Inside The Cardinals

Ex-Cardinals Fan-Favorite Revealed Surprising Price Clubs Wouldn't Meet

The former Cardinals fan-favorite opened up about the offseason
Patrick McAvoy|
Mar 6, 2019; Tampa, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals hat and gloves lay in the dugout at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-Imagn Images
Mar 6, 2019; Tampa, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals hat and gloves lay in the dugout at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-Imagn Images | Kim Klement-Imagn Images

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St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals wanted to trim down its costs this past offseason and one way that it did so was by turning down Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson's club options for the 2025 season.

Both Gibson and Lynn floated around in free agency for quite a while. Gibson eventually landed a one-year, $5.25 million deal to join the Baltimore Orioles. Lynn was available and no deal came to fruition. He eventually announced that he was hanging up his cleats and retiring.

USA Today Sports' Bob Nightengale shared a fascinating column on Sunday in which he examined the future of free agency in Major League Baseball. If you follow the sport, you likely have seen this. In recent years, there has been a clear shift in free agency. Superstars have done fine, but others not so much. Even All-Star-level players have been left in the dust.

It's an interesting time in the league right now and it's only going to get more complicated.

One nugget that was interesting from Nightengale's piece -- which absolutely should be read -- is that Lynn was only looking for an $8 million deal.

"Veteran Lance Lynn didn’t think he’d be sitting home these days in Southern Illinois after discovering that no team was willing to meet his $8 million asking price," Nightengale shared.

"Free agency could be great, it could be miserable," Lynn said to Nightengale. "I experienced both. You know what you think you're worth, you know where you want to be, but teams look to try to get a guy as cheap as possible..."I was in a weird market where every team could afford me, but 20 to 25 teams are not looking to compete. Every team has the same playbook."

Lynn appeared in 23 games last year for the Cardinals. He had a 3.84 ERA and pitched 117 innings. Even at 37 years old, $8 million seems like it would've been a pretty fair price tag for him after a season like that. Things certainly are shifting in the league.

More MLB: Cardinals 23-Year-Old Is Making It Clear He Deserves Big League Spot

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Patrick McAvoy
PATRICK MCAVOY

Patrick McAvoy's experiences include local and national sports coverage at the New England Sports Network with a focus on baseball and basketball. Outside of journalism, Patrick also is pursuing an MBA at Brandeis University. After quickly rising as one of the most productive writers on the site, he expanded his reach to write for Baseball Essential, a national baseball site in Sports Illustrated Media Group. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding Inside The Cardinals, please reach out to Scott Neville: nevilles@merrimack.edu

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