ST. LOUIS — The right-handed pitcher who they've turned to again and again over the past two years and will lead them into the postseason this year will be back with the Cardinals through 2022.
Adam Wainwright and the Cardinals have agreed on a deal for the next season and finalized it Friday, sources close to the team have confirmed to the Post-Dispatch.
The team announced the contract during a press conference Friday.
"He's been a very effective pitcher throughout his career, one of the greatest Cardinals ever, and has really led the staff for a number of years," chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. said to introduce the contract. "He's just been a wonderful player, and a really wonderful person and leader.
"We look at him as a lifetime Cardinal."
Details of the one-year deal were not immediately known.
The two sides have had discussions throughout the past week, and Wainwright, 40, made it clear earlier this month that he intended to pitch in 2022. He added that he hoped it would be with the Cardinals, the only club he's known in his 18 years in the majors. The team, likewise, shared that sentiment.
Wainwright is 17-7 this season with a team-best 3.05 ERA, and he will receive votes for the National League Cy Young Award. He won his 17th game Tuesday night as the Cardinals clinched a wild-card berth in the playoffs and extended the club-record winning streak to 17 games.
The Cardinals' right-hander, who debuted with the team in 2005 and closed a World Series championship in 2006, has signed three consecutive one-year deals to remain with the Cardinals. Right before the Cardinals' traded for Nolan Arenado on Feb. 1, Wainwright and the Cardinals agreed to a one-year, $8 million deal for 2021. He had offers from other teams at the time, including one from the San Diego Padres and at least one that was worth more guaranteed salary.
One of the best pitchers in the National League the past two years and the major-league leader with 29 quality starts in that span, Wainwright's performance received an independent audit recently when the Atlanta Braves re-signed veteran right-hander Charlie Morton to an extension. Morton agreed to a one-year, $20 million deal for 2022 that set a framework for discussions between the Cardinals and Wainwright.
Wainwright's return keeps the battery together as the Cardinals also signed catcher Yadier Molina to an extension earlier this month. Arenado told the Post-Dispatch this past week that he will not opt-out of his contract and will be back with the Cardinals in 2022.
"I don't want to be anywhere else," Wainwright said during the press conference to announce the contract. "Who am I kidding?"
Molina said he will retire at the end of 2022.
