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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The St. Louis Cardinals&amp;nbsp;have exercised their 2015 option on starting pitcher John Lackey, the team announced Thursday.&amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Lackey will make the major league minimum next season, just over $500,000.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It was an expected move for the Cardinals, who traded for Lackey at the July 31 deadline knowing they would be able to pick up his option for next season.&amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 &lt;strong&gt;JAFFE:&amp;nbsp;Sandoval may be out, but Giants are in good shape&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;When Lackey signed a&amp;nbsp;five-year, $82.5 million contract with the Boston&amp;nbsp;Red Sox in 2009, one of the provisions was that if he missed significant time during those five years, there was a 2015 option at the league minimum. Lackey missed the entire 2012 season after having Tommy John surgery.&amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Lackey, 36, said in August that he would honor his contract for next season rather than retire.&amp;nbsp;The veteran has earned more than $100 million over his 12-year career, according to the team.&amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Lackey went 14-10 in 2014 with a 3.82 ERA and 164 strikeouts in 198 innings.&amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022&amp;nbsp;&lt;strong&gt;Former Red Sox All-Star Kevin Youkilis retires&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Cardinals won the NL Central after going 90-72 in 2014, and lost to the eventual-champion San Francisco Giants in the NLCS.&amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;-&lt;em&gt; Molly Geary&lt;/em&gt;\r\n&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/mlb/2014/10/30/cardinals-pick-2015-option-john-lackey>