn't see him for a little while. And when we did see him, he was only here a couple of times. And then he was off doing other things. So I'm not going to get my hopes up that he's going to be around a ton. But hopefully it's more than he has been in the past. We know the Cardinals have three young catchers that, seem to have bright futures. You just never know with prospects.

Starting point is 00:04:04 They seem to be those guys that people think highly of, Jimmy Crooks, Leonardo Bernal, and right now Red Rodriguez. Now, Bernal and Rodriguez will be in the minor leagues this year. So Yadhi probably won't be around them all that much. I'm sure he's going to, well, I'm not sure, but hopefully he'll get some time with them in spring training this year.

Starting point is 00:04:24 But it doesn't mean that he can't do like Zoom calls or have input on their development in ways that don't require him to actually be there in person, whether it's at Memphis, whether it's at Springfield. Crooks will likely be on the Major League roster. It seems to make a whole lot of sense for him to be there. And for most of the year, barring him just really, really being bad like he was at the plate

Starting point is 00:04:50 at the end of the year last year. But you're hoping that after getting his feet wet in the major leagues last year, that he can do kind of what Mason Winn did, the previous year where he was not very good when he got called, up, but then came back, was on the roster, made some strides and became a better player. There's certainly a chance that they're going to carry three catchers this season so that they can rotate him in along with Pedro Pahas and Ivan Herrera. Now, I love that someone like Crooks will get more time with Yadi.

Starting point is 00:05:20 Love that, but he's not the one that I think is going to benefit the most in year one. I think that guy is going to be Yvonne Herrera. And the reason I say this is because the success of Yvonne Herrera as a player in this organization is going to have a huge impact on how things go with the Cardinals, not only in 2026, but beyond. When you look at what they've assembled as far as middle of the order bats, Yvonne's kind of a guy right now, right? When you look at it from the right side, I mean, you can count Alec Burleson. you see you see jj coming up left-handed you're hoping jordan walker turns around but evan's kind of the guy we saw him do it last year at an incredible clip and when he was healthy he was arguably their best hitter on the roster it was him and burly really you know i mean i guess you could say wilson contraris

Starting point is 00:06:13 but he's going to get another chance to catch this year they need that bad in the lineup that's going to be a thing like he's going to be a fixture right there in the three four or five spots right that's what you're hoping for. He's going to get another chance at catching this year after injuries wiped out his time behind the plate last year. And we know that he has plenty of room to improve as a catcher. But the one area that he really needed to work on, because you know, you can go look at his metrics and stuff

Starting point is 00:06:42 and be like, all right, he was all right in these spots. But throwing the baseball was it was a real problem for Ivan Herrera. Jeff Jones from the Belleville News, Democrat, released an article about Herrera on Thursday and how the recovery from double heel surgery for Lars Newpar could not only open the door for three catchers, but we'll also give the team time to evaluate Herrera's throwing ability even more and his overall catching ability in general end of the season

Starting point is 00:07:10 rather than making a decision based off spring training alone. You know he's coming off of the elbow surgery to clean things up there. Jones mentions that the team has given Herrera what he called offseason homework, which was assigned by the coaching staff led by catching coordinator Ethan Goforth, who Herrera says he talks to each week, and that now he's good to throw again. Apparently he's healed up to the point where he is throwing a baseball after that surgery. Now he can start doing every part of receiving, blocking every part of the game,

Starting point is 00:07:41 is the quote that Jeff Jones has in his article. And with Yadi on board, I feel like that can. only benefit Herrera's chances of sticking at the catching position even more because if all of this this coaching and this prepping plus Yadi can get him to where they need him to be, then it certainly would be time to move on and find out where else they can play him to keep his bat in the lineup because they need that bat. It's that important. I've suggested first base since the beginning of last year. I'm like, do we just need to start that. transition, man, get him over there.

Starting point is 00:08:19 Burley's going to be there on a regular basis this year, which is great, but it doesn't mean they can't take turns like deaching while the other one plays the field. We saw him play a little bit of left field last year. I don't remember how bad or good he was at playing the left field last year. I don't remember there being a whole lot of chances for him, but, you know, he appears to be a good enough athlete to make that work if they need him to. But we've also gone down this path before, haven't we where we've had, you know, a prospect coming up.

