Oct. 27: Dave Skretta of the Associated Press has the contract details. Wainwright will earn a base of $17.5MM, same as in 2022, but $10MM of that will be deferred. That deferred money will be paid out at a rate of $1MM per year from 2024 to 2033. He can also earn some extra cash via bonuses, getting $500K if he reaches 28 starts and another $500K at 30 starts. There’s another $500K if he finishes in the top 10 in Cy Young voting and then $50K bonuses for making the All-Star team, winning LCS MVP, World Series MVP or a Gold Glove award, and a $25K bonus for a Silver Slugger award. He will also have full no-trade protection.
Oct. 26: Adam Wainwright is continuing his career, as the Cardinals announced this afternoon that he’ll be back for a 19th season with the club. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch first reported Wainwright was in agreement on a one-year contract extension. Financial terms of the deal have not yet been disclosed. Wainwright is an Aegis Sports Management client.
Wainwright’s return puts to rest any questions whether he might join a pair of Cardinals icons in hanging up their spikes. Longtime battery mate Yadier Molina and Cardinals legend Albert Pujols each announced before this past season that 2022 would be their final playing years. There had been plenty of speculation the 41-year-old Wainwright would call it quits, too. Instead, he’ll be back on the Busch Stadium mound.
The right-hander pitched to a 3.71 ERA across 191 2/3 innings for the Cardinals this season. It was yet another reliable season for the veteran, who made 32 starts for the second-straight season. His results did dip a little from 2021, when he posted a 3.05 ERA and finished seventh in NL Cy Young voting. However, that year was helped out somewhat by a .256 opponents BABIP, and his FIP came in at exactly 3.66 in both 2021 and 2022. He did experience a dip in velocity on his fastball from 89.3 mph to 88.1 mph, though, and his strikeout percentage fell to 17.8%, down from 21% in 2021.
Of course, Wainwright has never thrived on a power arsenal. He’s succeeded into his 40’s thanks to excellent control and a knack for keeping hitters off balance with his trademark curveball. This year’s 6.7% walk rate wasn’t far off the prior season’s 6% mark. Wainwright also led all qualified starters in called-strike percentage, compensating for a lack of whiffs by freezing opponents by mixing his pitches inside the strike zone.
Wainwright’s re-signing solidifies the team’s rotation heading into the off-season. Miles Mikolas is signed through 2023, while mid-season trade acquisition Jordan Montgomery is arbitration-eligible for the final time, and both figure to be rotation mainstays. The backend of the rotation still has some question marks, though. Injuries contributed to Steven Matz struggling in his first season in St Louis, but he’s under contract for three more seasons and should at least have an opportunity to start the season in the rotation. Jack Flaherty is under control via arbitration for one more year, and while he’s also had injury problems for a while now, he figures to have a shot in the rotation if healthy.
With the uncertainty surrounding Matz and Flaherty and the potential free agent departure of Jose Quintana, St. Louis could look into fortifying by adding another rotation arm at the back end. The bigger priority, however, seems to be on the position player side. President of baseball operations John Mozeliak told reporters this morning the club would look externally for catching help to replace Molina. The team is also hopeful of their chances of retaining star third baseman Nolan Arenado, who’ll have to decide whether to opt out of the final five years and $144MM remaining on his deal.
It’s presently unknown how much Wainwright will make next season, although he’s coming off a one-year, $17.5MM salary. Mozeliak suggested the team planned to raise its payroll from this year’s approximate $155MM Opening Day mark.
On a more personal note, Wainwright’s return means he’s likely to reach the 200-win milestone for his career. Owner of 195 career wins, he’ll have a chance to surpass Jesse Haines’ 210 wins for second on the Cardinals all-time leaderboard.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Shocking news here.
Not sure why fans thought he was retiring with Pujols and Molina. He comments were subtlety clear he wanted to return to the Cards.
Hoping he gets a huge raise given his 2022 contract and performance.
$17.5M was overpaying a little for this past year’s performance. If anything, he’ll get a modest pay cut.
I realize his age and injury history but in today’s game, having a pitcher eat innings AND be on the top 16 list is worth more than $15m (never mind his clubhouse value).
Was it? Look at Charlie Morton. I’d say they’re around the same. Didn’t Charlie get $20MM for next year?
