Report: Cardinals ready to lock up Carlos Martinez with record contract extension

The St. Louis Cardinals are close to finalizing a five-year contract extension with pitcher Carlos Martinez, according to FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal. The deal is expected to be worth $51M, which FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman adds would be record money for a first-time arbitration eligible pitcher.

Martinez’s deal would shatter the previous record held by Cleveland Indians hurler Corey Kluber, who signed a five-year, $38.5M contract early in the 2015 season.

Once finalized, Martinez’s new deal will buy out all three years of arbitration and his first two years of free agency. It would also give St. Louis cost certainty for a player whose salary was likely to escalate sharply throughout the arbitration process.

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As Rosenthal notes, Martinez asked for $4.25M in arbitration, while the Cardinals offered $3.9M. The team may not come out ahead during this portion of the contract, but assuming he remains healthy they are likely to save money during the life of the contract. That’s especially true three years from now when Martinez, who’s now 25, could have entered free agency prior to his age-28 season. Now it will essentially serve as an affordable two-year free agent deal for a top level pitcher who should be in his prime.

To date, Martinez has been durable for St. Louis. He’s averaged 30 starts and 187 innings over his first two full seasons. He’s also been pretty dynamic, posting a 3.32 ERA and 8.5 K/9 over his 492.2 career innings.

That gives it the feel of a deal that should pay off for both sides. Especially so for the Cardinals, who will need Martinez to pick up the torch from Adam Wainwright as the team’s ace.

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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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