The St. Louis Cardinals might be losing Adam Wainwright to retirement after this season, but one of their other veteran starters is sticking around for at least a couple more years.
Miles Mikolas, set to be a free agent after this season upon the expiration of the last Cardinals extension he signed, is signing on for another couple years:
Mikolas posted a 3.29 ERA over 202.1 innings last season, bouncing back from missing the 2020 season with a flexor tendon injury that required surgery, and missing much of the 2021 season with a forearm strain. He was one of the most durable and effective starters in baseball in 2022, so clearly the Cardinals are betting that’s more who he can be over the next three seasons.
That said, history tends not to be kind to aging pitchers with multiple recent arm injuries, and it seems like a lofty bet – a year out from free agency – to lock up Mikolas’s age 35 and 36 seasons at $20 million per year (and he’ll turn 37 in August of that second season). Maybe I’m just being a hater because the Cubs never extend anyone, but this feels like a pretty good deal for Mikolas.
UPDATE: The deal is even better for Mikolas, because he’s getting $8 million of the new $40 million right away:
For the Cardinals, they probably like that it lowers the AAV for those latter two years (I think it would be $18.5 million, because the bonus counts for the new years). But not by much. And it’s still $40 million in new money for two seasons after this season. Again, maybe I’m just being a hater. But I don’t love this deal for the Cardinals, which is fine by me.