OCTOBER 29: Wainwright receives a $2MM guarantee, per Jon Heyman of Fancred (via Twitter). Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter link) has details on the extensive list of incentives. Wainwright can earn the following salary boosts:
- For games started, he’ll earn $500K upon his fifth start, $1MM upon his tenth and 15th, $1.5MM for his twentieth, and $2MM apiece for his 25th and 30th. Maxing out this run of bonuses would add $8MM of salary.
- For relief appearances, Wainwright can earn $500K apiece for every fifth appearance, beginning at #35 and ending at #60. That provides an avenue to $3MM in extra money.
- For games finished, Wainwright will receive $500K for the 25th and 30th game in which he records the final out and $600K for every fifth game finished beginning at #35 and ending at #55. If Wainwright serves as the Cards’ closer and meets all of those thresholds, he’d tack on another $4MM, meaning he could in total earn up to an additional $7MM in a relief capacity.
OCTOBER 11, 2:18pm: Wainwright’s contract includes incentives based on both starting and relieving, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports (on Twitter). The contract’s base salary remains unknown.
12:24pm: The Cardinals announced Thursday that they’ve re-signed right-hander Adam Wainwright to a one-year contract for the 2019 season. Wainwright, who recently turned 37, had been slated to hit free agency. He’s a client of Aegis Sports Management.
The 2019 season will mark the 15th Major League season of Wainwright’s illustrious career — each of which has come as a member of the Cardinals. A two-time NL Cy Young runner up and four-time top-three finisher in that voting, Wainwright has now tied righty Bob Forsch for the third-most seasons as a Cardinals pitcher in team history.
This past season was an injury-plagued campaign for Wainwright, who pitched just 15 1/3 innings in April before hitting the disabled list due to elbow inflammation. He returned after a few weeks only to land on the disabled list after just 2 1/3 innings. That second DL stint, which was also initially due to elbow inflammation lasted nearly four months.
Once healthy enough to return to the mound, Wainwright reeled off 17 shutout innings on a minor league rehab assignment and returned to the Cards to make four starts in September. He was tagged for four runs in three of those four starts and turned in an unsightly 4.84 ERA in 22 1/3 innings, but he also notched an impressive 25-to-4 K/BB ratio in that time and saw his fastball jump back up to the same levels at which it sat in 2016-17.
The question for St. Louis now is one of just how Wainwright will factor into the 2019 staff. The Cards weren’t lacking rotation options even without Wainwright, with Carlos Martinez, Jack Flaherty, Miles Mikolas, Michael Wacha, Alex Reyes (if healthy), Luke Weaver, Dakota Hudson, John Gant, Daniel Poncedeleon and Austin Gomber all on the roster. It’s not clear that he’ll be promised a rotation spot at this point, but perhaps a return to the bullpen shouldn’t be entirely discounted. The Cardinals’ relief corps was somewhat jumbled late in the season after a massive overhaul prior to the non-waiver trade deadline in which Greg Holland, Sam Tuivailala and Tyler Lyons were all sent packing.
Bud Norris, who spent much of the season closing in St. Louis before ceding that role to Martinez in the latter’s return from the disabled list, is a free agent and isn’t any sort of lock to return. August addition Tyson Ross is bound for the open market, too. Meanwhile, 2017-18 offseason pickups Luke Gregerson (two-year, $11MM free-agent deal) and Dominic Leone (acquired from the Blue Jays for Randal Grichuk) combined for just 36 2/3 innings due to injury.
The 2018 season wasn’t all bad for the Cards in terms of bullpen developments, though. Flamethrowing young righty Jordan Hicks arrived on the scene and established himself as a potential long-term piece, while righty John Brebbia somewhat quietly turned in an excellent sophomore season. Wainwright could certainly be penciled in to join that pair, along with some of the rotation candidates who don’t ultimately secure starting jobs, though perhaps the team will simply wait until Spring Training to see how the staff comes together. The Cards, after all, figure to have a busy offseason ahead of them as they look to rework a flawed roster, and it’s possible that some of those younger pitching options could land elsewhere via the trade market.
