Veteran starting pitcher Lance Lynn announced his retirement today on his and his wife’s podcast, Dymin in the Rough. In his own words, “I am officially retiring from baseball right here, right now… from Major League Baseball, I am done pitching.”
Lynn spent his final season with the Cardinals, pitching to a 3.84 ERA and 4.40 SIERA over 117 1/3 innings. The team went 15-8 in his starts. It was a fitting way to go out, pitching for the same team with whom he spent the first decade of his professional career. The Cardinals selected Lynn in the first round of the 2008 draft, and he made his big league debut just under three years later. He would quickly become a key contributor in the Cardinals’ bullpen, helping the team to a World Series championship in the fall.
Taking on a full-time starting job for the first time, Lynn was an All-Star in 2012. Overall, across six seasons in St. Louis from 2011-17, the right-hander threw close to 1,000 innings. He went 72-47 with a 3.38 ERA and 3.94 SIERA. He then spent most of his thirties bouncing between organizations, pitching for the Twins, Yankees, Rangers, White Sox, and Dodgers before returning to the Cardinals. Although Lynn had a couple of rough seasons in that time, he also had a few of his best. He earned Cy Young votes each year from 2019-21, finishing fifth, sixth, and third, respectively. He was also an All-Star in 2021, when he pitched to a career-best 2.69 ERA. All told, Lynn threw just over 2,000 MLB innings and collected just over 2,000 strikeouts. He pitched to a 3.74 ERA and won 143 games.
Some might have worried that Lynn was nearing the end in 2023, when he pitched to a bloated 5.73 ERA between the White Sox and Dodgers. It was only the second time in his career that he posted an ERA above 4.00. That being said, he still made 32 starts that year, and his respectable 4.33 SIERA was an encouraging sign. The Cardinals clearly had faith in Lynn, signing him to a one-year, $11MM guarantee with a club option for 2025, and he proved them right. While right knee inflammation limited him to 23 starts, he looked like a perfectly solid back-end starter in those games. Aside from one blowup outing in July (2 2/3 IP, 11 R), he gave St. Louis a chance to win each time he took the mound. However, the Cardinals declined his $12MM team option for 2025.
While Lynn did have some suitors over the winter, the Cubs were one team known to have interest, he says, “The money didn’t work out.” He adds that he wasn’t particularly interested in the possibility of signing with a team mid-season. In other words, prolonging his career was not his top priority. To that point, he might have also had a chance to prolong his career by transitioning into a reliever – an option he seemed at least somewhat interested in when he discussed the topic with Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic in January. Yet, his comments suggest he is quite happy with the way he ultimately went out.
But why? The Brewers were just about to get desperate enough to call!
The Yankees would love to have Michael back too!
that’s exactly why, retirement is a better option
Thank God. Now Hoyer can stop thinking what I heard he was thinking. Thinking gets Jed into trouble. It throws off his EKG.
Maybe you mean EEG.
Maybe he means KEG
He told us why: “the money didn’t work out.” That means he could not get Verlander $$ and wasn’t willing to pitch for Gibson $$.
And talk of the HOF for Lynn is a delusion. Hall of the pretty good is more like it.
He was a good pitcher, including last year. It does seem like he retired because he didn’t want to pitch for a couple million. Kind of crazy.
$95 million in career earnings will do that to you.
Based on what guys like Quintana were getting (decent ERA, bad FIPs) he was probably in the 1/5-6m range. Maybe he was so sick of the grind his agent was telling teams 1/10m or no thanks.
He could have 100% continued to pitch but maybe the fact that he’s basically set for life financially he preferred to hang them up then pitch for a few extra million in career earnings. I’m not gonna hate on the guy for it
@BobinTexas HoPG, maybe, as he’s definitely not a Hall of the Very Good candidate. 288th SP, all time, with not even half the key numbers of a typical HOFer. Not half WAR, not half peak WAR, not half by JAWs.
Hall of the Not Bad At All, perhaps?
He was an .085 career hitter. Boston could have signed him as their new DH.
He had a solid career and was a top notch interviewee.
A sad day. One of my all time favorites. He was so fun to watch at his peak whipping every kind of fastball known to man over the plate.
Had two really solid runs with the Cards. Really good ball player and a good dude. Enjoy it, Lance!
Or is it an April fools joke, and tomorrow he announces he signed with the Twins?
Maybe he should’ve tried pitching with his glove on his hand and not his head. Great pic, and a tough competitor. Enjoy the rest, you earned it.
Hall of Fame is waiting.
Hall of Fame buffet is waiting.
For him to buy a ticket? Good pitcher but he lacks length and his peak wasn’t great enough to warrant that.
He has a good shot at the Cardinals HOF. He’s not likely to make it past his first ballot for Cooperstown.
He won’t get a single vote
The bar is getting lower each year for the Cardinals HOF. Since the vote depends largely (hah) on likability to the fan base, Lance is a slam dunk.
Odd imo, I think someone would have called.
Better to leave them wanting more. I’d like to think I’d be disciplined enough to do the same in his position.
“Leave them wanting”…Apparently, no one really “wanted more” of Lance, so he made the responsible and prudent decision to retire.
We don’t know that though. I’m sure at the absolute minimum somebody would have wanted him as depth, and major league opportunities would have presented themselves when pitchers got injured.
@JDgoat..that is true, although what I said is very possible too.
I always thought of that saying applying to the audience, so in this case the fans.
There were rumors all offseason that Lynn had suitors for at least a bullpen role which he was apparently open to.
