The St. Louis Cardinals have four players filing for salary arbitration that include Trevor Rosenthal, Brandon Moss, Matt Adams and Seth Maness. Each player is due to see an increase in salary, but Rosethnal is likely to make a huge jump.
Rosenthal made just $535,000 in his final season before salary arbitration. He is coming off his best season as the Cardinals’ closer appearing in 68 games, 68.2 innings pitched, 2.10 ERA, 83 strikeouts, 25 walks and 48 saves. During his tenure with the Cardinals he has a total of 96 games saved. He made the All-Star Team in 2015.
Many project Rosenthal to earn around $6-$7MM in salary arbitration. Former Atlanta Braves closer, Craig Kimbrel set the record for a closer for salary arbitration in his first eligible season by earning $7MM. However, he had more saves than what Rosenthal has accumulated to this point.
Other players that filed for arbitration include Moss, Adams and Maness.
Moss earned $6.5MM in arbitration last season and is in his final year before becoming a free agent. While Moss’ numbers were down players almost always increase their figure in arbitration. Moss is likely to earn $7.5MM each but could see his numbers as high as $8.5MM.
Adams and Maness are due for around $1-1.5MM each in arbitration. Adams was sidelined with an injury for most of the 2015 season and was not performing well before his injury. Maness, while used-often, does not pitch in what is considered the ‘prime-time’ innings.
The Cardinals typically reach an agreement before it reaches an arbitration hearing, often saving any animosity that both sides would deal with in a hearing. Last season the Cardinals gave Lance Lynn a three-year extension instead of going through arbitration.
During arbitration both sides submit figures for how much they think the player is worth. If an agreement is not reached there is a hearing in front of an arbitration panel. A panel will either side with the player or organization for how much salary that player will earn in the upcoming season.
Even before GM Mozeliak took over in St. Louis the Cardinals were well known to settle with their players before going to a hearing. The last one took place in 1999 so it would not be surprising to both sides come to an agreement before the deadline.
