St. Louis Cardinals Give Lance Lynn Three-Year, $22 Million-Dollar Contract

As CBS Sports’s Jon Heyman first reported on Thursday morning, the St. Louis Cardinals have agreed on a three-year, $22 million-dollar contract with righthanded starting pitcher Lance Lynn. The new contract will buy out all three remaining arbitration years for Lynn, who turns 28 years old this May.

Lynn, who took part in his fourth big-league season during 2014, had a career year. He went 15-10 (which ranked him eighth in the National League in wins), and he had career-bests in ERA (2.74) and innings pitched (203.2). While Lynn hasn’t always had the support of the St. Louis fan base, he’s consistently put up numbers that portray him to be a reliable top-three starter, putting together a 49-28 record with a 3.46 ERA, a 1.282 WHIP, and a .245 opponent batting average.

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If Lynn continues the progress that he showed during 2014, he should be a very solid option as the Cardinals’ number two starter behind Adam Wainwright. (Of course, that’s assuming that the Cards don’t go after a high-profile ace such as Max Scherzer, David Price, and Cole Hamels, as has been discussed in recent weeks). Even if the Cardinals end up getting one of those starters, the combo of Wainwright, Lynn, and a third top-tier starter would give St. Louis perhaps the most formidable rotation in the National League, especially if Michael Wacha can return to his rookie form in the fourth starter role.

Either way, locking up Lynn for the next few years provides some stability to the Cardinals rotation which frankly was much-needed considering that the team traded Shelby Miller this offseason and can’t have 100 percent confidence in Wainwright after he had elbow surgery following the season.

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