With today's second place Cy Young finish, Cardinals righty Adam Wainwright took a major step toward seeing his 2012 and 2013 contract options become guaranteed. The options will become locked in if he does not finish the 2011 season on the disabled list, reports MLB.com's Matthew Leach. He'll earn $9MM in '12 and $12MM in '13, plus award bonuses for his Cy Young votes. Thanks to Mike Lutz for pointing this out via Twitter, and to Cot's Baseball Contracts for the details.
Cardinals GM John Mozeliak signed Wainwright to a team-friendly extension in March of 2008, during a brief period where double club options were popular. Had Wainwright not signed the deal, he would have been arbitration eligible for the third time this winter and eligible for free agency after '11. Wainwright doesn't appear to have any regrets; in fact, he told Leach and other reporters today he hopes to finish his career in St. Louis.
Wow! What a bargain for the Cards. He’s going to be demanding a monster contract when this one is up.
That’s a bargain for what the redbirds are getting out of him
Fixed an error on the salaries.
Fixed an error on the salaries.
That trade just keeps paying off. IIRC, they gave up JD Drew and Eli Marrero for Jason Marquis, Ray King, and Wainwright. They got the best years out of King and Marquis. And now it’s Wainwright turn. I think Atlanta might want a “do-over” on that trade.
Those type of trades make u cringe when u think about it. I still get mad that the giants traded Joe nathan.
Don’t be, the GIANTS WON THE WORLD SERIES! Trades like that made the team worse and allowed us to get the draft picks high enough for guys like Timmeh, Buster, and MadBum. They should totally make an A.J. Pierzynski statue lol not really. He still sucks.
Those type of trades make u cringe when u think about it. I still get mad that the giants traded Joe nathan.
yea…. there’s that trade…
and then there’s when we (the Braves) traded Feliz and Andrus (and Harrison, and Salty) for half a season of Teix….
No… it’s a season of Tex, season and a half of Kotchman, half a season of LaRoche, and 6 years of Marek. Wasn’t the worst deal in history.
And here I thought I was the only one that thought that. Also don’t forget that Feliz wasn’t one of the top prospects in the organization at the time.
and yet he was in Baseball America’s Top 100 prospects before the 2008 season? (Not long after the trade)
From Freefantasymagazine.com:
The final prospect was a doozey in Neftali Feliz. In rookie ball at the time, 18-year old Feliz had garnered some buzz, but wasn’t quite as hyped as some of the other Braves pitching prospects. Scouts saw Feliz’s fastball touch triple digits and were floored, it was just a matter of whether or not he could control his mid-90′s heat. The MiLB is filled with guys that can throw hard but all too often can’t harness their power. Feliz had only thrown 56 Innings for the Braves at that point, but had impressed mightily regardless of his control issues (4+BB/9).
At this point, Feliz was a high-ceiling prospect, nowhere near Baseball America’s 93rd best prospect as he was in 2008, and definitely not the same pitcher that Baseball America currently ranks as the 10th best prospect in all of baseball.
He was ranked number 93, a couple of months after the trade
those 2008 rankings, come out BEFORE the 2008 season.
did he really change that munch from the trading deadline to the off-season?
Apparently so. I also tried to post a link to Baseball America’s listing of the Braves prospects, which Feliz was not on. Keep in mind he had only pitched 56 professional innings at the time of the trade (in rookie ball). Certainly he was the prize of that trade, but that is evidence that hindsight is 20/20. From what I have read, Harrison was the piece the Braves were reluctant to give up, and he has (to this point) been a bust.
If he would have stayed in Atlanta, he would have been on the rankings that came out after the year.
Or if they would have done rankings right before the trade, he would have been on there; but BA just don’t do that.
He would have been on a top 100 prospect list after 56 rookie league innings? I’m skeptical that is true. But my point initially (I think… it was so long ago) was that Feliz wasn’t the centerpiece of that trade. I would stop short of calling him a throw-in, but he was the 4th most important part of that trade in the eyes of both teams at the time.
well, if we’re going to go correcting people… he only spent a year in ATLand Elvis is one of the best SSs in the AL, and Feliz is one of the best closers in the AL….Atlanta… has nothing to show now. Kotchman is useless besides his fielding, Marek is just an on-and-off minor leaguer… Laroche was pretty good for usTexas traded Salty for Chris McGuiness, Michael Thomas, Roman Mendez and cash.
Eh.
