Adam Wainwright Signs a 5-Year Extension with the Cardinals (6 Years Later)

[OFFNY]

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5 years, $97.5 Million.

 

Cardinal Ink Adam Wainwright to 5-Year, $97.5 Million Deal

(By Drew Silva)

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/03/27/cardinals-ink-adam-wainwright-to-five-year-97-5-million-deal/

 

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[Migrant Redbird]

According to Joe Strauss, of the St. Louis Post Dispatch, it had to happen because anything else would have been wrong.

Fighting emotion, [Wainwright] thanked his mother who raised him alone, his older brother who mentored him, his agent and his teammates.

He cited the contributions of his former pitching coaches, Dave Duncan and Marty Mason, and his current one, Derek Lilliquist. He thanked his former co-ace, Chris Carpenter, for teaching him about tenacity. He then hugged club chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. and general manager John Mozeliak for a second time.

?I?m a hugger,? Adam Wainwright said a bit haltingly.

... ?It makes me feel I?m way too blessed ? more than I deserve,? Wainwright said about continuing his career within sight of the Arch at Busch Stadium.

Coming from someone else the words might seem like so much hokum. However, Wainwright insisted talks be conducted without rancor and without becoming personal. Even when the talks? pace seemed to drag earlier this spring, Wainwright addressed the matter with a smile. ?If it didn?t work out, there were no hard feelings.?

If some wanted to attach his value to the five-year, $120 million deal signed by Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cliff Lee, let them. This was about what comes first rather then squeezing the last nickel.

?I just realized I have complete peace about staying in St. Louis. That?s worth more than a few extra dollars,? Wainwright described shortly after leaving Roger Dean Stadium on Thursday afternoon. ?The opportunity to keep Cardinal tradition alive means a tremendous amount to me. This is honest stuff. It?s sincere. I?m not saying it because I feel any need to say it. If it wasn?t true, the situation might be different.?

At 31, Wainwright projects stability, professionalism and a track record within a rotation that next year may feature three pitchers yet to reach arbitration. Wainwright has won 19 and 20 games in a season. He has twice achieved a podium finish in balloting for the National League Cy Young Award. He owns the lowest career ERA (3.154) among active starting pitchers with at least 1,000 innings pitched. He also carries a career .625 win percentage, which ranks 10 among veteran starters.

Wainwright assures the Cardinals of an ace beyond this season to go with Jaime Garcia (26), Lance Lynn (25), Shelby Miller (22), and possibilities Joe Kelly (24), Seth Maness (24), Trevor Rosenthal (22), Michael Wacha (21) and Carlos Martinez (21).

Don?t weep for Wainwright offering a smidgen of a home-team discount. As he said, ?I?m definitely not getting scammed by the deal.?

Wainwright received the fifth guaranteed year that he demanded. The club, which initially offered $18 million per season within the five-year structure, talked Wainwright down from an AAV approaching $22 million.

?My teammates were a big factor in me wanting to come back here,? Wainwright said. Indeed, five veterans had attended the morning press conference along with manager Mike Matheny. ?I love our clubhouse from the attendants to every player in there. I just don?t know if it gets better anywhere else. I?ve had opposing players come up and say, ?You don?t know how good you have it here.? Actually, I do realize how good I have it.?

This contract is a perfect marriage between a buttoned-down organization and its appreciative player. Wainwright?s representation kept his promise that ?there wasn?t going to be any yelling and screaming? during talks, a blissful counter to when DeWitt threatened to walk away from contentious negotiations for Holliday in December 2009. Failed talks with Team Pujols in 2011 left marks still visible. Wainwright thought his process ?super relaxed? super cordial.?

A man of faith, Wainwright recited a verse from the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy and allowed, ?To whom much is given, much is expected.? Wainwright found it difficult to read from handwritten notes during Thursday morning?s press conference. Eventually he spoke extemporaneously. He promised himself he wouldn?t ?cry like a baby? but at one point bowed his head to hide emotion. Near the end he looked to the front row and asked his daughters to come help their dad get through it.

