Oft-injured Joey Devine to undergo another Tommy John reconstructive elbow surgery

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Joey Devine’s once-promising career has once again been derailed by injuries, as the A’s reliever will undergo elbow surgery today performed by Dr. James Andrews.

Devine was the Braves’ first-round pick in 2005, was traded to the A’s for Mark Kotsay in 2008, and has a 2.75 ERA with 9.1 strikeouts per nine innings for his career.

Unfortunately he’s 28 years old and has been limited to a grand total of just 88 innings, missing all of 2009 and 2010 following Tommy John surgery. He bounced back well enough to throw 23 innings with a 3.52 ERA and 20/11 K/BB ratio for the A’s last season, but is now headed back under the knife and could miss all of this season depending on what Andrews finds.

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UPDATE, 7:28 PM: Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that Devine will have Tommy John surgery — the second of his career. It’s safe to wonder if he’ll ever make it back.

Cardinals sign pitcher Miles Mikolas to 3-year, $55.75M deal

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Rhona Wise/USA TODAY Sports
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ST. LOUIS — Miles Mikolas is sticking with the St. Louis Cardinals.

The right-hander signed a three-year, $55.75 million contract on Friday that will carry through the 2025 season.

The new deal replaces a $68 million, four-year contract signed in February 2019 that covered the 2020-23 seasons and was set to pay $15.75 million this year.

Mikolas will receive a $5 million signing bonus payable July 1 and will make $18.75 million in 2023 and $16 million in each of the following two seasons. Mikolas can earn a $250,000 bonus for winning a Cy Young Award, $50,000 for All-Star election or selection or winning a Gold Glove, $100,000 for League Championship Series MVP and $150,000 for World Series MVP.

Mikolas is scheduled to make the second opening-day start of his big league career next Thursday when the Cardinals host Toronto. Mikolas went 12-13 with a 3.29 ERA last season while helping St. Louis to the NL Central title.

“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,” St. Louis general manager John Mozeliak said in a statement.

Mikolas is 45-40 with a 3.79 in 143 games with San Diego, Texas and St. Louis. He recently pitched six shutout innings in two appearances for the U.S. in the World Baseball Classic.