Starting point is 00:08:50 Looks like the offensive side's going to be fine. Let's stick them in the outfield, let him learn. And we witnessed the firsthand struggles of someone trying to learn to play that position at the big league level. Hello, Jordan Walker. Yeah, that has been and still is a work in progress. We still haven't gotten to a point where I don't know if anybody feels all that comfortable with Jordan and right field. he's gotten better. Don't get me wrong, but it didn't seem to transition quite as seemingly as many of us hoped it would, considering how an amazing athlete, Jordan Walker is, because he is. Speed, power, and it just hasn't looked right. You know, he's had moments. He was better last year. Don't get me wrong. This isn't me bashing Jordan Walker. I'm just saying, like, we see how it takes time. It's not that easy. You can shove a guy in the outfield, say, hey, figure it out. You're just chasing down fly balls. It doesn't work. that way. But with this season not being, you know, what we call a must win type of season,

Starting point is 00:09:50 the team doesn't have to really force anything, which is good. They've got Pahas, they've got crooks, ready to go. Bernal and Rodriguez is on the horizon. So if it doesn't work the way they hope it will with Herrera, it's not as if they are just screwed at the position and don't have capable options. It's kind of a good problem to have. But I think Herrera is going to benefit immensely from having Yadi around. He talked about. about it in Jeff Jones's article like he's, you know, I watched him, you know, coming up in this organization. I watch out of your Molina.

Starting point is 00:10:20 Like, you know, this is great. So we'll see if he, if he ends up being good enough to, to stay there, you know, but what do you think Herrera ends up? Will he prove himself worthy and make his stake as, as the everyday catchers? Is he going to stay there? He was going to be there. Until the injuries were happening last year,

Starting point is 00:10:37 he was going to be the catcher. Like, it's not like he, they weren't going to trust him with it. So he was the guy last year. Should he move? Led Pahas and crooks take over this year. Where would you like to see him move if he does have to move positions? Where do you want them?

Starting point is 00:10:55 Let me know in the comments section below. We'll chat about it. Up next, I want to talk about prospects. I want to talk about J.J. Weatherholt. Preseason shortstop ranking. Disappointment or is it just a number? We'll get into it next on lockdown cardinals. Tax season doesn't have to take over your life this year.

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Starting point is 00:12:54 club discord server where you and other baseball fans get to chit chat about everything going on in Major League Baseball and it's all for five bucks a month or 50 a year. So go to locked on STL cardinals dot supercasts.com or check the link in the show notes to learn more. MLB pipeline continued their release for their preseason rankings for all the separate positions, top 100s going to come out here on Friday. And the Cardinals already have right now Rodriguez at number three among catchers, Liam Doyles at number four among left-handed pitchers. But JJ Weatherhold is considered their top overall picked.

Starting point is 00:13:30 There is no argument here. He is number one. Still listed among the shortstops. So when the listing came out, I know I was a little surprised, and I don't know if you were, but I saw him rank this week at number five among shortstops. I was like, wait, what?

Starting point is 00:13:49 He's only number five among short stops? Hold on a second. How is he the number three? three overall prospect, according to baseball America, but just number five among the shortstops for MLB pipeline. But then you go and you do a little investigating and you look at the talent and you're like, okay, wait a second. Now I kind of understand what's going on here. We know this kid is special. But there are a lot of very talented shortstops already in minor league baseball. Both M'll be Pipeline and Baseball America think very highly of the shortstop position so

Starting point is 00:14:26 much that Baseball America has for the top five players as short stops. And we'll know M'll be pipelines on Friday night, but their final 2025 list had the first six players listed as short stops. So to see JJ's name at number five on this year's initial top shortstop list, I don't think it should be that big of a deal. Like I'm not all that upset about it. I was confused at first. And then I was like, well, I kind of see what they're saying here. When you look at these guys that are ahead of JJ on the list, you know, JJ is the one that is more than likely going to hit the big leagues first. Not guaranteed, but probably, right?

