Then again, at 37 years old, Lackey might be the first player in Major League Baseball history to accept the qualifying offer, which is worth $15.8 million this season.
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Lynn, 28, was 12-11 with a 3.03 ERA in 2015.
Lynn topped 175 innings in 2015 for the fourth consecutive season and made 30 starts for the third consecutive season. We know that now.
John Lackey became the team’s ace after Adam Wainwright was sidelined with a torn left Achilles in April and went 13-10 with a career-best 2.77 ERA and started in Games 1 and 4 of the NL Division Series against the Chicago Cubs.
Talented youngster Carlos Martinez was shut down at the end of the season with a shoulder strain. Never mind that the Pirates have fared well against Lynn over the years – he’s a big part of their rotation. Jaime Garcia pitched fantastically in 2015, but mustered less than 100 innings pitched combined in 2013 and 2014 due to various injuries. He’s battled all sorts of arm injuries in recent years and was finally able to get back on the mound for a significant period of time this summer. His salary is $7.5 million for 2016. It might work out, but that’s not a good situation.
Thanks to the questionable rotation health outlined above, the Cardinals are going to have to add a starting pitcher this offseason.
Given the options, unless John Mozeliak and the Cardinals had already meant to make a splash, either a trade, a quick deal with John Lackey, or a wait and see approach seem to be the most likely scenarios.
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The Cardinals have internal options for the fifth spot including Tyler Lyons, who is out of options, Tim Cooney, and Marco Gonzales, who had somewhat of a lost season in 2015 struggling with his own injuries. Heck, signing two wouldn’t be a bad idea, not with Martinez coming off his shoulder injury and Wacha looking so taxed in September and October. There’s no such thing as too much pitching. Also with the potential for trouble is David Price.
