Adam Wainwright said a few weeks ago that he was optimistic about long-term extension talks with the Cardinals and with the right-hander arriving at spring training yesterday Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post Dispatch reports that the two sides have had “casual” discussions about a deal.
Goold classified the talks as “ongoing” and added that they “expect discussions to intensify on an extension after the start of spring training.”
Wainwright is entering the final season of a contract signed in March of 2008 and will be paid $12 million before hitting the open market at age 32.
Obviously his age means that using Felix Hernandez’s massive extension with the Mariners as a starting point won’t make much sense--King Felix will be Wainwright’s current age when that deal is over, after all--but in terms of recent extensions establishing a per-season price for top-line starters $20 million seems like the baseline right now. The bigger question will be how comfortable the Cardinals feel committing to Wainwright into his mid-30s.
