Yanks Go Yard
FanSided

Yankees catching prospect hanging out with Yadier Molina is awesome

NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 14: (NEW YORK DAILIES OUT) Yadier Molina #4 of the St. Louis Cardinals in action against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on April 14, 2017 in the Bronx borough of New York City. The Yankees defeated the Cardinals 4-3. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 14: (NEW YORK DAILIES OUT) Yadier Molina #4 of the St. Louis Cardinals in action against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on April 14, 2017 in the Bronx borough of New York City. The Yankees defeated the Cardinals 4-3. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Remember for a brief moment last offseason when New York Yankees fans (well, mostly us) were clamoring for the team to make a run at Yadier Molina, who was a free agent, even though it seemed unlikely he’d leave St. Louis? Well, the Yankees were reportedly interested in the legendary Cardinals backstop, but he ended up re-signing.

If we can’t have him in the flesh with the organization, perhaps he can serve as an outside influence for our younger players in the pipeline, though, We’ll take anything we can get when it comes to a surefire future Hall of Famer.

That’s why Yankees top catching prospect Antonio Gomez hanging out with Yadi over the weekend made us feel even better about the youngster’s future.

Gomez was named the organization’s “Thrower of the Year” by the Yankees Player Development Staff in 2021 while also hitting .263 with a .792 OPS in his first true minor league season with the team (he played in just 15 games back in 2019).

Gomez’s caption translates to: “Idol! Legend! Example! What an honor to hear advice from you.” Yes, more advice, please, Mr. Molina!

There’s a long road ahead for Gomez, who just turned 20 years old, so he’ll need to soak up as much information as possible if he wants to become the organization’s catcher of the future.

Yankees prospect Antonio Gomez hanging out with Yadier Molina is … pretty cool

Maybe Yadi saw Gomez’s highlight reel and determined he was worthy of his sage advice? Gomez has thrown out 31% of baserunners in his 47 minor league games and has a sterling .991 fielding percentage. Toss in a bat that has the potential to hit for average and power … and that’s a promising asset to have in the farm system.

Yadi’s 18-year career has yielded nine Gold Gloves, 10 All-Star nods and two championships. He could’ve told Gomez what to eat for lunch every day and that would be enough to push the kid in the right direction.

Perhaps he taught the young gun how to properly party? What else were they doing during the evening in San Juan, Puerto Rico? We’ll take that, too, because we’re confident Molina had a pristine balance of dedication to the game and fun away from it.

Home/Yankees Prospects

Schedule