The St. Louis Cardinals announced today that they have reached agreements on one-year contracts for the upcoming 2021 season with outfielder Harrison Bader and pitchers Jordan Hicks and Alex Reyes, avoiding salary arbitration. Financial terms of the deals were not disclosed.
The team will exchange salary arbitration figures with pitcher Jack Flaherty following today’s 12 noon CST deadline.
Bader, 26, batted .226 with 4 HR & 11 RBI in 50 games in 2020, including a .360 mark vs. left-handed pitchers. The right-handed hitting outfielder is considered among the game’s top defensive centerfielders.
Hicks, 24, opted out of the 2020 season due to COVID health concerns, as he continued his recovery from Tommy John surgery. The fire-balling reliever has recorded 20 career saves, including 14 prior to his elbow injury in 2019.
Reyes, 26, appeared in single-season high 15 games for the Cardinals in 2020, striking out 27 batters in 19.2 innings pitched, and he gained a save in the team’s Game 1 playoff win at San Diego with 3.1 innings of work to close out the 7-4 victory.
