Jeff Locke goes from rookie All-Star to Triple-A - MLB

Left-hander Jeff Locke is recovered from an oblique injury and off the disabled list, but rather than adding him to the active roster the Pirates have demoted him to Triple-A.

Locke made the All-Star team as a (not quite technically) rookie last season after starting 8-2 with a 2.15 ERA, but posted a 6.12 ERA in the second half and was dumped from the rotation in September.

Pittsburgh just doesn’t have room for him in the rotation, as Francisco Liriano, Gerrit Cole, Charlie Morton, and Wandy Rodriguez aren’t going anywhere and Edinson Volquez was signed for $5 million to fill the fifth spot. And while going from rookie All-Star to Triple-A in less than a year is extreme, Locke never projected as a front-end starter, didn’t have the peripheral numbers to match his fast start last year, and is already 26 years old.

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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.