WAR for pitchers is confusing to me… 1.8 for a guy who made 32 starts, gave you nearly 200 innings and posted an ERA under 4 should be worth more. The trickle down value of taking the ball every fifth day and being able to pitch deep into game, resting the bullpen alone should be worth more than 1.8 wins above replacement….
Agreed. No chance he gets anywhere near that. I say somewhere between 3-5. Pujols signed on for a very modest salary last season if I recall correctly. At this point he shouldn’t be doing it for the money, but rather for the opportunity to keep playing and the love of the game of baseball. My opinion at least.
He gets docked for the good Cards defense, home pitcher’s park, and the lower run scoring environment last year.
@lanidrac imo it’s not an overpay for the cards, even if the wheels fall off and he face-plants (which i hope he doesn’t) this upcoming season, the way i look at it, the cash he is getting next season is back pay for what he did when he was getting paid peanuts pre production. on that same not if another team signed him for that i would look at it as an overpay/gamble.
That 17.5 million—— may very well involve being the new head pitching coach too.
Ever thought of that?
Great news. Let’s go Wainwright will be back for next season. Let’s go Cards.
Marinara – What’s even more shocking is the newbie mentioned Pitcher Wins.
Somebody needs to tell him that using Pitcher Wins in any context is frowned upon here. LOL!
Wow yeah, that wasn’t even up yet when I posted.
Adam is the Rock, a real super hero, but not a Marvel.
my question is how does wanio get to even qualify for the ss, pitchers don’t hit anymore unless they plan on using him as a dh.
“and a $25K bonus for a Silver Slugger award.”
Right since there’s a DH and all?
“$10MM of that will be deferred. That deferred money will be paid out at a rate of $1MM per year from 2024 to 2033.”
This is the most interesting part of the contract if you ask me? Surely that’s Wainwrights doing? Some kinda retirement fund?
It’s a really good thing all 3 of these legends didn’t walk at once? Such a leader in the clubhouse. Hopefully he gets some postseason starts in 2023
No surprise
Good for him!
What about Quintana?
Had Pujols not come back I think he would’ve more than likely retired this year. Since he’s like 5 wins or so away from 200 it does make since why he’s returning.
He already mentioned he wants to get to 210 to catch Jesse Haines.
I’d eat my hat if he made it to 210 wins next season.
I don’t bet but if he pitches another 190 innings, I hope your hat is seasoned…
May as well hang around to catch Bob Gibson’s 251.
What does one have to do with the other Vince? What are you babbling about??
Still pitching well – good to see.
The only question was probably if he’d retire or not. Pitched well this season and didn’t think he’d leave St. Louis if returning.
Good – opens up the trade market for Flaherty and Hudson
Bzzt!
I wonder if he does a bit of a hometown discount to give them flexibility to add another impact player in for the OF/DH role. The infield is rock solid but I’m wondering if they might benefit from a higher-ceiling player than the current crop of solid yet unspectacular players they have in the OF currently.
being that his hometown is in georgia, probably not
Rock solid infield including a third baseman that might opt out and a traffic cone with a bat at shortstop.
He wasn’t very effective the last few starts but he’s a battler and deserves to go out on his terms. Great to see him in the dugout with the young guys.
32 starts and an ERA under 4.00 is a good 3/4. He’s definitely not an ace anymore.
I don’t anyone considers him an ace or expects him to be one.
He actually addressed the late season struggles. He said he was dealing with a leg injury that made it difficult to push off his back foot. The medical staff felt he just needed some rest for it to recover.
I want Adam wainwright to be a HOFer but he has just missed too much time with injuries. Best case scenario for 2023 is he repeats his 2021 and finishes the year with roughly 210 wins, 50 war, 2300 K’s, with an era+ of 120 in 2700 career innings. Those numbers are Tim Hudson/Bret Saberhagen/Bob Welch territory, which is borderline at best. The fact that he is a postseason Ace (sub 3 era, with a 9+ K/9, in 100+ innings) helps but still isn’t enough to get my boy in. WAIno you need to pitch like 2021 for the next 3 seasons to even became a legit borderline candidate. At the end of the day though he’ll definitely get a red jacket and his 50 retired.