Starting point is 00:15:08 You got Connor Griffin from Pittsburgh. He's 19. Kevin McDonagall from Detroit, 21. Jesus made from Milwaukee, 18. Leo DeVries from Oakland, 19. J.J. is like the grandpa. of this group at the decrepit old age of 23 years old. Now, it's not out of the realm of possibilities that Griffin and McGonagall make the Pirates

Starting point is 00:15:30 and Tigers rosters this year, but barring something catastrophic, JJ Weatherholt's going to be on this team by May, if not opening day. Still kind of waiting on whether or not Bernard Donovan gets traded away, because if he goes, JJ going to be on this team on opening day, if he's still with the team, which he is, as of right now, on a Friday afternoon. Let me make sure there hasn't been any big news or anything. I'm not seeing anything yet. But as right now,

Starting point is 00:15:58 Brennan Donovan is still a part of this squad. And we'll see if he's there. Because if he's there, maybe, maybe you wait a little bit for JJ Weatherholt. The other funny thing is, is that, you know, he's not going to be playing shortstop in the big league. He's just not because, well, he's not initially, because the cardals already have their,

Starting point is 00:16:19 their 23-year-old star in the making and gold glove winner, Mason went. He's already there, but residing in shortstop. So he's not going to be a shortstop anyway at the beginning of his career in St. Louis. So he's going to play at second. He's going to play third. Much debate about which spot would best suit what JJ offers. My gut says having him at second base makes the most sense. I feel like I heard Ali say something similar to that at winter warmup that he thought

Starting point is 00:16:47 that second base was a better fit, but he'll go wherever they need him to go. Like, it's not like he hasn't played at all three positions in the minor leagues. He has. My dream scenario for 2026 where the Cardinals are young and contending, though, I still have high hopes that, you know, they're going to be a team that's not going to be some pushover for everybody else in the league. But contending, everybody's healthy, guys are playing to the best of their abilities. My dream scenario, as far as the infield goes, would be Olin Gorman at third,

Starting point is 00:17:22 when it's short, JJ at second, early at first. I still have Donovan on this roster, but he's going to be in left field. I don't have him traded. I got him over in left field. I'd rather see him out there. Victor in center field, Walker and right field, Yvonne Herrera, Deaching, Jimmy Crooks at catcher. Clearly, we're facing only right-handed hitters or pitchers, I'm sorry, with this particular

Starting point is 00:17:45 line of, only the righties. then for, I don't know, we can have some fun here. Batting lineup, let's see. I still kind of like JJ at the top of the order. I know there's hope that Victor Scott can be that guy. We'll see. But I kind of want my best hitters right at the top of the order. I want to see them coming around as many times as possibly can.

Starting point is 00:18:07 And right now, Victor Scott's not that guy. Maybe he proves us wrong and becomes way better in 2026. We'll see. but if JJ's everything he's supposed to be, he's got me one of your top guys, right? So give me JJ at the top of the order. Mason win, bat in second, then Burley, Yvonne Herrera is my cleanup guy.

Starting point is 00:18:26 Donovan's still on the team. So give me Donnie with his contact skills of her Gorman's power. I'll put Donnie, then Gorman, Walker, Crooks, Victor. How's that? And against lefties, you can sub out crooks, put in Pahas, and move him down a little bit.

Starting point is 00:18:42 Or you can have them stay at eight. Yeah, that's fine. And this is where grabbing another right-handed outfielder or having another righty like Sujacy or Jose Fermin, that comes into play to give the order a little more balance. I saw that there was another report from John Heyman, same guy, who said the Cardinals had an interest of Miguel Andouhar, who was also saying the Cardinals are among the teams that have checked in on Austin Hayes. Again, last episode, I talked about Austin Hayes.

Starting point is 00:19:09 We've talked about Austin Hayes and Miguel Andrew Harr and Harrison Bader as really nice fits for what the cardinals are missing. It doesn't mean they're going to go get these guys or they're going to pay these guys. You know, I'm not asking them to go out and spend a ton on someone, which is why I don't think Harrison Bader is going to be a cardinal again. He's going to be out of their price rage. He's going to want multiple years. He deserves it after the year he put up last year.