Wainwright at one point referred to agent Steve Hammond as a spiritual advisor and a friend. He reflected on the December 2003 trade that sent the Georgia native from his beloved Atlanta Braves to the Cardinals. (The only minor leaguer in a five-player deal that included outfielder J. D. Drew, Wainwright represented the trade?s pivot point.) Once a trauma, the trade now strikes him and his team as a godsend.

My grandsons have a baseball autographed by Wainwright when we attended a game in Pittsburgh last season. He's a real nice guy toward fans, much friendlier than Pujols ever was. Despite being an infidel myself, I can appreciate Wainwright's dedication to his faith. Besides, we both have a high appreciation for baby back ribs.

Long term contracts for pitchers are horrible, but that's the nature of today's game. If anyone deserves a contract like this, it's Wainwright.

And his primary personal objective for the 2013 season? Not the CYA, but the Silver Slugger award. Adam says he should have won it in 2007 (.290/.323/.387/.710)and ought be be a lock now that Micah Owings is doing a "Rick Ankiel".

Oh, I was also thrilled to see that Ankiel will be the starting center fielder for the Astros on opening day, having hit .432/.481/.864/1.344 this spring. Of course, Cactus League stats mean even less than they do in the Grapefruit League.

[Frobby]

Wainwright seems like a classy guy, but I think 5/$97 mm is too much for him. I guess we'll see.

[Can_of_corn]

Wainwright seems like a classy guy, but I think 5/$97 mm is too much for him. I guess we'll see.

Might be a precursor to contracts under the new TV deal.

[Migrant Redbird]

Wainwright seems like a classy guy, but I think 5/$97 mm is too much for him. I guess we'll see.

Maybe. Cards beat writers don't think so. Quite a few fans would have liked to wait until after they see how he pitches this season.

Post Dispatch

Wainwright, who will start opening day against Arizona on Monday, debuted with the Cardinals in 2005, shined for the Cardinals in 2006 as the rookie closer for a World Series title, and ascended to ace with two top-three finishes in National League Cy Young Award voting. He led the NL with 19 wins in 2009 and then 20 games in 2010. Wainwright finished second to Phillies righty Roy Halladay for the Cy Young in 2010.

Only five starters in baseball have an ERA better than Wainwright?s 3.14 since 2007. All five have won at least one Cy Young award, including Wainwright?s mentor, Chris Carpenter.

Miklacz

... Wainwright pitched better in 2012 than he?s generally been given credit for. After being away from year to rehab from Tommy John surgery, he got off to a sluggish start as he tried to regenerate muscle memory, find his arm slot, and sharpen his pitches, etc. But from May 22 until the end of the regular season, Wainwright had a 3.43 ERA in 24 starts. His fielding independent ERA (2.79) over that time was second-best in the NL to Atlanta?s Kris Medlen. Over those final 24 starts, Wainwright had a healthy strikeout rate (8.4 per 9 IP) and was 12th among NL starters in strikeout/walk ratio.

... Wainwright personifies the Cardinal Way.... Generally speaking, I believe that all of the ?good in the clubhouse? talk is overblown. We sportswriters tend to whip up these narratives and pump them until the point of absurdity. But in this case, the intangibles do matter when assessing Wainwright?s value to this team.

With Chris Carpenter?s career ruined by chronic pitching-health issues, and Jaime Garcia not possessing the hard-wiring to be a leader type, the Cardinals faced a potential void at the top. If Wainwright had left as a free agent after the 2013 season, who would guide the young pitchers?

This is a exciting but delicate time in the team?s evolution. The Cardinals have never had such an impressive collection of young arms as they do now. But this isn?t all about talent, velocity, the break of a curveball. Lance Lynn, Shelby Miller, Joe Kelly Michael Wacha, Trevor Rosenthal and Carlos Martinez have the arms to succeed. But there?s more to it than that. They have to learn about what it takes to be a true professional. How to be a good teammate, to be a tenacious competitor. How to handle adversity, how to handle success, how to keep your head aligned.

Wainwright is the natural successor to Carpenter.

Waino learned a lot from Carpenter, and now he?s in place to teach the new generation, and the next generation, of Cardinals starting pitchers.

... When Tony La Russa and Dave Duncan moved to St. Louis in 1996, the Cardinals changed the way they go about their business. A collective team personality formed. The Cardinals became a hard-nosed, relentless bunch that rarely deviated from pushing and grinding through a long season. The Cardinals were a team that didn?t back off, that played with a sharp competitive edge. Again: not always. There were lapses, but those lapses were corrected.