I’m glad he’s coming back
He eats up a lot of innings, saving bullen arms. I’m sure he’ll reach 210 wins and more. As for Gibson’s record, I don’t think so. Still, I think if Adam reaches the 200 mark, he’ll be in the Hof.
being called an innings eater is a slap in the face
How so?
need winners, not inning eaters
He was a real late bloomer as the Braves really kept him smothered in their minor league system.
To be fair to the Braves, they had some pretty good arms at the time.
Braves traded him when he was 22
Braves were in a win now mode and traded for jd drew.
Braves made the playoffs, wished they kept wainwright since drew left for the red sox.
That guy’s gonna pitch until he’s fifty. And his era will still be below four.
If Wainwright with a 3.38 ERA over 2500 innings and 46.8 WAR is a HOFer then there is a long list of pitchers with better numbers that need to go in with him.
As a Cards fan, he’s a Hall of Really Good, just not Fame.
Thank you. Never understood the deification for this guy.
Because he is really good and has played for the same team his whole career. That’s it.
So are you implying he did earn deification?
I love him but he’s not a HOFer. If he hadn’t missed two full seasons in his prime it could be a different story, but that’s not what happened.
He’s got a HOF personality, but his prime was too short and not good enough. He’d either had to have a Pedro 99 season in his pocket or 3 more seasons in the top 5 CYA voting.
Glad to see it, he’s a stud and a pleasure to watch pitch. And I say that as a Pirate fan; I don’t know the numbers but Wainwright must be something like 50-1 with a below 2.00 ERA career against the Bucs.
so 195 wins is not 200 wins. what a revalation.
Remember what you got from Molina when he stayed one year too long! Keep expectations low.
Not sure many people actually think he is. Most Cardinal fans are grounded enough to realize he missed too much time to rack up the numbers. He’ll need a few more elite seasons to even be considered and that won’t happen because he’ll want to spend time with his family. Hell of a pitcher, hell of a guy but the HOF is out of reach unfortunately.
I think it’s the being-around-hall-of-famers (Pujols, Molina) thing. He’s always hanging around the team when it’s at its best so he’s associated with peak performance and results even if as an individual contributor he wasn’t exactly foundational to that effect.
Missed time yes but also career results. No Cy Youngs, only three All-Star Games. He has had eight seasons with an ERA of 3.70 or higher including 2022. Wainwright is classic “very good”. Not Hall of Fame. David Cone has a Cy Young and five AS games and did not make it.
“Wainwright would call it quits, too”
No comma needed before too.
That ruined the article for me if I’m being honest. Can’t take a guy serious when he misuses a comma
You really should have the word “too” in quotes.
The comma should be there, period.
gbs: look at any manual of style, and you’ll see it’s not needed. Don’t waste commas.
Is is needed? No. Is it wrong for being there? No. Its to emphasize the pause and remind the reader of what the subject is being compared to. Writer’s choice in this case IMO.
But why waste a comma when you don’t need it?
Is there a shortage of commas?
Yes. It’s the supply chain, and the punctuation pipeline being shut down.
thank you for that
Didn’t anyone watch the end of the season and not being used during the playoffs? If they give him $17..5M and it stops you from adding in free agency….big mistake.
It sets their rotation as Mikolas, Matz, Montgomery, Flaherty, and the dinosaur. The absolute worst rotation in that division.
You do realize what division they play in right?
As long as you realize winning that division is their only goal.
Still doesn’t change the fact that that is far from the worst rotation in the division.
Um, I would say only the Brewers clearly have a better rotation in that division and they are about to trade it away. Cubs pitching was better in the second half of the season, so with one free agent pickup they could pass Cardinals. I am hoping that Cubs can win the division next year with 87-88 wins.
That being said, I expect Cardinals to spend a lot and be in the mix.
You are a clown aren’t you?
Five and dive…. wins that is.
Get your numbers and then go spend QT with your loved ones.
Thought he was gonna retire.
He loves to play, he’s still good, and I love seeing the relationship he has with the fans and franchise.
This guy gets talked about like he is a myth…Stuff of pure legend….His name is getting as annoying to hear as Tom Brady’s.
Angels sure could use a pitcher like him though.
Of course they could use him. That team is not a very good barometer of success.
He’s an all-time Cardinals great. He’s not the GOAT.
