Carlos's Cardinals: Martinez, Cards agree on 5 year extension
According to Jon Heyman, the St. Louis Cardinals have agreed to extend starting pitcher Carlos Martinez to a 5 year deal worth $51M. St. Louis is expected to hold a press conference tomorrow to announce the extension of Martinez. Details of the contract are yet to be released.
After missing the playoffs for the first time since 2010, Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak decided to lock up the team's most electric starting pitcher. With St. Louis trading away Jaime Garcia and starters Adam Wainwright and Michael Wacha battling health and performance issues, St. Louis was dealing with uncertainty in their starting rotation for the first time in recent memory. Now with the extension given to Martinez, Cardinals fans should feel at ease with Martinez and rookie Alex Reyes manning the rotation for years to come.
Martinez, 25, will be entering his 5th big league season at the start of 2017. After spending a majority of his first two seasons out of the bullpen for the Cardinals, Martinez started the 2015 season in the starting rotation. He thrived with a 14-7 record and a 3.01 ERA. Martinez followed up his impressive first year in the rotation with a 16-9 mark with a 3.04 ERA in a career high 195 innings thrown. After compiling 30 wins in his first two seasons, it was more than enough to show the Cardinals front office that he was willing to earn an extension.
With the eventual departure of 37 year old Adam Wainwright and soon to be free agent Michael Wacha, now was the time for the Cards' to lock up Martinez. The Chicago Cubs are still the primed favorites for the NL Central for years to come, but the Cards are doing all they can to stay revelenat and hopefully get back to the postseason in 2017.
