ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Cardinals and Miles Mikolas have agreed to a two-year contract extension that will keep the veteran starting pitcher in St. Louis through the 2025 season.
Mikolas has been a member of the Cardinals' rotation since signing a free-agent deal in 2018 and has been an all-star twice. He represented Team USA in the World Baseball Classic this spring after posting one of his best seasons as a professional in 2022.
According to ESPN's Jesse Rogers, the deal is for two years and $40 million. Rogers said Mikolas will get $5 million as a signing bonus, a $3 million bump in pay for the 2023 season and $16 million each for the 2024 and 2025 seasons. The deal was first reported by Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post Dispatch.
In addition to the new contract, the Cardinals also announced that Mikolas will be the team's opening day starter when they face the Toronto Blue Jays on March 30.
“We are extremely pleased to announce that Miles Mikolas will remain a Cardinal for the foreseeable future,” Cardinals’ President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak said in a press release. “Miles stands among the top pitchers in the game today, and has continued to provide a steady presence for us both in the rotation and inside the clubhouse. The team is also looking forward to Miles taking the ball for us on Opening Day next week at Busch Stadium.”
Mikolas was the Cardinals' leader in starts and quality starts in 2022, and his team-leading 202.1 innings pitched was also third in the National League. He came up one strike short of a no-hitter against the Pirates on June 14. It would have been the first no-hitter by a Cardinals pitcher since Bud Smith in 2001.
Mikolas has also been recognized as a leader in the locker room. In 2018, his teammates voted him as the recipient of the Darryl Kile Award in 2018, which goes to the Cardinals player who exemplifies Kyle's traits of "a good teammate, a great friend, a fine father and a humble man."