Exactly, it is like Orel Hershiser or Fernando Valenzuela. A legend for that team, but not a Hall of Famer. Not picking on Waino, he is a Cardinals legend.
Warren Haynes and the rest of the Haines family has stated they will be in attendance when Wainwright surpasses Jesse’s mark. Given the historical significance of Jesse Haines it should be a classic moment.
That is nice, but Waino will get to 200 and not 210 in 2023. I have no idea if he will play in 2014, but if he does, the salary should be lower.
I meant 2024 not 2014, when he did play. MLBTR has since posted an article quoting Waino that 2023 will be his last season.
How about a HOF poll?
Once Tim Hudson is in the HOF, then we’ll discuss if Wainwright should be in
Two signings that everyone knew were horrible from the start: Brett Cecil and Steven Matz.
This assessment wasn’t just made in hindsight either. Whichever person/persons in their front office pushed for those signings should be fired. So bad.
Massive slap in the face to the pitcher they traded for, trusted enough to start game one of the playoffs, and dominated in it in favor of someone who wasnt even going to see an inning. No wonder Skip left. He has more faith in the Marlins commitment to winning than he does the cardinals.
I seriously doubt Quintana regards the Cardinals resigning a Cardinals lifer/legend a slap in the face after spending two months there. They already have two lefties under contract penciled into the rotation. You don’t have to look very hard to see there are multiple reasonable barriers to a return, it would be foolish for a player to take that personally.
@stan lee pay no mind to slider he is a troll looking to eat, i’ve seen him post the same nonsense on many of other threads on this site.
I thought free agency hasn’t started yet
It hasn’t, but you can re-sign your own players before free agency starts.
So Judge can sign with the Yankees tomorrow if they agreed on a deal?
See below, gbs42 has it right. Since free agency hasn’t technically started yet, Judge is technically not a free agent, so yes, I would think the Yankees could sign him to an extension today if they and Judge wanted to.
He’s not a free agent. Extensions can be signed at any time.
It hasn’t. He resigned with his current team.
Gotta agree with what seems to be the majority opinions here. Waino would get into the Hall of Very Good if such a thing existed, but he should be a lock to go into the Cards’ HOF and have his number retired.
st. louis hasn’t had a solid rotation in years
Ok I’m going to be the contrarian on this one. He didn’t look good down the stretch and I don’t think next years going to be pretty. I think the $ would have been better spent elsewhere. I guess we’ll see if I’m right or wrong?
His last good game was the one where he did a ESPN interview in late august. Definitely worth a watch though if you haven’t seen.
This is true, but, he was also injured towards the end of the season. When he was healthy and was locating his curveball, he was doing well.
@yc how’s it going brother, sucks we ain’t seeing each other in oct but that’s bb for ya. as a cards lifer and someone who has watched wanio’s whole career other than gibby or c. carpenter there is no one else i wanna see ware the cards uni more than him. even if he is half of what he was the last few years, imo he is key for our young staff going forward especially with no molina, he’s the guy that can take a kid to the side and calm him down after a bad inning/game and do the little things that can get tur a player better than any coach can just for the fact at 40+ he is still going out and battling and going out there with that bulldog/pitbull mentality.
Hey Brodie! Yeah, brother it sucks. But next year perhaps…. I like Waino, and he has a Kershaw-esque Curveball that would play for several years as he ages, so I think he will be fine next season.
I’m glad he’s returning for a final season. The Cards fanbase is great and they get to appreciate a last year of him. Cards are an awesome, classy organization and it shows. Nice they’re doing right by him.
@yc first off thanks for the compliments about my birds and the same goes for your yanks, just it’s a shame because of your cities size you have more idiots as fans and drown out the true sensible yankees fan. (btw i’m not picking on your fan base every team has there idiots you just have more of them because well you have a lot more people as well). tbh yc i think we will see a vintage wanio next year because he has made up his mind that next year is it so he not going to hold anything back because for him there is no next season. imo if he get to 200 he’s a hof because i was comparing his stats to some hof’ers and he is damn close to them.
I hope so Brodie, and you’re right, tons of morons to taint the fanbase….. especially in NY.
Adam Wainwright might not be as close to being finished as some think. He literally has the same effective pitch arsenal that kept Jamie Moyer pitching until he was 50. (Cutter, Curve, Sinker, Changeup) And his pitches are better than Moyer’s as well.
