Cardinals Tab Ex-Cub Willson Contreras as Yadier Molina’s Replacement
Willson Contreras is staying in the NL Central Division, moving from the Chicago Cubs to one of their long-time rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals.
According to multiple reports, the 30-year-old catcher signed a five-year, $87.5-million contract with the Cardinals on Wednesday. Once finalized, the deal will pay him $17.5 million per season through 2027 – his age-35 campaign.
St. Louis, of course, needed to replace Yadier Molina after he retired following 19 seasons with the franchise. And it’s safe to say the front office has accomplished that feat by landing the top catcher available in free agency.
Contreras, a three-time All-Star, spent seven seasons with the Cubs from 2016-22 and received his first taste of the major leagues during the franchise’s 2016 World Series run. It marked the beginning of a very successful tenure in the “Windy City.”
The right-hander has been among the top offensive catchers in the sport since his rookie campaign, hitting .256/.349/.459 with 117 home runs and 365 RBIs across 734 games. He also posted a 118 wRC+, third highest among big-league catchers.
Contreras was also extremely valuable at his position in Chicago, earning the fourth-highest fWAR (15.5) in the majors since 2016. He trailed only J.T. Realmuto (29.6), Yasmani Grandal (24.6) and Buster Posey (20.4) in that regard.
Defensively, the 6-foot-1 backstop has logged 5,017.2 career innings behind the plate, seventh-most in the majors since 2016. His average pop time to second base has ranked in the 75th percentile or higher in all seven of his professional seasons, according to BaseballSavant.
St. Louis’ newest catcher doesn’t grade overly well with pitch framing however, as he owns +1 Catcher Framing Runs or fewer and a sub-50 percent strike rate in six of his seven seasons. The COVID-shortened 2020 season was the only time he exceeded both figures.
Before signing Contreras, there was plenty of speculation across the industry about who the Cardinals would acquire to fill the void left by Molina. And there certainly wasn’t a shortage of potential options at their disposal.
Contreras and Christian Vázquez were management’s top two targets in free agency, with the former Cub leading the way at the end. But they were also interested in the trade market, reportedly exploring Oakland’s Sean Murphy and Toronto’s Danny Jansen.
With a surplus of outfielders that includes Dylan Carlson, Lars Nootbaar and Tyler O’Neill, the team considered flipping one of those players to address its need at catcher. But, after much consideration, they opted to keep all three while making a splash on the open market.
The Cardinals, however, could still decide to trade from that trio before next season, especially with holes remaining in their bullpen and starting rotation.
Contreras, meanwhile, has massive shoes to fill as he embarks on the next chapter of his major-league career. His responsibilities now shift to managing a pitching staff headlined by Adam Wainwright, Miles Mikolas and Jack Flaherty.
The native of Venezuela will make his highly-anticipated return to Wrigley Field on May 8, beginning a three-game series versus the Cubs.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @ThomasHall85
Photo: Arturo Pardavila III. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.