Sources: The Cardinals and Mikolas accept a four-year extension until 2023 | Derrick Goold: Bird Land

The team called a 16:30 press conference at the time of St. Louis.

Mikolas, 30, returned to the Japanese majors a year ago. He led the rotation of the Cardinals and won the title of "All-Star". His contract of $ 15.5 million over two years allowed him to become a free agent at the end of the season. Both parties said they were eager to discuss an extension.

Originally from Jupiter, Florida, and with family ties to St. Louis, Mikolas explained how "obvious" it was to stay with the Cardinals.

The 18 victories of Mikolas were tied at the top of the National League. He broke an 18-4 record with 200 innings and a 2.83 inning.

Cardinals and Mikolas' agent have discussed an extension during the off season and are waiting for these discussions to crystallize during the spring training. The goal for Mikolas was to get a contract similar to the one that the team had paid to Mike Leake as a free agent, and when his contract for 2019 is included, he is close of the contract that he has received.

Mikolas joins teammates Matt Carpenter, Adam Wainwright, Kolten Wong, Paul DeJong, Jose Martinez and Yadier Molina as players for whom contract extensions have been negotiated and completed during the spring training.

This is a last minute story and will be updated.