There are 20 catchers in the history of Major League Baseball that have a WAR (Wins Above Replacement) of 40 or higher. The top 10 names on this list, including Johnny Bench, Mike Piazza, and Yogi Berra, are all in the Hall of Fame. The latter 10 names includes only one Hall of Famer -- Roger Bresnahan, who played from 1897 to 1915.
At the very bottom of this group, in slot 20, is Yadier Molina, whose future has been a topic of interest this offseason given the coronavirus pandemic and how it may affect his durability, his career desires and his interest in remaining in St. Louis. Looking past his immediate future in the league, however, brings up another interesting question: is Yadier Molina destined for the Hall of Fame?
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In an interview with ESPN's Marly Rivera, Molina said that the Hall of Fame is often on his mind.
"Yes, I think about it," Molina said. "All I've done is work hard to get better and better every single year to become the best catcher I can be. And my numbers are obviously there.
"I think that, because of the way I catch, that I'm one of the best catchers to have ever played baseball."
Yadi followed this comment up with the fact that he wants everyone else to think of him as the best catcher to ever play the game when fans look back on his career.
Whether or not he's worthy of a position in the Hall could be a contested topic when that time comes. He has plenty of accolades on his side -- nine All-Star nominations (which is more than Ted Simmons, the most recent catcher to be inducted), nine Gold-Gloves, and two World Series rings, among others -- and is close to another important mark. Should Yadi record 37 more hits, he'll break the 2,000-hit barrier, becoming only the 10th catcher to do so. He says that it would be a "very important" accomplishment for him as one of the only Latin catchers to do so. Ivan Rodriguez leads all catchers with 2,844 hits.
But there are arguments to be made against his case. Was he ever hands-down the best catcher in the league at any given time? Do his cumulative counting stats give voters enough to make him a surefire entrant? If guys like Jorge Posada and Jason Kendall received just a 3.8% and 0.5% vote on their ballots, respectively, before being removed, should we assume that Yadi was that much better to make him the next backstop inducted?
These are all questions worth asking. For now, the more important matters are whether or not he remains in St. Louis, how the 2020 season could affect his career choices, and whether or not there will even be a 2020 MLB season. Yadi told Rivera that he thinks there will be, but is on a similar wavelength as everyone else, placing health and safety before every other aspect involved in bringing back our national pastime.
