Yadier Molina, Cardinals Reportedly Discuss Contract Extension

The St. Louis Cardinals and catcher Yadier Molina are reportedly engaged in "preliminary talks" regarding a contract extension.  

According to FanRag Sports' Jon Heyman, the two sides "are considering the start of the season an unofficial deadline" to reach an agreement. 

"Obviously Yadier’s been in the organization a long time and we’ve had a relationship going back years with Melvin [Roman, Molina's agent]," Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said, per Heyman. "And if there’s hope to do something mutually beneficial before the season, we will try to do that."

Mozeliak also cautioned that talks at this stage in spring training are "very preliminary." 

Now 34 years old, Molina has showed few signs of slowing down as he's entered what figured to be the twilight of his career. 

In 581 plate appearances last season, Molina posted a .307/.360/.427 slash line with eight home runs and 58 RBI and a .787 OPS. The seven-time All-Star also maintained a positive defensive wins above replacement output for a 13th straight season. 

As far as his current contract is concerned, Molina is slated to earn a base salary of $14 million in 2017. He also owns a mutual option worth $15 million for the 2018 season that includes a $2 million buyout. 

Considering Molina has been one of MLB's most consistent backstops for the last decade and more, he should wield quite a bit of leverage as the two sides prepare to sit down at the negotiating table in advance of the regular season. 

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com. Contract information retrieved from Spotrac.com.