photo: Ryan Helsley (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
An important date in the arbitration process to set 2025 salaries for eligible players occurs on Thursday, January 9. Six Cardinals are included.
Though the St. Louis Cardinals front office has neither signed a major leaguer nor traded any this off-season, they have been busy the last few days.
No, not busy trading Nolan Arenado, but they have been in salary negotiations with six arbitration-eligible players. The six were contractually committed to the Cardinals for 2025 when tendered contracts in November, but because of their MLB service time, their salaries for the upcoming season will be set via the arbitration process.
The six Cardinals are Ryan Helsley (third year), JoJo Romero (second), John King (second), Lars Nootbaar (first), Brendan Donovan (first) and Andre Pallante (Super Two, first).
If the two sides cannot come to an agreement on the amount by 1:00 p.m. ET today, they will formally exchange figures in preparation for a hearing to be held in the January 27 to February 14 time period.
The Cardinals have long followed a process called “file and trial,” which means they will proceed to a hearing with any of the six with whom they don’t reach an agreement today. The only exception would be for a multi-year extension, which could occur at any time pre-hearing, such as with the two-year, $16.5 million deal with Tommy Edman last winter.
As the hearings are held, a panel of three arbitrators listen to the presentations from each side, team and player, and select one pre-submitted amount or the other, with no compromise allowed.
MLB.com is reporting that the Cardinals have discussed multi-year deals with Donovan and Nootbaar, with the former close to an agreement but the latter set to accept a one-year contract.
Update: Shortly after the above comment, MLB.com reversed course, saying that Donovan and the team have had “minimal” talks on a long-term deal and it is not expected today.
Each year, MLB Trade Rumors estimates contract amounts for all eligible players, based on years of experience, position and past performance. Here are their projections for the six, with the total $18.7 million.
| 2025 Cardinals | Arb Year | Est ($MM) | Team file | Player file | Actual ($MM) | Source |
| Ryan Helsley | 3 | $6.9 | $8.2 | Katie Woo | ||
| JoJo Romero | 2 | $1.9 | $2.26 | Katie Woo | ||
| John King | 2 | $1.5 | $1.605 | Ari Alexander | ||
| Brendan Donovan | 1 | $3.6 | $2.85 | $3.3 | Mark Feinsand | |
| Lars Nootbaar | 1 | $2.5 | $2.45 | $2.95 | Mark Feinsand | |
| Andre Pallante | 1 | $2.3 | $1.925 | $2.1 | Mark Feinsand | |
| Total | $18.7 |
Update
As noted above, the three most experienced eligible players came to terms with the Cardinals on one-year contracts. The three first timers will head to hearings.
What is next
This article will be updated once the exchanged figures are disclosed and any agreements are made.
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