ST. LOUIS -- Seeking to avoid an arbitration hearing and get cost certainty for both parties in future years, right-hander Lance Lynn and the Cardinals agreed to a three-year contract on Thursday. The value of the contract is $22 million, according to a report by CBSSports.com.The length of the deal buys out all three of Lynn's remaining arbitration-eligible seasons, but it does not cover any of his pending free-agent years. That means Lynn, 27, is projected to be able to hit the open market after the 2017 season. 
"We are pleased to have reached this agreement with Lance," Cardinals senior vice president and general manager John Mozeliak said. "His performance has led to much success for both he and the Cardinals organization, and we look forward to his continued growth as both a pitcher and team leader."With Lynn's situation settled, the Cardinals can focus their attention on their other three arbitration-eligible players -- Jon Jay, Peter Bourjos and Tony Cruz -- who remain unsigned. If agreements aren't reached with any of these three within the next day, the two sides will exchange desired salary figures on Friday.Lynn parlayed a breakout 2014 season into a strong negotiating position. He is coming off a third consecutive 15-win year and has thrown more than 200 innings in each of the past two regular seasons.Lynn allowed two or fewer runs in 24 of his 33 starts last season and also finished with two dozen quality starts, sixth-most in the National League. He ranked among the top 10 NL starting pitchers in ERA (2.74) and innings pitched (203 2/3). The 48 wins he has amassed since becoming a permanent member of the rotation in 2012 falls behind only teammate Adam Wainwright and the Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw in the NL.Combining his 2013 and 2014 seasons, Lynn ranks among the NL's best in several pitching categories. That includes first in games started (66), fifth in quality starts (43), sixth in wins (30), seventh in strikeouts (379), eighth in innings pitched (405 1/3) and 14th in ERA (3.35).Slotting in behind Wainwright, Lynn anchors the top of a Cardinals rotation that needs such a workhorse given varying questions about other members of the rotation. Wainwright and Michael Wacha need to prove they are past injury issues, John Lackey and Jaime Garcia sit only a year away from potentially leaving as free agents, and Carlos Martinez and Marco Gonzales, while teeming with talent, are nevertheless unproven as Major League starters.Lynn made his Major League debut in 2011, three years after being the Cardinals' first-round Draft selection. He has already appeared in a franchise-record 23 postseason games, seven of those as a starter.
Jenifer Langosch/ MLB.com
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