He’s like Bartolo Colon and Jamie Moyer had a baby, and that baby had a baby with Greg Maddux.
Passion + Health = Longevity
Never say never.
two men can’t produce a baby together. adding a third man won’t help.
Jeff Albert and Mike Maddux both out as coaches…..Just confirmed
maddux isn’t leaving. he’s getting repositioned
Now their pitching coach and hitting coach have resigned. Lol. No one wants any part of that team
They didn’t quit…they were not offered new contracts!! Which is awesome cause Jeff Albert has been screwing up good hitters for years. I liked Maddux though
Jeff Albert was offered and declined. Everyone is leaving that dung hole team.
That “dung hole team” will probably still win their division next season
Incorrect, they were prepared to offer but he left instead. Clearly you have an issue with the Cardinals
Slider o’l boy, I’m on the verge of sharing my true feelings in these threads like you….I can’t believe some of the crap I am seeing. About time to start breaking spirits and getting these pikers out of here!
Waino 2022 Away Stats Marcus Stroman 2022 Away Stats
14 GS ……………….. 13 GS
5 QS ………………… 8 QS
80 IP ………………… 74.2 IP
53 Ks ……………….. 56 Ks
4-8 W-L ……………………… 3-2 W-L
4.73 ERA ……………………. 2.06 ERA
1.40 WHIP ………… 1.00 WHIP
That was random…..now eagerly awaiting the home splits…….
Mike127
St. Louis plays in a more pitching friendly home park than do the Cubs, so comparing away stats to away stats are pretty useful. If you compare second half stats, Stroman will again blow Waino away. Just an interesting comparison, that’s all.
But wait, there’s more.
2022 Last 30 days Waino and then Stroman
23.2 Innings …………. 30 innings
7.23 ERA …………………. 2.70 ERA
0.347 OBP …………….. 0.214 OBP
35 hits ………………………. 24 hits
9 BB …………………………… 7 BB
No-brainer. Mo locking down the low hanging roster fruit so he knows where he stands before attacking and landing several of the top players on the FA market:) j/k he will keep his powder dry until the deadline then bring out the big guns. Probably snag Baumgarner at the deadline in a blockbuster trade circa 2015.
With Molina gone he will struggle
Matz won’t last more than 5 starts in that rotation next year
Probably takes them out of the Rich Hill sweepstakes.
I don’t think it’ll happen but it would be cool if Rich Hill came full circle and signed with the cubs and ended his.career in Chicago. They need starters so why not. Being the veteran he is. He could come out of the bullpen. The typical “I’m here to do everything I can to help this team win.
Would’ve been more fitting if he retired with Yadi and Pujols.
Waino is fine as a #4 or #5 starter for 2023, he will make 200 wins but not 210 wins. But Waino at the end of the season was not doing too well. But Flaherty and Matz are giant question marks. The rebirth of the rotation is such a subject for them that are some talking “Genesis”.
He won 17 in 2021 and 11 last year.
He has a shot at 210. Not much more than that but I’m not writing off the possibility.
More difficult now that he doesn’t get to play the Reds, Pirates, and the 2022 cubs for most of the year now though.
2021 was the only season in the last eight years where he had 15 wins. So sure, a shot, but maybe ten percent.
Not a surprise, still has at least a year left in the tank I think, and his presence should help some of the younger players. Curious to see what the terms are.
The writer seems to be forgetting that the Cardinals already have a 6th starter with Dakota Hudson. Then they’ve also got Woodford, Liberatore, Thompson, Ver Hagen, etc. as additional depth.
Anyway, the rotation is now already complete with Mikolas, Flaherty, Montgomery, Wainwright, and Matz and looks very formidable.
One more for Pujols, one more for Molina.
Don’t compare dodger pitchers to other teams, dodger stadium speaks for itself for pitchers stats, Tyler Anderson please. Also like homeruns hitters at Yankee stadium, do we really think Judge can hit 60 plus at dodger stadium, perhaps he is the Judge
Wonder what Waino would have done in Dodgers stadium, yeah, HOF no doubt
The distances of Judge’s HR tell that he surely would’ve hit 60, or very close thereto. It’s not really debatable. His launch angles & exit velo are all tracked on Statcast.
