The Cardinals have now heard rulings on a pair of arbitration instances. Per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, they received their listening to towards utilityman Brendan Donovan however misplaced their listening to towards outfielder Lars Nootbaar. Donovan will earn the $2.85MM determine submitted by the staff final month fairly than the $3.3MM submitted by his camp. Nootbaar, in the meantime, will earn the $2.95MM sum he submitted fairly than the $2.45MM determine introduced by the staff.
Donovan, 28, has precisely three years of MLB service and was arbitration-eligible for the primary time this winter. He’s mixed to hit .280/.364/.407 in 1491 plate appearances since his 2022 debut, smacking 30 homers, 65 doubles and 5 triples alongside the best way. He’s proven incremental energy will increase in every of the previous two seasons — final 12 months’s 14 round-trippers had been a career-high — however has performed so on the expense of some walks. He drew free passes at a hearty 12.8% clip in 2022 however drew a stroll in a below-average 7.2% of final season’s 652 journeys to the plate.
Past his eager bat-to-ball abilities and knack for getting on base, Donovan’s worth is basically tied to his defensive versatility. The time period “tremendous utility” will get thrown round rather a lot, however Donovan genuinely exemplifies that moniker. He’s performed all 4 infield positions and each outfield corners in his MLB profession (albeit solely 65 innings at brief and 150 innings at first base). Defensive metrics like Outs Above Common and Defensive Runs Saved are likely to agree that he’s not less than satisfactory, if not a bona fide plus defender at most spots on the diamond (with third base being his greatest, metrics-wise). The business largely agrees. Donovan took residence a Gold Glove for his utility work again in 2022.
Nootbaar, 27, can also be in his first journey via arbitration. He’ll come out marginally forward of Donovan, maybe partly a mirrored image of his decrease asking worth and superior totals in residence runs (45 to 30), video games performed (392 to 374) and baserunning worth (24-for-30 in steals to 12-for-21) within the early parts of their respective careers. In elements of 4 MLB seasons, Nootbaar is a .246/.348/.425 hitter.
Nootbaar is ticketed for normal work within the outfield this 12 months, although his precise placement may rely upon the commerce standing of Nolan Arenado. If the Cardinals reach transferring Arenado, they’ll deploy Nolan Gorman repeatedly at third base and Donovan at second base. That’d open left subject for Nootbaar. If Arenado stays in place, Gorman would in all probability see extra time at second base, pushing Donovan to left subject with extra regularity. That’d probably result in extra time in middle for Nootbaar, barring accidents to Donovan or proper fielder Jordan Walker.
Each Donovan and Nootbaar are managed for an extra two seasons. They’ll be up without spending a dime company within the 2027-28 offseason. With the Cardinals eyeing some type of reset and refocus on participant growth, both may feasibly emerge as a summer time commerce candidate, however St. Louis has been staunchly towards transferring inexpensive/controllable gamers of this ilk. In reality, regardless of their proclamation of eager to open extra time for youthful gamers, they haven’t parted with a single veteran this offseason. In addition they haven’t added any new items. Whereas the entrance workplace has doggedly centered on looking for an Arenado commerce, there’s been no fruit in these negotiations.
