Ryan Ludwick is set to fly to Phoenix on Monday afternoon in preparation for his Tuesday arbitration hearing. But he is still hopeful, according to MLB.com’s Matthew Leach, that a deal can be reached.
The Cardinals settled on a last minute agreement with fellow outfielder Rick Ankiel on Thursday. Ludwick is hoping for a similar push, but his gap is fairly large. He requested $4.25MM and the Cards made a $2.8MM bid back when arbitration figures were due.
"That’s exactly why I came down," Ludwick said. "And that’s why I say I’m optimistic. To see where they were and how his whole deal went down, I think that’s what leads to optimism on my side. Thinking, hey, they got his done, so hopefully we can get mine done before I have to leave on Monday. It would be nice."