That is why I compare road records, hoe the pitcher does in away games
I think we should still talk to Jose Quintana about a return.
The worst trade in braves history just retire already!!! Lol. Jk. Hell of a pitcher. And a big gamer too.
I am guessing it’s for $15M, possibly $18M or something. 1.85 WAR isn’t much but reliable starting pitching is worth about $7.5M for 1 WAR, on average, so 1.85 x $7.5M = $13.875M, I figure an extra $1.125M for loyalty, veteran, retirement package reasons.
I think it’s funny that fans have a problem with this. His # are fine and it’s not like it’s easy to find guy who can perform at his lvl. As long as he’s willing, wants to, and can perform, more power to him. Pitch until your 100 for all I care
Did he do something wrong? I live in a crazy world where people can’t stand Wainwright but Dusty Baker is heralded like Casey Stengel.
As it should be, because only one of them is in the World Series right now.
Two weeks from now, the conversation can revert back to normal.
if he gets to bat, a few times and gets a hit, he’ll get the silver slugger bonus
How would he win a Silver Slugger Award?!
Maybe he’s taking Pujols’ DH spot…
Will happy Adam Wainwright day be celebrated in St. Louis the way happy Bobby Bonilla day is in New York?
I guess it can double up with Happy Albert Pujols Day, since the Cardinals are already paying Pujols deferred money during the 2020s from the original contract extension he signed back in the 2003-04 offseason.
Yes, Pujols effectively got paid twice by the Cardinals this season.
How would he qualify for a silver slugger now that the universal dh is in place? Is he going to try to be Shoei Ohtani?
Silver slugger? For a pitcher in the age of the universal DH?
Is that a misprint? Didn’t they stop giving out silver slugger awards to pitchers last season?
I love Waino but how could he or any pitcher win a silver slugger award now?
Ohtani could still win them.
Wainwright, though, I don’t think so.
Silver slugger award with a universal DH?
And the full no trade protection is unnecessary language too.
He already has 10-5 rights so he wasn’t going to be dealt without his say so.
Did the Cardinals sign Waino??!?!?!????
How can he win a Silver Slugger award? They have the DH?
Is this poor editing or poor reporting?
Glad he is back and I hope he can return to form.
Goodbye to Nolan though.
I love my Cardinals but this organization just can’t let things go. They brought Yadi back 1 year too many and now they are going to drive Wainwright into the ground also. Not only that, they gave 17.5 million to a #4 starter….at best.
We all saw what happened in his last 6 starts…..
IP – 28 Hits – 44 BB/HBP – 12 K’s – 13 ERA – 7.39 WHIP – 2.00
How long of a leash do you give him? Do you just let him have his 25-30 starts so the fans can have the warm and fuzzys again? Or is the World Series the actual goal this year because it wasn’t last year.
You do realize he took a 103mph fastball off of his knee and wasn’t right after that. It shortened his stride and he couldn’t get it fixed. Why don’t you comment again with his stats excluding his last 6. He will be far better than most teams #4 and 10mil is deferred over 10 years. Team friendly deal for a pitcher that eats innings and is dependable.
I love Wainwright but this was a mistake and has officially ensured we won’t go after an Ace. You need a 1-2 punch in your rotation to win in the playoffs or at the very least a true ace and the cards have not had that in years. This was pure emotion and bad business. Pujols resurgence was lighting in a bottle and will not happen with Waino. Not to mention Waino was never what Pujols was in his prime. 2009 Waino is gone and has been for years. We have a gluttony of mid to back end rotation arms. If we didn’t have such a gluttony of those then I’d be fine with this signing but we could have used that 17.5mil to put towards an offer to make a run for Rondon. Paying Waino 17.5 AND 30-35 on a pitcher like Degrom or Rondon will never happen. Just more middle and late rotation pitch to contact arms per usual. Until we get an Ace with swing and miss stuff, we are back to more of the same. Winning a weak division and an early playoff exits to playoff caliber front end rotations. An Ace should have been priority one with Wilson Contraras and a big 3 bat in the OF as 2A and 2B. And to not capitalize on Goldy and Arenado’s limited remaining prime and go big is a disrespect to them and the fan base
What plans are there for getting him that Silver Slugger, in 2023?