Regardless of his role, Wainwright will return to serve as a leader on a staff of considerably younger arms, and his new contract will give him one more year with Yadier Molina — one of the most iconic pairings in franchise history.
Move him to the bullpen
That’s the only place for him..
Depends on Carlos Martinez
Why? I’m believe this Mozillak is killing this team. Time to move on from this bum
Why not? His contract is probably loaded with incentives and a relatively small amount guaranteed to minimize the risk, and if it turns out he can’t pitch, so what. The veteran leadership/borderline coaching of Wainwright is something this team NEEDS with all of the young pitchers in both the rotation and bullpen. Either way, there’s benefit to this signing
Classy move by a class organization. After a winter off to recuperate, he might surprise a lot of MLB fans. If I get the chance to bucket list a few visits to other stadiums, St Louis is first on the list.
Classy move? If that is your position then you must be conceding that its not a good baseball move. Enjoy your trip to St. Louis watching them miss the playoffs again but hey they made a classy move you say
Check back this time next year and we’ll see how it all washes out with Wainwright
How is this not a good low risk move? It’s incentive laden so it he doesn’t pan out there’s really no harm. We have lots of young pitching. But if he is back, why watch him do it in another uniform? He’s all class and is a positive influence. You on the other hand are not and can’t be from St Louis
I didn’t know “classy moves” helps a team win a WS?
They don’t. But classy organizations win.
I don’t think giving Wainwright a contract will make or break the Cardinals season.
MetsYankeesRedSox, I agree. Classy move by a classy organization for a classy player! Glad to have Waino back and wish him a very successful year!
MetsYankeesRedsox. Unfortunately a lot of our Cardinal Fan are not old enough to remember our really Bad years and when the Brewery was really calling the shots because if they did then they would appreciate a lot more what we have! By the way Great Job and Congratulations to your Red Sox!
@straus and @jkb did you guys start watching baseball in 2015?
Only when their parents let them stay up late!
Don’t you believe he’s a St. Louis Cardinals for life
Why is it that someone can say something and get a ton of likes and another person says the SAME THING and gets all the hate? Wth?
Why does it matter to you what anonymous strangers on the internet think of you?
I might not even be real!
Oh no Pope Marely created a new troll account…how about some baseball opinions mr barron…oh thats right you dont have any
Because you care so much about it. Stop.
on the app there is no place to like or dislike a comment. I can’t even see likes. at least not on my phone. Also it doesn’t always put a capital letter after a period. that’s weird.
I wish they would update the app. Have notifications too. And an option to delete or edit your comment. Sometimes I have long drawn out paragraphs and I’m typing so fast and my autocorrect changes a word or two, it’s even worse if it changes to a curse word and I hit send and the post isn’t approved cause ya adults aren’t allowed to swear apparently.
lol, I agree
An ignore button would be great…not that anyone would use it on me.
I’m sorry, did you say something?
You can fill out a butt-hurt report if it will make you feel better.
Penmanship counts.
You actually check the “likes” haha. I guess you lack confidence in your own positions. You want everyone to like you. Cute.
@tom nice burner account xabial
Been here longer than u, posting here for years…
Harry, try to have an account older than 2018 before you accuse other people of “burner”.
Case101, ladies and gentlemen.
who’s to say this is my first account
I support this. The upside isn’t huge but I think from a human perspective the ball club is giving the fans and player what they want.
The upside is not close to huge. Its minimal
Nitpick much.
This is a great move for the Cardinals and Wainwright purely from a respect stand point! Wainwright probably doesn’t have much more than a year maybe 2 left! So this way he say he played is whole MAJOR league career with the Cardinals and retire a Cardinal…..
As for a baseball move’ this could potentially block one of those talented starters they have! With Martinez, Mikolas, Flaherty, and Reyes that only leaves 1 spot in the rotation for Waino, Gomber, Gant, Weaver, and Poncedeleon.
