ST. LOUIS — What seemed inevitable is now on its way to being official. The Cardinals have agreed to a deal that brings back veteran pitcher Adam Wainwright, sources told MLB.com. The club has not confirmed the deal.
The Cardinals’ standing offer to Wainwright was a one-year contract, but they moved to improve it in the past week as Wainwright began listening to other offers. MLB Network insider Jon Heyman reported the deal is worth $8 million, and the 39-year-old pitcher’s previous deals included incentives for games started and finished beyond the base pay.
A three-time All-Star and this year’s Roberto Clemente Award winner, Wainwright was drafted 29th overall by the Braves in 2000. He was traded to St. Louis in 2003, made his debut in ’05, closed out the World Series in ’06 and has spent every inning of his Major League career with the Cardinals.
Wainwright was the Cardinals’ most reliable pitcher in 2020, throwing two shutouts and posting a 3.15 ERA in his 15th season with the club. After a coronavirus outbreak paused the Cardinals’ season for two weeks, it was Wainwright who delivered a five-inning, one-run outing against the White Sox in the team’s first game back. Wainwright began his season 4-0 for the first time in his career, and one of those wins was a nine-inning complete game on his 39th birthday against the Indians.
By re-signing Wainwright, the Cardinals have made their first addition to the Major League roster this offseason and will go to Spring Training with one vacancy fewer in their rotation. Wainwright will likely join Jack Flaherty, Miles Mikolas and Kwang Hyun Kim as the Cardinals’ starters in 2021, with a slew of candidates — including Carlos Martínez, Austin Gomber, Daniel Ponce de Leon and Alex Reyes — vying for the fifth spot.
The experience that Wainwright brings is unmatched, and the value of that is clear from talking to his teammates about the influence Wainwright has in the clubhouse and on the field.
“He’s just a model of consistency in what he does, and he just motivates you to do better without even having to say anything to you,” Flaherty said this month at the Cardinals’ annual Winter Warm-Up. “You just watch him work. And you watch the way he goes about his business, watch the way he prepares, watch the way he competes. And it just makes you want to do better. He’s special.”
This is the third consecutive year that Wainwright has signed a one-year deal with the Cardinals, and he’s said before how he prefers to go year to year, making the decision on whether to continue his career with his family at the start of the offseason. But this year’s deal came much later than previous signings, in part because the Cardinals have requested patience — publicly and privately — as they sort out club financials after the 2020 pandemic-shortened season. In December, Wainwright acknowledged that the free-agent market was going to move slower than he has experienced before.
But both the Cardinals and Wainwright said throughout the offseason that they preferred a reunion, and after receiving competition from other teams for Wainwright, the Cardinals were able to bring back the pitcher who has helped define more than a decade of baseball in St. Louis.
They also have an updated offer out to catcher Yadier Molina, who has found ways to continue playing this offseason in Puerto Rico’s winter league, most recently joining the Criollos de Caguas in the league’s championship series. He’s reportedly planning to play in this weekend’s Caribbean Series for Puerto Rico as he considers what comes next. The 38-year-old began the offseason seeking a two-year deal, and he and Wainwright have remained in contact about returning to the Cardinals together and possibly completing their careers together.
One part of the longtime battery is back with St. Louis. The Cardinals’ focus remains on bringing the second part back, too.
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