Wainwright asks media to get retirement questions out of the way now

Adam Wainwright isn't thinking about retirement as he heads into his final season under contract with the St. Louis Cardinals.

He made that abundantly clear Thursday at Roger Dean Stadium, where the veteran right-hander assembled the media to inform them he'd very much appreciate not being inundated with questions about his future all summer long.

"If you have a question about whether I'm retiring after this year, or if I'm thinking about retiring, or if I'm thinking about moving on with my life, or if I'm thinking about signing an extension, I would love for you to ask that right now," Wainwright said, per MLB.com's Joe Trezza.

"Let me just say this: It would be great for me if everyone would ... embrace the idea that I love being a St. Louis Cardinal. I've loved my time here. I really want to get the most out of what I'm doing here right now. And I would love to not answer that question for the rest of my life, or for the rest of this year, every time I do an interview. So, let's get it out of the way right now.

"I'm not thinking about anything past today right now. ... I won't think about anything past tomorrow. What I want to do is I want to be the very best St. Louis Cardinal I can be today, and then tomorrow I want to be the best St. Louis Cardinal I can be tomorrow. And we'll do that every single day until the end of the season, and then we'll see what happens."

Over the past couple years, Wainwright - a three-time All-Star once considered among the top starters in the game - hasn't resembled his former self, and the 36-year-old has been usurped by Carlos Martinez as the club's ace. In 2017, Wainwright managed a career-worst 5.11 ERA (84 ERA+) and 1.50 WHIP over 23 starts and one relief appearance, and logged just 123 1/3 innings due to back tightness that sidelined him during the second half.