There?s a reason why the Cardinals rank second in the majors to the Yankees for most postseason games played in, and postseason games won, since 1996. This wasn?t an accident. This organization has a strong mindset that carries through this day, with chairman Bill DeWitt Jr., GM John Mozeliak, manager Mike Matheny, pitching coach Derek Lilliquist, and the veteran leaders.

It?s really important for this Cardinal Way to go on, and to keep the high standards in place, and Adam Wainwright represents the very best of those qualities, those ideals. The Cardinals are taking a turn toward youth in the coming years, and the keepers of this intense flame will be more valuable than ever.

I think if you look at the Lohse situation and contract, there's a lot of pressure on pitchers/agents to negotiate favorable extensions prior to entering the free agent market. There's 3 more years left on the CBA and free agents with qualifying offers are going to struggle to find teams willing to take the draft pick/slot money hit and still give the FA a multi-year contract consistent with those being signed as extensions.

[OFFNY]

On 3/27/2013 at 6:48 PM, OFFNY said:

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5 years, $97.5 Million.

 

Cardinals Ink Adam Wainwright to 5-Year, $97.5 Million Deal

(By Drew Silva)

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/03/27/cardinals-ink-adam-wainwright-to-five-year-97-5-million-deal/

 

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(5 AND-A-HALF YEARS LATER)

 

2019 will be Wainwright's 15th season with the team.

Wainwright Will Be Back with Cardinals for Another Season

(By Derrick Goold)

https://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/waino-will-be-back-with-cardinals-for-another-season/article_edcb80fd-c985-5877-9ec6-ad4d41fea21a.html#tracking-source=home-top-story-1


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[OFFNY]

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(vs. BREWERS, 9/13/2019)


Wainright threw 6 Shutout Innings against the playoff-hungry Brewers.

In his last 3 starts combined, Wainwright has ceded 1 Earned Run over 20 Innings Pitched ........ that's good for an 0.45 ERA and an 0.800 WHIP, 4 Walks, and 11 Strikeouts.


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[OFFNY]

On 9/14/2019 at 5:16 PM, OFFNY said:

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(vs. BREWERS, 9/13/2019)


Wainright threw 6 Shutout Innings against the playoff-hungry Brewers.

In his last 3 starts combined, Wainwright has ceded 1 Earned Run over 20 Innings Pitched ........ that's good for an 0.45 ERA and an 0.800 WHIP, 4 Walks, and 11 Strikeouts.


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(vs. NATIONALS, 9/18/2019)


Wainright threw 7 Shutout Innings while ceding 0 Earned Runs the playoff-hungry Nationals.

In his last 4 starts combined, Wainwright has ceded 1 Earned Run over 27 Innings Pitched ........ that's good for an 0.33 ERA and an 0.926 WHIP, 5 Walks, and 14 Strikeouts.


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[OFFNY]

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(vs. BRAVES, 10/06) )))))) [NLDS, Game 3]


Wainwright threw 7.67 Shutout Innings, in an extremely clutch performance when the Cardinals needed it.

Unfortunately for him, the Cardinal bullpen coughed up the team's slim 1-0 lead (and the game) in the 9th inning.


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[OFFNY]

On 10/6/2019 at 7:54 PM, OFFNY said:

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(vs. BRAVES, 10/06) )))))) [NLDS, Game 3]


Wainwright threw 7.67 Shutout Innings, in an extremely clutch performance when the Cardinals needed it.

Unfortunately for him, the Cardinal bullpen coughed up the team's slim 1-0 lead (and the game) in the 9th inning.


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(vs. NATIONALS, 10/12) )))))) [NLCS, Game 2]


History has essentially repeated itself ........ Wainwright threw 7 Innings of 1-Run ball with 0 Walks and 11 Strikeouts in to begin the game, but his offense has been shut out on the scoreboard. Wainwright did cede 2 additional runs in the 8th inning before being removed from the game, giving the Nationals some breathing room down the stretch.
 

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[JR Oriole]

22 years since the Orioles won a single LCS game.  At least one Beltway team gets the job done.