Granted there are question marks regarding Reyes, but he is still potentially the best of the bunch! Then Gant could be a great long reliever as well.
If he can go 2-3 innings in relief and offer an occasional start the contract will be worth it. Reyes may start the year in Memphis according to D.Goold. All the young arms still need to make it to the end of the season fresh. Martinez, Mikolas, Flaherty, I am sure of. Weaver should bounce back. Injuries happen too. When Reyes is ready he’ll have his spot
If he is in the bullpen then it is a great fit!
Like I said it is great for him, the fans, and the organization from a personal stand point….not necessarily from a pure baseball move though. Unless he is in the bullpen!
Wacha is in the rotation, the only spot open is Reyes if he’s not healthy
Wacha is guaranteed a spot long before Reyes is.
Both are guaranteed spots on the DL
Over the course of 162 games, even if you have 10 guys that can start in your stable, chances are, you are gonna use all of them.
I like it
Now my day is complete.
Great. Thanks Mo. He’s gonna end up tearing down his reputation, and I don’t want to see that. This is a roster spot for Daniel (the Explorer) Poncedeleon, Dakota Hudson, or Ryan Helsley. Again, thanks Mo.
And those guys can still earn it.
It’s not like wainwright has to have and has to hold this roster spot all year. If there are better performers, they’ll earn it from him
Redbirds do nostalgia. A spot on the 25 man is valuable for teams trying to secure a playoff spot. Probably bullpen or nothing and I expect him to have to compete for a roster spot (might not be likely w/ the cardinals). If he does make it, I am guessing a DL stint is in his future and/or an Ichiro-like move to afront office/coaching roll before the race really heats up next season. Redbirds have an uphill battle in their division, this doesn’t help.
Great for him and the team. I still remember that JD Drew trade, man what he could have done for the Braves!
DUMB, DUMB, DUMB, AND DUMB
And your comment just oozes with intelligence
They always do.
not much else to say about the signing.
With the current roster of pitchers, the only ones that can be counted on to go past six innings with any regularity were Mikolas and Martinez. There’s clearly a need for an “innings eater” on the staff that can take the pressure of younger starters to go deeper. Why go out looking for a veteran innings eater than can swing between the rotation and the bullpen when you have one already on the team? I love the move, and not just from a nostalgia standpoint. He pitched pretty well when healthy, and can actually help a team between the lines. It’s a one year deal, Shildt isn’t Matheny, so Wainwright won’t get 30 starts unless he’s pitching well enough to deserve 30 starts.
While I like the move, Waino is past the point of being an innings eater.
Agreed, however I’m glad they signed him for one more year. I do think his presence in the clubhouse and dugout are a tremendous boost to these young players!!! He and Yadi are basically the only remaining star players left from the teams under LaRussa that truly knew the Cardinal way that baseball should be played and exemplified from the past. I hope Yadi and Wainwright’s ideology and player respect over rides John Mozeliak’s ignorance and his creation of a “Low Hanging Fruit” starting line up.
Martinez’ season was a step backwards .. or at least a step sideways. But he’s still young. He could yet materialize into an Ace.
He’ll have to be in the bullpen. His arm can’t hold up a full season of starting. So this isn’t terrible. Some of the young’s guns are either gonna be in the rotation or probably used in trades. You can’t have a 10-Man rotation, so this gives the ‘pen a veteran presence to help Hicks as it seems Norris will be gone and hopefully they just cut Gregerson (bad signing from the beginning). So this could be a case of one vet to replace two, which could allow them to keep some of those young arms in the pen if not in the rotation or traded. If it is indeed incentive-laden, then it’s not gonna hit the checkbook very hard. Overall, at this point in time, may not be a bad move.
it was time to get rid of the fella and that clearly did not happen here
They paid him $97.5m and got barely 2 1/2 seasons.
Surprised they doubled down on this guy. It’ll be interesting to see the terms of the deal.
Probably a little under that $97 mill. 🙂
Cubs gave 159 million to 2 broken pitchers last offseason, now are facing 40 plus million in arbitration raises this offseason.
