The news is not good for St. Louis Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright.
The 2010 NL Cy Young award runner-up will undergo Tommy John surgery and be sidelined for the entire 2011 season according to Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak.
It is a huge blow for both the Cardinals and Wainwright and could cost the ace over $21 million in future salary.
Even a speedy recovery from the surgery would have Wainwright on the disabled list when this season ends and that could lead to the Cardinals declining his options for 2012 and 2013 thanks to a twist in the contract he signed in March of 2008.
By finishing among the top five in last season’s Cy Young balloting Wainwright triggered a $9 million option for 2012 and $12 million option for 2013. Those are bargain rates for a healthy No. 1 starter, but because the contract includes a clause that allows the Cardinals to void the two years if he finishes 2011 on the DL with any sort of arm injury Wainwright could be out $21 million (after making $6.5 million without throwing an inning this season).
That would make Wainwright a free agent after this season and likely put him in position to accept an incentive-laden contract like, say, Brandon Webb has been forced to do in his recovery from shoulder problems. However, as Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post Dispatch writes, the Cardinals may instead try to work out a new multi-year deal with Wainwright that lessens their upfront commitment while still keeping him in St. Louis long term.
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