*Photo from Royals Review*
An old legend in the Midwest is taking one more go at it in 2023. The St. Louis Cardinals and RHP Adam Wainwright have agreed to a one year deal for the 2023 season, according to Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak.
The 2023 season will be Wainwright's 18th in the major leagues, all of which have been spent in a Cardinals uniform. The financial terms of the deal were not announced by Mozeliak or Wainwright, however, Wainwright confirmed that 2023 will be his final season.
Mozeliak said of Wainwright's return that "He and I started talking about this in early September, and obviously, the September didn’t go as he wanted it to, but we really do feel like there’s something left in that tank. We all know how competitive Wainwright is, we know how special he is in that clubhouse and what he means to this organization. So we’re just glad we could get it done."
Last season was his 17th in a Cardinals uniform. Wainwright ended the regular season with a 11-12 record, posting a 3.71 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, and 3.66 FIP, striking out 143 hitters in 191 2/3 innings pitched, making 32 starts in 2022.
In his career, Wainwright has a 195-117 record, authoring a 3.38 ERA, 3.44 FIP, and 1.21 WHIP, with 11 complete game shutouts and 2,147 strikeouts in 2,567 1/3 innings pitched, split between 390 starts and 67 relief appearances. Wainwright has a 2.83 ERA and a 4-5 record in 114 1/3 innings pitched in the postseason, making 16 starts and 13 relief appearances.
Wainwright said of his final year that "I have so many distractions as it is, and I don’t need any more. If I tell you it’s the last one, then I’ve got to go through a bunch of stuff. My main focus of playing next year is to go out and win and help this team win. Long story short: Yes, this will be the last one. Everybody relax and let me pitch. Let me go out and perform and not freak out about it every single day, and let’s see what happens."
With 195 career wins, Wainwright needs 5 more to reach 200, and needs 15 to make 210 wins, which would tie him with Bob Gibson for second most in Cardinals history. Wainwright said he was shooting for 212 career wins to pass John Smoltz on the all time wins list.
The move is the first one of the offseason for the Cardinals, who let go 4 coaches since the end of the season. Yadier Molina and Albert Pujols, longtime teammates of Wainwright, retired this offseason.
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