Cardinals and Lance Lynn agree to one-year deal

Cardinals and oaths Lance Lane They agreed to a one-year contract with a club option for the 2025 season, Reports ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Lynn, a client of Headline Sports Group, will earn about $10 million on the contract, which is still pending the completion of a physical. John Heyman of the New York Post Put Guaranteed at $11 million, noting a $10 million salary in 2024 and a $1 million buyout in 2025. The contract, which has a potential incentive of $3 million in 2024, could reach $24 million over the course of Two seasons. This implies an $11 million value for the 2025 option.

It’s a homecoming for the 36-year-old Lynn, who the Cardinals selected with the 39th overall pick in the 2008 draft. The 6’5 right-hander spent the first six seasons of his career in St. Louis, where he cemented himself as a quality big leaguer from While throwing 977 2/3 innings of ball, he had a 3.38 ERA. Lynn hit free agency on the heels of that strong run, but did so fresh off the shakiest strikeout, walk, and home run rates of his career in 2016. He turned down a qualifying offer from the Cards in the offseason and found a tepid market, eventually landing with the Twins on a one-year deal. It was agreed upon one year after the start of spring training.

Things didn’t go well in Minnesota, but Lynn rebounded somewhat after the trade to the Yankees and revitalized his career in a subsequent four-year stint between the Rangers and White Sox. From 2019-2022, Lin was one of the most durable and best players in the MLB. He has thrown 571 innings of 3.42 ERA ball in that time, striking out 26.8% of his opponents to a 6.2% walk rate. That success came under a three-year, $30 million deal originally agreed upon with the Texans and a two-year, $38 million extension signed with Chicago after a trade with the ChiSox.

The second season of that extension, the final year, marked the worst season of Lin’s long career. Lynn was the most vulnerable pitcher in baseball in 2023, surrendering an average of 2.16 long balls per nine frames (44 balls total). He stayed healthy and ate a lot of innings, totaling 183 2/3 frames between the Sox and Dodgers, but his 5.73 earned run average on the year was the second-highest of any eligible starter, topped only by Kansas City. Jordan Lyles.

Despite this worst performance of her career, Lynn will still receive an eight-figure guarantee. The Cardinals, who need at least three starting pitchers this winter, certainly value Lynn’s durability and the big innings he can bring to the table. They’ll also likely take comfort from the fact that even through all of his troubles at home, Lynn still posted an above-average strikeout rate of 23.8% and a solid walk rate of 8.3%. The veteran right-hander’s swinging strike rate of 12.9% remained well above the league average for a starting pitcher as well, and he also threw chases on pitches off the plate at a slightly above average rate of 32.4%. Lin still has a good rotation on the seamer and four-cutter as well.

Although there are a lot of positive signs, there is no sugarcoating the final results in 2023. It was a poor season from Len to the end, and he will need to recover in a fundamental way in order to have a tangible impact on the team. Cardinals rotation. With the Cardinals desperate for help in their starting pitching staff, St. Louis fans were understandably hoping for a more noticeable upgrade with their first addition.

However, the cards still have at least two staff slots to fill. If Lin eventually becomes the “third” of the three additions to the rotation this offseason, the overall outlook will improve a lot. Adding a permanent innings player who can still miss bats and limit walks to round out the fourth or fifth spot in the rotation makes perfect sense, especially on a one-year contract with a club option. If the upcoming additions to the team are more in the same vein, however, it would be fair to question the overall direction of the season. As with all early off-season transactions, it’s impossible to get the full context; The overall picture will be clearer as spring arrives.

More is coming.