The St. Louis Cardinals have the payroll flexibility to
afford signing Adam Wainwright to a contract extension, according to Bernie Miklasz of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch. They’ll now have to decide if extending
Wainwright is the correct move to make.
The Cardinals – like all 30 MLB teams – will receive a chunk
of the revenue from the new national TV deal that kicks in next season. They’ve
also kept a close eye on their spending recently and have a strong minor league
system, affording them the ability to offer calculated high-salary deals in the
next few years.
The only thing left for the Cardinals to decide is if
Wainwright warrants an extension, something that Miklasz believes will cost St.
Louis a five-year commitment of $20 million-plus per season.
Time to make this decision is running out, as Wainwright is
entering the final year of his current contract. The right-hander is set to
make $12 million in 2013.
Wainwright maintained an ERA of 3.94 with a
strikeout-to-walk ratio of 3.54 last season. He owns a career ERA of 3.15 and
maintained a mark of 2.53 from 2009-10.
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