Now they are bumping up against luxury tax threshold, with needs within the whole pitching staff.
Pot calling the kettle black there..
This signing is another reason why the Cards haven’t made the playoffs in 3 years.
I don’t think you quite get the whole cause and effect thing.
If you are talking to me, I don’t need a cause and effect thing. He’s an aging, beat up pitcher that the Cards need to move on. This is nothing more than a stupid, sentimental signing. Cut the cord. Move on.
The cause was sentiment. The effect will be a 4th year with no playoffs for the Cards
The shockwave felt throughout the entire organization after Oscar Tavares died in combination with the extension of Mike Matheny is the reason why they haven’t made the playoffs in three years
Cmon, bit dramatic on OT… he slashed .239/.278/.312 in 250 PAs, 67 wRC+.
No indication he would have made that much of difference. Matheny, on the other hand, maybe, but not Tavares.
Lol, you can’t pick a future stars numbers from a small sample size in his first mid season call up, that’s cherry picking at its finest. Scouting reports and the organization all expected him to be a superstar, middle of the lineup bat, those sources are a lot more credible than early numbers.
It’s more than just what OT would have brought to the team as well. The Cardinals have been trying to fill that hole ever since. They wouldn’t have had to trade for Heyward, Shelby Miller could have been used to fortify somewhere else. They would have had no reason to sign Fowler and would be free of that awful contract. It would be a much different team if OT was alive and living up to the expectations that the baseball experts had of him.
The Miller trade wasn’t a problem. Miller has yet to live up to expectations, his replacement in the rotation was current ace Carlos Martinez, and Heyward was pretty good during the one year they had them.
Now after Heyward left (not that resigning him would’ve been much better in hindsight), yes, I agree that the lack of Taveras has caused issues in the outfield ever since.
and bad decisions by the front office. Taveras was never a sure thing, so I don’t take much stock in anything he might have done. He could have just been another Grichuk for all we know. Losing Luhnow was the big blow. Now they are going to lose Laroque to the Mets.
Thats easy to say, when Astros pick 1-1 for four straight seasons. Lets see how Lunhow drafts at the backend of drafts for a few years. Mo made the Lunhow crew & old school baseball crew function within Cardinals. Not Lunhow, if anything Lunhow has used what he learned under Mo with thr Astro’s.. BTW Dan Kantrovitz did more in 3 seasons with STL then Lunhow did in 8 years with the club.
Mozeliaks ineptitude is the reason they will be going on 4 years with no playoffs
Just a poor thought out signing that was based on emotion and sentimentality.
Can someone explain the rules about Miles Mikolas? I’ve read that he’s a free agent after 2019?
He obviously doesn’t have the service time for that, so do the international signing rules apply to him instead? (because he pitched in Japan for three years)
He signed a two-year contract on 2017, so he’s a free agent after that (2019 season)
Yeah, but again: why? He had a year of service time, when he signed that contract. So, at the end of it, he’ll have three.
It is because Mikolas had it written into his contract that he could become a free agent after 2 years! Due to his age, not completely due to international signing rules! Oh signed the same type of contract making him a free agent after 2 or 3 years…whatever it was.
I think any player over 24(?) can have that stipulation put into the contract, it is just finding a team to agree to that. The Cardinals were ok with it, so agreed to it!
braves25 already explained but there’s a paragraph on vivaelbirdos site, “Do the Cardinals Need to Make a Decision on Miles Mikolas?” article, related to your doubt
Thank you, just read it. Clears everything up.
The question Cards fans must ask themselves is does Wainwright help this team win? If you think he does, this is a good signing.
Keep this in-mind; Cards can use help in the bullpen. May as well give Wainwright the shot to make the team, pitch (in the bullpen most likely), and hope he can be an effective asset. He may also be asked to mentor Hicks for a full season.
The thing about guys like Wainwright (aging pitcher who used to be Cy Young level) is that it’s never impossible for them to perform at a high level again.