Starting point is 00:19:35 I also don't care at this point if they got to pay Hayes or Andrew Har and they just so happen to be one of the, you know, highest salaries on the team this year. I don't care. I don't care. Like, you know, it's going to be a one-year deal. They're not going to give out two years to either one of these guys. So if they do decide to sign, it's going to be a one-year deal. If things aren't going, well, you flip them at the deadline. I mean, as far as the team, but if they're hitting, you know, you can flip them at the deadline for something or the contract expires and you move on with your life and they go away. No big deal. It makes sense for them to look internally first,

Starting point is 00:20:13 considering how they're running things like that makes a ton of sense. Why wouldn't you give guys in your organization already a chance to to step up and be that guy? But since this is the offseason and it's more fun to speculate and look at different names and different guys to see who makes sense, those are the three guys I've landed on. I do like Starling Marte as a guy at 37 years old. But again, I feel like at this point in his career, he'll probably want to go somewhere where he's winning and not in a rebuild spot. So I don't think that makes a whole lot of sense. But what about former Cardinal Randall Gritchick, who didn't have a great year in 2025?

Starting point is 00:20:50 But in 2024, hit 319 against lefties with six home runs and 32 RBIs and 184 plate appearances. 203, hit 328 with eight home runs and 15 RBIs against lefties and 134 plate appearances. 2022, 308, 11 home runs, 37 RBIs against lefties and 180 plate appearances. has been a part-time guy for a number of years at a down year last year. So he's probably going to be a little bit cheaper. I don't know how his ability is to play center field anymore. I don't, but he certainly can play the corner spots for you if you need him to. Obviously, he can be H.

Starting point is 00:21:27 The track record is there for what the Cardinals need. A right-handed bat. They can do some damage against lefties, but doesn't necessarily need to be paid like a regular everyday type of guy or is looking to be a regular everyday type of guy. going to be cheaper than both Hayes and New Har. I don't just something to think about. I don't hate that idea.

Starting point is 00:21:48 We're going to do some Emily News and Notes next. So let me know what your thoughts on the ideas of even dipping into the free agent waters and bringing in a right-handed hitter. I think it makes sense. Will the Cardinals do it? Will it make sense for them because of what they're trying to not spend here in 26? You can say that.

Starting point is 00:22:09 You can say that, sure, they're not going to do it. do that. They're going to see Jacey or Fermin or Herrera is going to move out together. They'll figure something out. But those are some guys that, you know, if they do decide to go for agent-wise, it makes sense. Let me know if that makes sense to you. MLB news and notes are next. Two monster deals for pitchers took place. We'll get into it next on Locked on Cardinals. Thanks again for making Lockdown Cardinals your first listen of the day. Thank you for making locked on the number one sports podcast network. Freddie Peralta, goodbye. No longer. and the NL Central, now a member of the New York Mets,

Starting point is 00:22:52 but it was not a cheap move for New York to make this move. New York's been busy recently. They've been busy. But this was an expected deal. I was talking with Chuck from Locked on Brewers, and he's like, I've been waiting for this deal with the Mets to go down for a while now. Finally, it's done. Brewer sent their number one guy in Peralta,

Starting point is 00:23:12 plus pitcher Tobias Myers to the Mets in exchange for two top 100 prospects and infielder Jet Williams and pitcher Brandon. Sprote. I like this deal for both teams. If I'm the Mets, I'm in that win now window. We need somebody to make an impact in that rotation. Bang, you go get Peralta. Good for you. You got him. Final year of his deal. So I'm sure the Mets are going to be thinking extension. If they can do it, I don't know if Peralta is going to want to do that. Obviously, hitting free agency can be very fruitful. The Brewers got two guys who scouts are very high on. You know, Jet Williams, I think he was inside the top 30 of the top 100 prospects last year.

