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As the month of March approaches, the Cardinals of St. Louis are acting in the short and long term.
The rivals in the Cubs division have added catcher Matt Wieters to a minor league contract and have also extended starting pitcher Miles Mikolas to the 2023 season:
#Cardinaux agree to deal with Matt Wieters, four-time winner of the All-Star and two-time winner of the gold glove. Arrive for an agreement with the minor leagues and add a competitor who hits hard at a backup receiver derby. News here: https://t.co/LgLFyd3M9Z #stlcards #MLB
– Derrick Goold (@dgoold) February 26, 2019
Wieters turns 33 in May and has never really managed to show off. He had some good years with the Orioles, including four games in the game of stars (2011, 2012, 2014, 2016), but he has especially experienced difficult times in recent years.
The veteran catcher who has hit the switch has averaged only 85 games per season since 2013 and has reduced .246 / .308 / .393 (.702 OPS) over this period. He is still widely considered a good defensive receiver and has pop (135 career circuits), but he has a 0.0 WAR (baseball reference) over the past two years with the Washington Nationals.
We will probably not count much on Wieters, even if he is part of the big leagues club, because Yadier Molina is a workaholic – he has captured at least 110 games per season since 2004. Nevertheless, Wieters offers a nice depth if Molina falls. hurts or starts to slow down at 36 years old.
As for Mikolas, it's bad news for the Cubs.
The 30-year-old right-hander is expected to earn $ 68 million over the next four years, in addition to the $ 15.5-million deal he signed with the Cardinals before 2018:
A source confirms that this agreement begins with 2020. It lasts until 2023 and is much closer to Leake's agreement than Lohse's, as we have already discussed at @stltoday. https://t.co/CVbxjzHEaS
– Derrick Goold (@dgoold) February 26, 2019
Mikolas was initially selected in the 7th round of 2009 by the San Diego Padres and has already played in the 2012-14 major leagues with the Padres and Texas Rangers. He went to Japan for the 2015 season and spent three years there, returning to the United States with a modified pitcher with impeccable control.
Last year, Mikolas led the National League with nine innings (1.3), shots allowed (186), wins (18 tied with Jon Lester) and won (0.818) , while finishing 6th in Cy Cy and voting with 2.83 ERA and 1.07 WHIP.
He has been fantastic in his 4 starts against the Cubs, with a 3-0 record with a 1.38 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP of 26 innings.
Everything about the 2018 escape from Mikolas shouts "legitimate" and it is still buzzing. The Cubs must learn to understand it quickly because it does not leave anywhere before long.
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