Contreras, Cardinals agree to 5-year deal (source)
The Cardinals have reached a five-year cope with three-time All-Star catcher Willson Contreras, a supply advised MLB.com’s Jon Paul Morosi on Wednesday. The membership has not confirmed the deal, which might give St. Louis its successor to longtime catcher Yadier Molina. Contreras, whose deal is value $87.5 million in line with MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand, could be the newest participant to participate within the basic Cubs-Cardinals rivalry from each side.
This previous season, Contreras was named to his third profession All-Star crew, following nods within the ’18 and ’19 campaigns. One of the remaining members of the 2016 World Series membership, Contreras tried to embrace extra of a vocal management function, whereas being a mentor for some youthful gamers on a Cubs crew within the midst of a rebuilding interval.
At the identical time, Contreras performed the primary half of the season amid fixed commerce rumors and chatter about his unsure future with the one ballclub he had recognized. Contreras was signed out of Venezuela in 2009, transformed to catching as a Minor Leaguer and grew into the longest-tenured participant within the group.
When the Trade Deadline got here and went, Contreras was nonetheless with the Cubs, who didn’t discover a deal that met their excessive asking value. Contreras discovered himself more and more at peace with the concept he would possibly swimsuit up for a brand new crew in ’23 and past.
“Right after the Trade Deadline,” Contreras mentioned on the finish of this season, “I mentioned to myself, like, ‘If I do not come again to this crew, simply know that you simply did all the things you could possibly to assist this crew to win.’ And that is one thing that’s true. Because I play with my coronary heart each single day. I did not make an excuse to not play baseball.
“I came here with the heart to play baseball and show the fans that I play for my team, that I don’t play for myself. And something that gives me peace. My mind-set right now is just really calm, because I know that when I walk out of the gate or out of the door, I did everything for this team.”
The Cubs prolonged the 30-year-old Contreras a one-year qualifying supply, which the catcher declined. That put Chicago in place to internet a compensatory Draft decide within the wake of Contreras’ departure.
In 2022, Contreras hit .243/.349/.466 with 22 residence runs, 23 doubles, 55 RBIs and 103 strikeouts in opposition to 45 walks in 113 video games. He set single-season profession bests in OPS+ (128), complete bases (194) and runs scored (65), whereas rating within the ninetieth percentile in hard-hit fee (48.6 p.c), per Statcast.
Over seven seasons with the Cubs, Contreras turned in a .256/.349/.459 slash line with a 115 OPS+ in 734 video games. He topped 20 homers in 4 seasons, growing into one in every of baseball’s high offensive catchers.
Defensively, Contreras has gained loads of reward for his arm energy, potential to restrict the working sport and blocking expertise. And whereas he earned the belief of veterans like Jon Lester and Kyle Hendricks, Contreras’ sport calling has been some extent of criticism.
In phrases of pitch framing, Contreras overcame some main points early in his profession and put in work to turn out to be a Gold Glove finalist in 2020. His framing numbers have regressed since that abbreviated standout season (minus one Framing Runs in ’21-22, per Statcast), however to not his 2017-19 ranges (minus 19 Framing Runs).
