photo: Ryan Helsley (Jeff Curry/USA TODAY Sports)
Three St. Louis Cardinals players head to arbitration hearings as three came to terms. Nolan Arenado remains with the team. Key off-season dates ahead are provided. Our history feature investigates prior trades and free agent signings made during this week.
Cardinals reach arbitration agreements with three
The filing deadline for arbitration eligible players passed on Thursday. The St. Louis Cardinals have six arbitration eligible players for 2025. They are pitchers Ryan Helsley, JoJo Romero and John King, as well as outfielder Lars Nootbaar, utility player Brendan Donovan and pitcher Andre Pallante.
The team and players came to an agreement on 2025 salaries for Helsley, Romero, and King. Salary will be $8.2 million with Helsley, a $4.4 million raise from 2024. Romero will make $2.26 million, and King agreed to $1.605 million.
The Cardinals failed to come to terms with first year eligibles Nootbaar, Donovan and Pallante. MLB.com’s John Denton reported that the team had been working on multi-year contracts with both Nootbaar and Donovan, but those efforts did not come to fruition before the filing deadline.
The amounts submitted by the players and the offers made by the Cardinals in each case with Nootbaar, Donovan, and Pallante are as follows:
- Nootbaar: filed at $2.95 million; Cardinals filed at $2.45 million.
- Donovan: filed at $3.3 million; Cardinals filed at $2.85 million.
- Pallante: filed at $2.1 million; Cardinals filed at $1.925 million.
The Cardinals have traditionally been a “file and trial” team, meaning they will take the player to hearing, unless an agreement on a multi-year contract is reached. Both sides may continue to negotiate until the hearing date, and agreements “on the courthouse steps” are possible. Otherwise, following the hearing, the arbitrator will decide on one filing amount or the other.
Recently, hearings took place with Tyler O’Neill in 2022 and Helsley in 2023. The Cardinals won both hearings with the player required to accept the team’s filed offer for a one-year contract.
Hearings will be scheduled from late January to mid-February.
News and Notes for the Offseason
In this space will be information on news and events of the offseason that do not require extensive coverage. Check back each week to learn what is happening.
- Former Cardinal takes out ad – Departed first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, recently signed to the Yankees roster, took out a full-page ad in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch to thank Cardinals fans for his time in St. Louis. For those who can’t access the ad itself, the text of the ad was reported by Cardinals writer Jeff Jones in a tweet on X, and in a post on Bluesky.
- Cardinals 2025 Spring Training tickets on sale now – The Cardinals have opened the sale of 2025 Spring Training tickets. Purchase tickets at https://www.mlb.com/cardinals/tickets/spring-training
Cardinals 2025 Winter Warm-Up –Winter Warm-Up will be held this coming weekend at Busch Stadium and Ballpark Village. Access information about the event at https://www.mlb.com/cardinals/fans/winter-warm-up- Winter Warm-Up autograph prices revealed – Here at TCN, Brian Walton has published his annual look at Winter Warm-Up autograph prices. The article reveals the top prices this year (hint they are all young up and coming players) and how this year’s prices compare to previous years. Recent additions to the event are included. This article can be found at https://thecardinalnation.com/st-louis-cardinals-winter-warm-up-autograph-prices-2025/
- Cardinals’ Season Tickets are now available – Fans can now purchase season tickets for the upcoming 2025 schedule. Access information about season tickets at https://www.mlb.com/cardinals/tickets/season-tickets. A telephone number and chat feature are available.
Trade and Acquisition Rumors
There continues to be no movement in the trade market for Nolan Arenado. The likelihood of Arenado coming to spring training in Jupiter in February is increasing.
At this point it appears that the Boston Red Sox are the most promising trade partner remaining, though the Red Sox appear to still be also in the hunt for free agent third baseman Alex Bregman. Unless and until Bregman lands somewhere other than Boston, it appears likely that Arenado’s market will remain stalled.
The main hang-up according to Katie Woo of the Athletic, is that the Cardinals are not interested in paying a sizable chunk of Arenado’s remaining contract in order to facilitate a trade.
Should Arenado not be traded, the Cardinals will have to seek payroll relief elsewhere, most probably by seeking a trade partner for one or both of pitchers Erick Fedde and Steven Matz if possible.
