A day after their rival, Chicago Cubs, won the World Series, the St. Louis Cardinals announced the contract extension for manager Mike Matheny. The terms of the deal has not yet been disclosed, but it is for three years, and with one year remaining on the current deal, Matheny will stick around in St. Louis through 2020.
This extension comes following their first missed playoff appearance in Matheny's five-year tenure with the team. They fell just one game short in the NL Wild Card race behind the New York Mets and the San Francisco Giants. They were 17.5 games behind the Cubs in the NL Central standings.
Before that, the Cardinals made the playoffs under Matheny from 2012 to 2015, including NL Central titles from 2013 to 2015. They made the World Series in 2013, falling to the Boston Red Sox in six games. Since taking over, following Tony La Russa's retirement after a World Series winning 2011 season, Matheny has gone 461-349.
In other MLB news, the Detroit Tigers have been rumored to be selling this off-season, and got that going on Thursday. The team dealt outfielder Cameron Maybin to the Angels for a minor league pitcher. Maybin is coming off his best season, as he hit .315 with four home runs in 95 games. This comes after starting his season late due to a wrist injury from getting hit by a pitch in spring training.
Maybin will have to make a major change, after spending his entire career as a center fielder, he will make the shift to left field with star Mike Trout manning center field. The new Angel was okay with that because of the excitement of playing with Trout and Albert Pujols, as well as playing for manager Mike Scioscia.
It is the fifth time in the last nine years that Maybin has been dealt, but Anaheim did exercise the 2017 option to keep him with the team for a possible extended period of time.
He is expected to add production to the left field position that just wasn't there this past year. The team is coming off their worst season since 1999, where they finished 74-88 after winning 98 games just two seasons ago.
This extension comes following their first missed playoff appearance in Matheny's five-year tenure with the team. They fell just one game short in the NL Wild Card race behind the New York Mets and the San Francisco Giants. They were 17.5 games behind the Cubs in the NL Central standings.
Before that, the Cardinals made the playoffs under Matheny from 2012 to 2015, including NL Central titles from 2013 to 2015. They made the World Series in 2013, falling to the Boston Red Sox in six games. Since taking over, following Tony La Russa's retirement after a World Series winning 2011 season, Matheny has gone 461-349.
In other MLB news, the Detroit Tigers have been rumored to be selling this off-season, and got that going on Thursday. The team dealt outfielder Cameron Maybin to the Angels for a minor league pitcher. Maybin is coming off his best season, as he hit .315 with four home runs in 95 games. This comes after starting his season late due to a wrist injury from getting hit by a pitch in spring training.
Maybin will have to make a major change, after spending his entire career as a center fielder, he will make the shift to left field with star Mike Trout manning center field. The new Angel was okay with that because of the excitement of playing with Trout and Albert Pujols, as well as playing for manager Mike Scioscia.
It is the fifth time in the last nine years that Maybin has been dealt, but Anaheim did exercise the 2017 option to keep him with the team for a possible extended period of time.
He is expected to add production to the left field position that just wasn't there this past year. The team is coming off their worst season since 1999, where they finished 74-88 after winning 98 games just two seasons ago.
