Adam Wainwright has done an admirable job battling father time. The veteran just posted very good numbers despite being 38-years-old. He needs a new contract for 2021, but that should be manageable for the experienced thrower.
Wainwright has been all-star three times and finished in the top five of Cy Young voting four times. He also has three seasons with MVP votes, two Gold Gloves, and one Silver Slugger award. His career record is 167-98, all with the St. Louis Cardinals. He was very durable from 2007 through 2014 with more than 200 innings pitched in five of those seven years and one season that was just 1 1/3 inning short of that mark. An Achilles injury in 2015, Tommy John before 2011, and a hamstring injury in 2018 are the only major injuries on his resume. Those injuries cut into his career enough that a Hall of Fame trajectory is unlikely, but they haven’t prevented him from perfectly fine campaigns in 2019 and 2020. As interesting as he might be for multiple teams, there are very few that he will probably entertain this offseason.
St. Louis Cardinals
It is borderline impossible to imagine Adam Wainwright landing with any team other than St. Louis as the offseason marches on. He has spent all 15 years in St. Louis and has so many memories with the franchise. His stats place him fourth in franchise history for WAR, third in wins, sixth in innings pitched, and second behind only Bob Gibson in strikeouts. It is a guarantee that he will end up in the team’s internal Hall of Fame.
There is also an obvious spot for him at the back of the Cardinals’ rotation. Jack Flaherty is the ace with Kwang Hyun Kim and Carlos Martinez acting as the next rotation options. Then it becomes a battle between Wainwright, Austin Gomber, and Miles Mikolas if his rehab from flexor tendon surgery is still progressing well. Daniel Ponce de Leon and Johan Oviedo could be factors as well, but they don’t have Wainwright’s trust within the organization.
The team really only has three convincing starters in their top three. Ponce De Leon, Gomber, and the rest are mostly swing pitchers. Wainwright would add stability to the fourth or fifth starters spot as the organization’s pitching depth continues to develop.
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves have a stacked rotation right now. It features Max Fried, Mike Soroka, and Ian Anderson as developing rotation stars. Atlanta has focused on building its pitching depth in a sustainable way much like St. Louis, but the 39-year-old would stabilize the fourth or fifth spot that troubled the team in 2020. His ERA and FIP of 3.15 and 4.10 were better than several pitchers who took the mound in Truist Park.
It doesn’t hurt that Atlanta was the team that originally drafted Wainwright or that he is from the Peach State. They traded him to St. Louis way back in 2003 for J.D. Drew and Eli Marrero, but they could bring him back for one final run at a World Series. The Braves represent a safer opportunity for Wainwright’s third World Series ring than the Cardinals based on recent spending habits and player development.
Main Image
Embed from Getty Images