Sometimes trades are win-win. Drew hit .305/.436/.569 with 31HR’s and 93 RBI’s and was a 7.5 WAR in his one year with the Braves. And the Braves had a fair amount of pitching depth at that time. Hindsight is always 20/20, but just because Wainwright became great doesn’t mean it was a horrible deal for the Braves.
Braves fans love to talk about how we fleeced the Tigers in the Smoltz for Doyle Alexander trade, but seem to forget that Alexander went 9-0 with a 1.53 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP for the Tigers and helped them get to the playoffs.
And the Teixeira trade gets Braves fans all riled, but they seem to forget that the centerpiece of that trade wasn’t Feliz and that every piece that was traded for Tex was a redundancy (or at least a perceived redundancy) at the time.
Edit: Having said all of that, I would still love to have Wainwright, Feliz, and Andrus on the Braves, of course.
That trade just keeps paying off. IIRC, they gave up JD Drew and Eli Marrero for Jason Marquis, Ray King, and Wainwright. They got the best years out of King and Marquis. And now it’s Wainwright turn. I think Atlanta might want a “do-over” on that trade.
weird clause..would make sense if he won
You don’t think someone who finishes in the top 5 in Cy Young voting is worth 12MM?He will make 27.5MM over the next 3 years, 2 of which were free agency years. Great deal for the Cardinals.
I’m pretty sure he meant it’s a weird clause for Wainwright. Why would he want his years to become guaranteed if he’s coming off great performances? He could demand much more on the open market.
Of course he could, but that’s what you give up for the garaunteed money during your pre-arb and arbitration years.
Of course he could, but that’s what you give up for the garaunteed money during your pre-arb and arbitration years.
I’m pretty sure he meant it’s a weird clause for Wainwright. Why would he want his years to become guaranteed if he’s coming off great performances? He could demand much more on the open market.
You don’t think someone who finishes in the top 5 in Cy Young voting is worth 12MM?He will make 27.5MM over the next 3 years, 2 of which were free agency years. Great deal for the Cardinals.
weird clause..would make sense if he won
Wainwright deserves all the money he gets. This guy is the true definition of a big game pitcher. The Cardinals should try to lock him up even further down the line.
Second biggest bargain behind Jon Lester’s ridiculously team friendly five year, $30M contract extension.
The Sox paid Lester $3.75M in 2010. They pay him $5.75M in 2011 and $7.625M in 2012. 2013, when he’ll make $11.625M, is the first year he’ll make more than $10M. The Sox also have a club option for 2014 worth $13M. If Boston exercises the option, Lester will be 30 when the deal is done.
Over the last three years, Lester has thrown 621 innings, winning 50 games while putting up a 3.29 ERA, a 2.83 K/BB ratio and 0.7 HR/9. He’ll be just 27 in January, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility that he’ll get better. If this contract isn’t the most team friendly in baseball history, I don’t know what is.
Not to be rude, but what does that have to do with Wainright and this article?
My thought process:Wainwright –> Team friendly extension –> Most team friendly extension –> Lester.(It also didn’t hurt that they’re both pitchers and I had them both on one of my fantasy teams.)I didn’t think it was that for off base…
My thought process:Wainwright –> Team friendly extension –> Most team friendly extension –> Lester.(It also didn’t hurt that they’re both pitchers and I had them both on one of my fantasy teams.)I didn’t think it was that for off base…
Not to be rude, but what does that have to do with Wainright and this article?
My favorite pitcher, I love his story and hes great on the mound.
hey tim, what’s your source for this clause in his contract?
The options will become locked in if he does not finish the 2011 season on the disabled list
Cot’s didn’t have anything about this.
I don’t really like the Cardinals, but Wainwright is one of my favorite pitchers and I’m glad to see him have success. Now that I think about it, I really like Carpenter and Garcia too.
So maybe you really do like the Cardinals…?
I’d go as far to say that they are my second favorite team in the NL Central, but that isn’t really saying anything because I hate the Brewers, Cubs, and Reds. I do like some of their players, so maybe I do like them more than I am willing to admit.
Very strange clause. At the very least it should have been a player option. If Wainwright were to hit FA after this year he’d be looking at Cliff Lee money and probably an extra year two in contract duration.
Very, very smart contract by the Cards.
Another great player wanting to retire with the Cardinals. <3
Excellent pitcher with a team friendly contract. A major injury notwithstanding, the Cards should be happily paying him every dollar of that deal.
Your comment has nothing to do with the statement about Wainright,LOL!