More likely that no team met whatever his specific criteria was to keep playing whether it be geo, team, role, money, etc.
The guy will be 38 and pocketed $95 million in his career. He doesn’t need to go on, and it was time.
I think he still had has in the tank, but I guess he didn’t like any of the possible offers he got.
Yeah I fail to see how teams wouldn’t want to give him a minor league deal at least and stash him/take a look
Thanks for the memories from your excellent career. Enjoy your retirement.
Probably an April Fool’s joke
He said he’s done pitching. He is now in the outfield mix for the Cardinals…. move over Ankiel !!!
Now he can let his body go… Oh wait
Rangers offered him 3 million and he said BUY
Very solid career! Enjoy retirement Lance!
One of those guys all fans seem to like.
He also pitched for Team USA in the Classic.
Better retire than Cub he mused
I believe if Lance threw the Roger Beshens football slider 70% of the time and talked to Roger Beshens he could change his game for the better.
Is it possible he’s retiring in order to spend more time with Roger Beshens?
Congrats on your retirement, Lance!
He had a good career, and likely could have pitched into mediocrity for a couple more seasons.
“The money didn’t work out.”
I love that honesty. He could have pitched but chose not to because he wasn’t offered enough. And if he didn’t love the game enough to play for a lesser amount than it was time to get out.
Happy retirement Lance!
I donut like this news
Since he was trying to get a contract all off-season and he would surely at least get an offer to pitch at some point this season once injuries start piling up.
I’m guessing he hurt himself throwing and won’t be available this year and chances of rehabbing to pitch next year, while not impossible, at his age, just isn’t worth putting in the massive effort of rehabbing when there’s no guarantee he will be able to pitch at an MLB caliber afterwards.
He had a great career for a ballplayer and I wish him well.
I’m just curious if you actually read the article? Him saying the money wasn’t there, not being interested in joining a team mid way through the season, and that prolonging his career wasn’t a priority in no way secretly means ‘injured himself throwing and isn’t available this year’
For a multimillionaire, he lives a pretty simple life in the middle of nowhere. Maybe he just wants to enjoy it?
It is interesting that he had to include the phrase “right here and right now.” At least we know he is retiring here and now.
That’s to inform teams that he will not be accepting calls for offers and is shutting down keeping his arm warm. I like his forwardness.
Happy retirement, Lance!
Is his wife’s name really Dymin?
Yeah, that’s one thing. And she has a podcast?! Yeesh…
In his own words, Lance was waiting for teams to realise that 24yo’s aren’t going to give you enough innings. He had a number he would rescue them for. At least he goes into retirement with a slimmed down rig. Enjoy the family big fella.
Happy retirement Lance. You were a workhorse in the game. An innings eater that you could count on to pitch every fifth day. I hope you can continue to share some of your stories in the future. Good luck.
The team with whom? Who and whom are pronouns referring to persons, so this reads oddly. And why omit any mention of his age, especially since he’s retiring? He will turn 38 next month.
here’s another one would be pitcher available now for a low price for Jed hoyer to pounce because after all the cubs were interested then so why not now when his asking price has gone off the cliff.
LOL wife’s podcast
I wonder what offer he turned down, what number would have gotten him to go out one more time. Father Time was coming for him at some point, so going out after a not terrible year and before his body breaks down further probably makes sense.
The Cubs (or anyone else for that matter) were never offering close to the $12 million the Cardinals declined. With what Gibson and Quintana got i would think the offer was somewhere around there which obviously wasn’t enough to get Lance off the couch
140 wins, 2000 strike outs, sub 4 career Era. WS champion, 2 time allstar, was legitimately one of the best pitchers in baseball from 2019-21. Retired before 40 with 95million In Earnings.
Has a slight chance at cardinals HOF.
Congratulations Lance, always enjoyed watching you!!!
He will be sitting on the couch drinking beer in his underwear farting and belching loudly for the next few years and he’s earned it all. I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.
Mrs. Lynn is going to be delighted about that!
Seriously, though, I always admired him. Basically a two-pitch starter who got hitters out because he knew exactly where to place the baseball.
I don’t believe that. He will come back eventually
His wife will be side-eying him by June, at which point he’ll begin popping baseballs off the barn and dusting off his agent’s phone number.
On a scale of John Goodman to John Candy, how fat does he get in retirement?
chief: I think that’s really why he retired, because he couldn’t tie his shoes by himself and needed two teammates to help him fasten his belt. christaylormvp’s post above sums up Lynn’s life in retirement. Oh, and, at least John Goodman dropped all his excess weight. Maybe he can give Lance a call.
Someone’s missing a bargain and it’s not Lynn. By retiring now, he’s effectively daring the market to recalibrate how it values “finished” veterans.
Very good Cardinal.
Love the fact that he squeezed into a Cardinals uniform — and I mean squeezed — for one last season. And he was pretty good, including a few starts that were great.
I also appreciate that fact that because he didn’t get what he felt he was worth, he just hung them up. He’s made a lot of $$$ in his career. It wasn’t worth it to him to go through the motions.
I also get the impression — and not just from his wife’s podcast — he’s good at this point.
Good career though. A lot of pitchers would love to have what Lynn had on the diamond.
Best to him and his family.
Lance Lynn was one of my favorite pitchers over the last decade, was happy he made a stop with the White Sox for a few seasons. 140W and 2000K, an all time great. I thought he was the right guy for the Cubs this season. He would of fit in well with Steele and Taillon.