12:43pm: The Cardinals have also avoided arbitration with Rosenthal, who agreed to terms on a $5.6MM deal, tweets Yahoo’s Jeff Passan. That’s an enormous sum for any first-time player, even if falls short of his projection from Swartz.
Rosenthal racked up 48 saves last season and worked to a brilliant 2.10 ERA, averaging 10.9 strikeouts and 3.3 walks per nine innings pitched along the way. With a $5.6MM base established in his first time through the arbitration process, Rosenthal will be poised to see that number expand considerably in the coming two offseasons before hitting the open market following the 2017 season.
10:39am: The Cardinals and first baseman Brandon Moss have agreed to terms on a one-year deal worth $8.25MM in order to avoid an arbitration hearing, according to Jon Heyman (on Twitter). That figure exceeds his projected salary of $7.9MM (courtesy of MLBTR’s Matt Swartz) by about four percent. Moss is represented by ACES.
St. Louis added Moss in a trade that sent left-handed pitching prospect Rob Kaminsky to the Indians this past summer. In 151 plate appearances with the Cardinals, Moss batted .250/.344/.409, bringing his overall season batting line to .226/.304/.407. While that’s far from the production that Moss showed for much of his time in Oakland (where he played for three years prior to Cleveland), it should be noted that Moss underwent a major surgical procedure on his hip following the 2014 season and may have felt some lingering effects of that operation throughout the ’15 campaign. Overall, Moss was quite productive with Oakland, batting .254/.340/.504. and the Cardinals will hope his power levels trend back up toward those heights in what will be Moss’ final season before free agency. Per recent reports out of St. Louis, he’s expected to get the first chance to establish himself as the team’s regular first baseman in 2016.
With Moss’ deal agreed upon, the Cardinals still have to work out agreements with Trevor Rosenthal, Matt Adams and Seth Maness, as shown in MLBTR’s Arbitration Tracker.
Interesting that the Cardinals chose to settle with Moss before dealing with Adams……almost like they wanted to “make sure they had on bird in their hand”…….before they talk to the other one. I used to think that Cards Mgmt was really high on Adams, but I think he’s likely headed somewhere….either this spring, or at the deadline.
They are both under team control and can’t sign with anyone else. Them agreeing with Moss tells us nothing about Adams’ future.
Oh joy lol. This guy is supposed to be the Cardinals “big bat” I suppose
I think this was a mistake by the Cards – to trade away Kaminsky for Moss.
I don’t think there is any think about it, it was a big mistake
It really was, the Cardinals have lost trades with Cleveland in recent years.
Moss is just that, moss- just sits there and does nothing for the team. What a God awful pickup.
I was really concerned we’d lose in arbitration to an aging .250 hitter who barely registers above replacement level. Fortunately we dodged that bullet!
But really, on the Rosey deal, I like it. A high number for sure, but glad the Cards came to terms.
That’s the going rate for closers. He’ll be probably see a number around $8-$9 million next year and a number around $11 million or more the year after if he continues to close.
Mo is blowing this year. The Cubs are doing real things. We are giving a raise to a guy that even in his best year isn’t good enough.
He is terrible!! We need a quality bat not a cone like Moss. What an awful acquisition. No clue what Mo is thinking. Guess he is content going to the playoffs and getting bounced out in the first round. Not sure we even make it to playoffs this year with the offense we have.
Moss smells, I don’t get what mozeliak is doing. We need a bat badly- our offense sucked last year and we lost Heyward- we have picked up nothing to help us. A real shame especially given the options available. Mo is too conservative and I guess making it to the playoffs and getting bounced out in first round is just fine with them.
I think the Cardinals didn’t want to go for it so they tried to catch lightning in a bottle with Moss without giving up a top prospect. They needed a power bat and gambled he’d return to form. So far it’s not looking good but there is a chance injury played a part and maybe he returns to form. Let us pray