It’s not like a position player, where when the bat or the eye sight goes, and the running speed goes with it, it’s 100% over, because it becomes physically impossible to hit major league pitching, or defend and run the bases at this level.
You CAN be effective with diminished stuff, as a pitcher, because you don’t need to run well, you don’t need great reflexes, you don’t need to throw hard, you just have to find the right grip and throwing motion, and be smart enough with your pitch selection to trick the hitter.
It’s not easy, you have to figure out how, and that can take a lot of experimenting, and a lot of struggle. But you see it from time to time: a pitcher dominates (not just by having great stuff…no pitcher can dominate just with great stuff, it still takes a lot of work to harness your stuff), then the stuff drops off and he struggles for a while…but he keeps working at it, and, eventually, leverages all that experience and baseball intelligence, and figures out a new way to be effective.
So why wouldn’t the Cards bet a tiny portion of their payroll on Wainwright? It’s a long shot, but the potential reward is massive. If he finds something, he can be a starter for them for several more years.
Oh so position players cannot rebound you say but aging pitcher will? So the arm gets better with age huh?
Mom grounded you from watching TV so now you come here trolling?
Well then sign his as a coach and he can mentor several players
A surfeit of pitchers and nowhere to put them. The answer is not quantity but quality. As demonstrated by my team, the Brewers who have the best bullpen in the game. Veterans like Soria and Cedeno who are finesse pitchers to ice in his veins Corbin Burnes to the flamethrowers Knebel, Hader and Jeffress The only pitchers who qualify for bullpen based on our standards are Hicks and Martinez
Wainwright isn’t the guy he once was, but as said in the article, the 25-4 strikeout to walk ratio and the little boost in velocity shows that he can still be effective in spurts. He clearly can’t be counted on to start but I think in a bullpen role he would provide good innings for the Cardinals. He will also have the opportunity to serve as a mentor for an extremely young staff and as a Braves fan I saw the benefits first hand of having a veteran pitcher on staff to help the young ones learn how to pitch and take care of their bodies through the long season.
I just hope that Matt Carpenter is busy this winter making gallons and gallons of salsa :•))
Just seems to be a waste of money at this point
There isn’t anything to hate about the move.
As rough as the last three years have been for Wainwright, he has had a league average starters FIP and has a lot of clubhouse positive presence.
Best case, he eats 100 league average innings for the team.
Worst case, he is hurt all year or performs poorly and needs to retire early.
He, and the organization believe in the best case.
I would love to see him in a multi-inning long relief role because He can still go out there and put up excellent 3 inning stretches, but I wonder what the team would lose by having him in the bullpen rather than the dugout. He’s been so involved with keeping the newer players up to speed and integrating them into the clubhouse, as well as keeping the mood positive. It’s hard to know where he would be most effective.
I like this deal for both parties
If Waino is conscripted into closer duties, that’ll mean the Cards will miss the playoffs for a 4th consecutive season.
Why would they even think of doing that?
I was going off of the update on this article, but there are many Cards fans that are living in the past. Thinking he’d be able to do what he did in the 2006 playoffs & WS. But they just can’t seem to come to terms that his stuff is nowhere near what it was then.
As for the Cards FO, you gotta remember that they were willing to go into this past season with Gregerson as the closer. So it’s not out of the realm of possibility that they’d do that with Waino, as well.
Well I dont see how you could be wrong in thinking the Cardinals see him as a potential closer… its built into his incentives as a back up plan if he doesnt start.
NVM that on eve of opening day they signed Holland to be the closer, or that by end of ST Leone was taking the ball in 9th.
But hey dont let the facts get in your way..
Welcome back Wainwright to the Cardinals
Nostalgia is a powerful drug.
Several 60 day DL coaching appearances next season!
I’ve got a good feeling about this low risk high reward signing.
my math might be off, but it seems he can max out at $9m not $8m
Nice writeup!
Great job Cards! Waino is still a valuable arm. Well done. Lol. He blows. Stupid Cardinals