I bet you thought that I was going to make some sort of jab about how Molina ought to be locked up, seeing as he’s a fight-starting, Brandon-Phillips-hating thug. But I’m not, and shame on you for assuming.

The St. Louis Cardinals, pocket nearly burned through with all the money they didn’t have to give to Albert Pujols, signed Yadier Molina to a 5-year, $75 meeeeeellion deal, the club announced today. From StLCardinals.com:

The Cardinals announced the contract extension during a press conference Thursday at the team’s Spring Training facility. A new five-year deal, which will begin with the 2013 season, will pay Molina $15 million per year. The contract also includes a mutual $15 million option that would extend the length a year further.

This new contract does not buy out the final year of Molina’s current five-year deal, meaning that the catcher will still earn $7 million in 2012. Molina would have become a free agent next winter had an extension not been reached.

Now, Yadi Molina is good. Like, maybe the best active catcher in the game. Like the kind of catcher that makes the manufactured Ryan Hanigan v Devin Mesoraco debate seems even more pointless than it already seemed. But $15 million a year for a catcher who will be 36 at the end of the deal? There’s no way that’s not overpaying at some point before 2018 is over.

But I guess they’ve got to spend their money somewhere, and someone needs to be the team’s identity now that Pujols is soaking up the California sun and Carpenter will be applying for Social Security. Might as well be Molina. Might just want to hold on to a little of it for fines, is all.

Spring Training will officially kick off this week, and pitcher Roy Oswalt still doesn’t have a job.

ESPN’s Jayson Stark described the situation.

“He wanted to go to Texas. That’s not gonna happen. He wanted to go back to Philadelphia. That’s not gonna happen. He had some interest in the Reds. That doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen. So his choices still come down to, I think, going to Boston, where they have a clear need but he doesn’t seem to want to play, and going to St. Louis, where all his friends say he would love to be. But to do that, he has to do it on their terms.”

Oswalt has been a very good pitcher over his career. At 34, he’s definitely on the wrong side of 30 and in the winding down stage of his career–which an off 2011 hinted at–but he’s still likely to be better than a bunch of other pitchers who already signed. So what’s the deal? Why does he think he gets to be so picky?

My advice would be to suck it up and pitch in Boston. They’re the one with the need for him. Plus, it sounds like they’d offer him the most money. Both the Cardinals and the Reds have crowded starting rotations at the moment, and although Oswalt would be an upgrade over some of those pieces, his price may not be worth it.

I’d, of course, rather the Cards not sign him. That could definitely hurt the Reds’ chances this year. And I find the point Red Leg Nation made compelling.

It’s always difficult to make assumptions about a team’s budget from the outside-looking-in, given that we know basically nothing about the franchise’s budget plan, but we can make some inferences from the fact that John Fay thinks that trading Homer Bailey could be an option towards freeing up some salary. The odd thing is, Bailey is only scheduled to make $2.425 million this year, and I find the idea that a MLB franchise in the Reds’ position would allow $2.5 million to come between them and a one year deal for a starting pitcher they want to acquire to be a bit of a hard pill to swallow.

It’s always easy to spend someone else’s money, but not getting Oswalt over a matter of $2.4 million when you’ve already decided to go all-in this year doesn’t sound right. You’re either all-in, or you’re not. Unless there’s something in the medical report on Oswalt that alarms the Reds, I will be most disappointed if Oswalt winds up in St. Louis.

Albert Pujols is dead to St. Louis Cardinals’ fans this evening.

Today, Pujols surprised everyone by signing a 10-year, $254 million contract with the Los Angeles Anaheim California Angels, spurning the Cardinals’ own 10-year offer.

Pujols, at a stated age of 31, will allegedly be 32 when the first season of the contract begins. By the end, he’ll be 41. Of course, rumors about his age being inaccurate have long surrounded him. If he’s fudged that by a couple years and is actually 33–starting 2012 at 34–he’s going to be one mightily overpaid 43 year-old.

I can’t help but thing that the Angels did the Cardinals a huge favor here. And I mean huge. Pujols has had key stats trending downward over the last few years, and he’s unlikely to change that in the future. Being saddled with that contract–with that expensive of a barely above average player in just a few years–would have been horrible for the Cardinals and wonderful for the Cincinnati Reds.

I was hoping the Cardinals would resign him. I saw how hamstrung the Reds were during the time Ken Griffey Jr was with the team. It’s taken years to overcome. Heck, they’re probably still paying him deferred money. The chance to see the Cardinals shoot themselves in the foot like that would have been thoroughly delicious.

As it is, Reds fans will simply have to take comfort in the fact that one more whiny bird has left the building. It really is a changing of the guard in St. Louis. Unfortunately, now they’ll have money to throw around, while the Reds squander away their time and talent.

This was posted on Red Reporter a few days ago, and it’s rather hilarious. Witness the awesome fielding of St. Louis Cardinals’ erstwhile shortstop Ryan Theriot.

Hmm. I guess that makes it obvious why he was moved to second base in the middle of the 2011 season.

The St. Louis Cardinals won the race among baseball teams to pick their new field manager, deciding on former catcher Mike Matheny to replace Tony La Russa. They beat the Chicago Cubs to the punch, although they had quite a head-start since La Russa told the GM back before the season was up.

It’s a departure for the Cardinals. General Manager John Mozeliak is going against what has proved successful for St. Louis for the last three decades.

Each of the team’s past three full-time managers, La Russa, Joe Torre and Whitey Herzog, had previously made the playoffs as a manager before being hired. The last man who didn’t fit that profile was another former Gold Glover in St. Louis, Ken Boyer, who managed from 1978-80 after winning five Gold Gloves as a third baseman with the Cardinals.

Matheny is a former catcher, which is so often a prerequisite for managers these days. And he’s one the Cardinals thought highly of, despite his lack of any offensive ability. Matheny was a good defensive catcher, though, and spent some time mentoring and teaching Yadier Molina as he broke into the majors for the Cardinals.

Since retiring, Matheny has served as a catching instructor and a special assistant for St. Louis. This considerable promotion will be announced in a press conference on Monday.