The forecast calls for Sonny weather in St. Louis for the next three years.

The St. Louis Cardinals and starting pitcher Sonny Gray have agreed to a three-year, $75 million contract, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.

And Gray made it clear he was excited to arrive.

“Going into this thing. I wanted to be a Cardinal,” Gray said at his introductory news conference at Busch Stadium. “That started probably a little over a year ago. It’s a place that every time I’ve come here as a visitor, I’ve looked at the stadium and I’ve said, ‘Wow, this place is incredible!’

“I looked around the seats and I’ve seen the fans, and the fans continue to show up and they support this team. And when you talk around the league and talk to different guys who have been all over the place, everybody raves about St. Louis and the Cardinals.”

“The fans — how they support you, how the fans are hard on you and how the fans expect you to win and expect greatness — that’s something as a player and a competitor you want. With where I am in my career, I want to win. Coming into an organization like St. Louis, with the tradition … it’s just a baseball town and a baseball city and in a place that I’m thrilled to come and be a part of.”

In 2023, Gray was 8-8 with a 2.79 ERA in 184 innings for the Twins. He had 183 strikeouts and allowed 156 hits and 55 walks. Gray has experience in the National League Central, having gone 23-20 with a 3.49 ERA for the Reds from 2019-21 before being traded to the Twins in March 2022. Over 11 seasons with the A’s, Yankees, Reds and Twins, Gray is 98-85 with a 3.47 ERA.

While the numbers above may not seem exceptional on paper, Gray has been in among the top pitchers in baseball over the past five seasons, including a runner-up finish for the AL Cy Young Award. And joining a team that finished 25th in baseball in team-ERA (the Cardinals had an ERA of 5.08 from the starters in 2023) it’s a massive improvement.

With Adam Wainwright retiring, and Jack Flaherty and Jordan Montgomery traded away, Gray, along with Miles Mikolas, Lance Lynn, and Steven Matz, are the official four to lead the way.

Buckle up, though. Because free agency is just getting started.