Aug 8, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol (37) and guest coach Yadier Molina (4) react after right fielder Jordan Walker (not pictured) hit a solo home run against the Chicago Cubs during the sixth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

Cardinals' Yadier Molina Eyeing Longer Return To St. Louis

Originally posted on St. Louis Cardinals on SI
By Patrick McAvoy | Last updated Aug 9, 2025 10:13 AM ET

The St. Louis Cardinals are taking on the Chicago Cubs this weekend and an old friend and team legend is returning to town, at least for the weekend.

Former Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina has been talked about plenty since he retired. Molina has been outspoken since retirement that he wants to manage in the big leagues one day and consistently the Cardinals have been talked about as a potential landing spot.

It's hard to imagine Molina ever donning another jersey -- even if it means to manage. His entire 19-year big league career was spent in St. Louis. But, the Cardinals already have a manager, and a really good one at that. Oli Marmol has developed into one of the better managers in the National League. If you look strictly at the standings, that may not seem like the case. But, Marmol has navigated multiple trade deadine firesales and he gets this team ready to compete each and every day. It's tough to talk about a potential other manager, when Marmol is very good in his own right.

But, Molina has been someone speculated about for a long time now. He's returning to the club on Friday and it sounds like he wants to come back afterward.

Cardinals legend Yadier Molina hints at potential St. Louis return

Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

MLB.com's John Denton shared that Molina is hoping to return at a "couple more times" down the stretch if the club will have him.

"Yadier Molina said he is hopeful that his two-day stint with the Cardinals isn’t a one-off event. He said he hopes to join the team a couple more times this season to offer advice — possibly again in two weeks when the team is in Florida."

It's great to have the Cardinals legend back in town, especially for pivotal series like this one. Molina did it all in St. Louis. The timing is interesting at the very least, though. There are just a few months left to go in the season and then Chaim Bloom is going to take over as president of baseball operations. With Bloom, it's unclear what his vision is. We could look back and see how he did with the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays, but there's no way to know what he's going to do when he has full control of St. Louis.

Molina now will be someone to watch throughout the rest of the season.

This article first appeared on St. Louis Cardinals on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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