Transactions
- 1/9 The Cardinals claimed LHP Bailey Horn off waivers from the Detroit Tigers.
Injury Report
There are no new injuries to report.
Looking Ahead
It is now January 13 and in only about five weeks, pitchers and catchers report. The Cardinals have not made any significant offseason moves.
The arbitration filing deadline has passed. The Cardinals came to an agreement with three of their six arbitration eligible players. They are Ryan Helsley, JoJo Romero and John King.
The three remaining players, Lars Nootbaar, Brendan Donovan, and Andre Pallante have exchanged salary figures with the team. Arbitration hearings will be scheduled.
Other key dates in January include:
- January 15 – International signing period opens.
- January 21 – The 2025 Hall of Fame Class announced. The results of the voting by the BBWAA that took place in December will be announced live on MLB Network at 5 pm CT. Two members of the class, Dick Allen and Dave Parker, were chosen by the Classic Era Baseball Committee and announced in December.
- January 27 through February 14– Arbitration hearings for eligible players who failed to come to contract terms with their teams will be held during this period.
Blast from the Past
The offseason continues with the Cardinals still waiting to offload Nolan Arenado’s contract and continue their plan to lower payroll. The market for the third baseman is quiet for the moment.
The Cardinals have indicated that two additions to the roster are being considered. The team is reported to be seeking a relief arm to replace departed Andrew Kittredge and a right-handed hitting outfielder.
As the offseason percolates, this week’s Blast continues with a look at past transactions from the period January 6 through January 12.
The following list starts with date of the transaction, the name or names of the players involved in the transaction, the teams involved, and the nature of the transaction. Additional relevant details may be included.
January 7, 2000 – The Cardinals signed RHP Andy Benes to a free agent contract. This was a return contract for Benes, who had pitched for the Cardinals for two seasons in 1996 and 1997. He finished his career in St. Louis in 2002. His brother Alan Benes was also a pitcher for the Cardinals from 1995-2001.
January 8, 1998 – The Cardinals signed RHP Kent Bottenfield to a free agent contract. Bottenfield pitched for the team for two seasons. His best season was 1999 when he posted a record of 18-7 with an ERA of 3.97. Bottenfield was traded in 2000 along with Adam Kennedy to the Angels for outfielder Jim Edmonds.
January 9, 1991 – The Cardinals signed LHP Jamie Moyer to a free agent contract. Moyer, age 28 at the time of the signing, pitched in only eight games for the Cardinals before being sent down to the minor leagues and was then released at the end of the season.
Moyer went on to pitch for 21 more years with five other teams, spending the longest time with the Seattle Mariners. At the time Moyer pitched his last major league game, he was the oldest player in the major leagues at the age of 49.
January 10, 2007 – The Cardinals signed Rick Ankiel to a minor league contract with a Spring Training invite. As Cardinals fans know, Ankiel was drafted by the Cardinals in 1997 as a pitcher.
After Ankiel was unable to continue as a pitcher after the 2004 season, he switched to the outfield and played in the Cardinals minor league system.
Ankiel was granted free agency in 2006 and then signed the minor league contract in 2007. He played in the outfield until he became a free agent again in 2009 and signed with the Royals. He continued his career with the Nationals, Astros and the Mets until he retired in 2013.
January 11, 2016 – The Cardinals signed Korean pitcher Seung-hwan Oh to a one-year contract with a club option for a second season.
Oh pitched out of the bullpen and appeared in 76 games in 2016. The right-hander posted a record of 6-3 with an ERA of 1.92. Oh finished sixth in the Rookie of the Year voting.
Oh’s option was triggered for the 2017 season, and he made 62 relief appearances with a record of 1-6 and an ERA of 4.10. He pitched for Toronto and Colorado in 2018 and 2019. Oh then returned to Korea and was still active in 2024 at the age of 41.
Exclusively for members of The Cardinal Nation
Not yet a member?
Join The Cardinal Nation for the most comprehensive coverage of the St. Louis Cardinals from the majors through the entire minor league system.
Follow Marilyn Green on Bluesky @mrlyn59.bsky.social.
© 2025 The Cardinal Nation, thecardinalnation.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.