Starting point is 00:23:56 And he just looks like a brewer. He's not very tall. He's 5-7, but he's versatile. He's got speed, can play in a number of different areas, good defense, has some pop despite his size. Seems like an annoying type of Milwaukee Brewer thing to do, right? So, smart to get him. And then you get Sprote, who, you know, looking out scouting reports on him, people, think that he slides in as a solid number four, number five guy with upside. So that's exactly what the brewers were looking for. You know,

Starting point is 00:24:27 they want guys that are going to help their roster now. And in the long run, and they trust their system as far as developing pitchers. They've been able to do it pretty darn well. So it makes sense for both teams. Good deal on both sides, in my opinion. Glad Freddie's no longer in the division. But at the same time when I went and looked at,

Starting point is 00:24:44 because you're like, don't the Cardinals hit him kind of well? Yeah, they did. he's only five and six with a 4.67 ERA against the Cardinals in his career. So I think it's not such a great thing that he's out of out of the division, at least for one year. The other big deal was McKinsey Gore, the left-hander from the nationals, ends up going to the Texas Rangers for five prospects, which seems quite steep, although I think I saw that none of them were in MLB's

Starting point is 00:25:10 top 100 and MLB Pipelines top 100 prospects, but more like a quantity over quality. But that's because the Rangers, their system doesn't have. I think they only had one guy in the top 100. So it's not like they could do any better than that except for their top guys. So five different prospects, more bites at the Apple for Washington. But Gore was a really good pitcher in the first half. He was an all-star for Washington, but had an ugly second half.

Starting point is 00:25:41 ERA was over six. but he did have career highs and strikeouts, quality starts. His baseball reference war was at three across 30 starts last season. And he fell two to third inning short for the ERA title. But if he would, he would have ranked third in the NL with 10.43Ks per nine. So, I mean, it's not like he was just crap all season. They said some arm fatigue was part of the problem at the end of the year. We understand how that can happen.

Starting point is 00:26:12 We've seen our pitchers go through that too when they're not used to making that many starts throwing that many innings. It happens. He'll be joining a rotation now that already has Jacob de Grom, Nathan Evaldi, Jack Lider, Kumar Rocker. So a nice move, I think, for the Rangers, like, good for you. And then we've got some news on Max Scherzer. And I know Cardinals fans would love to see him in St. Louis.

Starting point is 00:26:37 Of course, it would be cool. We'd love to see him come home and put the birds on the bat on his chest. apparently he is more than content of just waiting things out, looking for the right opportunity before signing for the upcoming season. He told the athletic on Thursday that while he is healthy and ready to sign at any moment, he's content waiting after opening day if he needs to for a spot to emerge with one of his preferred clubs. Now they did not list who his preferred clubs were, but if I had to guess, it's something I've been saying all off season,

Starting point is 00:27:08 why would he sign with a rebuilding team unless he just really, wanted to pitch in St. Louis and come home. Why, oh, why? What do you want to sign with the Cardinals when he could sign with one of these other big market teams who are in the mix for a playoff spot and a World Series championship while the Cardinals are nowhere close? And it seems like that's probably what he's going to do. You know, depending on injuries here in spring training, some of these teams can be like,

Starting point is 00:27:40 yeah, we just lost so-and-so. let's go, whether it's, you know, Philly. Could it be the Mets again? Would the Yankees be interested in him? I mean, L.A. Dodgers, they don't really need him. But, you know, they're a bunch of different teams. Can he come back to Toronto? That's a possibility, too.

Starting point is 00:27:57 But sorry, guys. It doesn't look like Max Scher's going to be a Cardinal. And may never be a Cardinal. This might be his last year. All right, thanks for making a lockdown cardinals. Your first listen every day. If you haven't already, give us a follow on X at L.O. underscore Cardinals and a J.D. Sports Radio.

Starting point is 00:28:10 You can find me on TikTok and Instagram. at Lockdown Cardinals. Like, subscribe on YouTube and help our channel and love for the Cardinals grow. If you never miss an episode, hey, every day or club, it's here. It's built for you. Get Locked on Cardinals ad free plus members,

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Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - How Yadier Molina’s Return Will ELEVATE Ivan Herrera’s MLB Play For The St. Louis Cardinals In 2026

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