Cherished Cardinals Veteran 'Might Hang Them Up' This Offseason, Per Insider

The St. Louis hurler is nearing the end of his career

Oct 19, 2012; St. Louis, MO, USA; The Budweiser clydesdales parade around the warning track as St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Lance Lynn (31) stretches prior to game five of the 2012 NLCS against the San Francisco Giants at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images / Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

The St. Louis Cardinals will have to wait until next year for a chance at making the playoffs but first, they need to figure out how to navigate the offseason.

Last year's winter moves clearly weren't enough to make the Cardinals a playoff-caliber team again and St. Louis must determine who needs to be retained from the list of players with pending contracts.

There's a chance the Cardinals front office won't have to decide on one player's contract this offseason, with rumors about a possible retirement floating around.

"On Tuesday night, Lance Lynn pitched his 100th game at Busch Stadium, and he did well enough to earn his 143rd career victory," MLB.com's Will Leitch wrote Thursday. "Lynn hasn’t announced any career plans or anything, but it at least seems possible that the two-time All-Star, now 37 years old, might hang them up in the offseason. (The day after his start, the Cardinals ended his season by putting him on the injured list.)

The Cardinals decided to end Lynn's season on Wednesday after complaining about a nagging right knee injury that has plagued the veteran hurler since his gritty performance against the Texas Rangers on July 30.

Lynn has logged a 143-99 record with a 3.74 ERA, 2015-to-704 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .243 batting average against and a 1.28 WHIP throughout his 13-year career between his time playing for the Cardinals, Rangers, Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers.

The two-time All-Star is one of the last two active players from the miraculous 2011 World Series championship roster -- the other is Matt Carpenter, who plans to return in 2025.

It'll be a sad day when Lynn finally decides to walk away from the game but at least he was able to accomplish significant career milestones with the Cardinals -- the team that drafted him -- before he retired.

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