New Arrival: Adam Wainwright, sp, St. Louis Cardinals

A couple months ago I missed out on a private signing with Wainwright. It was kind of expensive, and I decided to pass. Ended up getting this autograph a couple weeks later for a quarter what the signing would cost. I think its a nice looking card.

• I first started following Adam Wainwright while he was a prospect with the Braves. So much so that, to this day, I still associate him more with the Braves then the Cardinals…which is stupid.
• In case you don’t remember: Wainwright was drafted by the Braves in the First Round of the 2000 draft, 29th overall.
• He was a great prospect in Atlanta. From 2000-2002 he the organizations #7, #2 and #1 prospect respectively. He was tagged as a future top of the line starter.
• The Braves traded him to the Cardinals in 2003 as part of a package for JD Drew.
• From 2003-2005 he was rated the Cardinals #2, #2 and #6 prospect respectively.
• He made the majors in 2005 for a whole two innings. In 2006 he got in 75 innings–all out of the pen. Everyone expected him to be moved back to the rotation at some point, but the Cardinals simply had no room in the rotation. And he had nothing left to prove in the minors.
• In 2007 he joined the rotation, winning 14 games. Since then he has been one of the more consistent pitchers in the game.
• He has two 20-win seasons under his belt. Ironically he has led the league twice in wins, but it was during his two 19 wins seasons.
• He has plenty of hardware: he has two Gold Gloves, three All-Star selections, a Silver Slugger and has been in the Top-3 of Cy Young voting three times. Not bad.
• He was also part of the 2006 World Champion St. Louis team.
• He has a career ERA+ of 121 and has amassed 39.3 WAR.
• Wainwright is going to be 36 in 2018, but I still think he has a couple of good seasons left in the tanks.