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Could Cardinals Hall of Famers Emerge as Mariners Manager Candidates?
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- Could Cardinals Hall of Famers Emerge as Mariners Manager Candidates?
Cardinals Hall of Famers Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina discuss how veteran players taught them to play the game and wanting to pass that knowledge along as MLB managers.
Could St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Famers and MLB managerial candidates Albert Pujols or Yadier Molina soon become targets for a Seattle Mariners franchise that could certainly use their unique skill sets and their impressive baseball resumes?
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Eight outs away from advancing to the first World Series in franchise history in 2025, the Mariners were one of MLB's biggest disappointments in 2026. Following a 76-86 season, where their usually reliable pitching flopped and their offense bottomed out, the Mariners fired Dan Wilson and started their pursuit of their next manager.
That's where Pujols and Molina – who both recently reaffirmed their desires to manage in the big leagues before being inducted in the Cardinals Hall of Fame on Sept. 12 – could come into the picture for a Mariners' club in need of a spark from their next manager. Pujols and Molina, who retired as players in 2022, recently addressed why they have remained in baseball and why they want to pass along the baseball knowledge taught to them as MLB managers.
"Every level that I played at, I was taught that, 'This is how we do it,' and by the time you get to the big leagues and you are around the veteran guys that I had at that time, it wasn't easy, but it was fun," Pujols said. "Ray (Lankford), Edgar (Renteria) and Jimmy (Edmonds) knew how important it was (to teach the game) and to help me feel comfortable. When I felt comfortable, I did my best and I performed. But that's part of the responsibility (of having strong leadership) and the history of this (Cardinals') organization."
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Added Molina: "The way the coaches taught us, we carried that for the rest of our careers. I'm so grateful to be a part of that and to be one of the players that Jose Oquendo and Joe Pettini cared about and pushed so hard and taught me how to play the game the right way."
Brady Farkas, of the Refuse to Lose podcast and Roundtable Sports, also recently mentioned Pujols and Molina as potential outside-the-box managerial candidates for the Mariners' open position.
Pujols, arguably the greatest right-handed hitter in the history of the game with his 703 home runs and 2,218 RBI, could serve as a built-in support system for star center fielder and fellow Dominican Julio Rodriguez. The Seattle star hit just .247 with only 22 homers in 2026 and saw a 90-point drop in his OPS from 2025. Rodriguez's frustration could be seen in his impatience at the plate as he had a chase rate of 38.6 percent (bottom 8 percentile in MLB). That likely played into his whiff rate rising and his average exit velocity falling from MLB's 87th percentile in 2025 to its 67th percentile in '26.
Even though he's never been an MLB manager, Pujols has managed Escogido to the Dominican Winter League Championship in 2025, and he was recently named the president of baseball operations for the Winter League club, Estrellas. Also, he has a working relationship with Rodriguez after managing him in the World Baseball Classic in March.
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Molina, arguably the best defensive catcher in MLB history with his nine Gold Gloves and his career 40.3 percent caught-stealing rate, could possibly get catcher Cal Raleigh back on track after a disastrous 2026 season both at the plate and defensively. A year after posting a .948 OPS with 60 homers and 125 RBI, Raleigh slumped to a .664 OPS with just 23 homers and 69 RBI in 2026.
Even more troubling was Raleigh's struggles behind the plate. He threw out just 10 of 68 base stealers in 2026, with that 15 percent success rate tying for 57th among all MLB catchers. His minus-5 Catcher's Caught Stealing Above Average rate was 69th of 72 qualified MLB catchers in 2026. For reference, Raleigh had a plus-2 CSAA in 2025.
For whatever reason, Raleigh saw his arm strength on throws drop. His average arm speed on throws to the bases was just 79.2 mph, tied for 46th among all MLB catchers.
Like Pujols, Molina has expressed a strong desire to return to an MLB dugout as a manager, and he took steps in that direction during the 2026 season. He worked with Cardinals catchers in Spring Training and was an in-dugout assistant coach for home games this past season under manager Oliver Marmol. Molina, who sat in on all coaching meetings during home series this past season, also worked as a roving scout for the organization, and he was used as an advisor for top catching prospect Leo Bernal. The 22-year-old Bernal, who was promoted to the big leagues on Aug. 31 after getting Molina's approval, had 21 RBI in 24 MLB games.
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Molina has managed Winter League action in Venezuela, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico each of the past three winters. The two-time World Series winner, who spent all 19 years of his MLB career with the Cardinals, also has twice served as Puerto Rico's manager for WBC play.
