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Cardinals Win Arbitration Hearing Versus Brendan Donovan, Lose Versus Lars Nootbaar

By Steve Adams | February 12, 2025 at 1:22pm CDT

The Cardinals have now heard rulings on a pair of arbitration cases. Per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, they won their hearing against utilityman Brendan Donovan but lost their hearing against outfielder Lars Nootbaar. Donovan will earn the $2.85MM figure submitted by the team last month rather than the $3.3MM submitted by his camp. Nootbaar, meanwhile, will earn the $2.95MM sum he submitted rather than the $2.45MM figure presented by the team.

Donovan, 28, has exactly three years of MLB service and was arbitration-eligible for the first time this winter. He’s combined to hit .280/.364/.407 in 1491 plate appearances since his 2022 debut, smacking 30 homers, 65 doubles and five triples along the way. He’s shown incremental power increases in each of the past two seasons — last year’s 14 round-trippers were a career-high — but has done so at the expense of some walks. He drew free passes at a hearty 12.8% clip in 2022 but drew a walk in a below-average 7.2% of last season’s 652 trips to the plate.

Beyond his keen bat-to-ball skills and knack for getting on base, Donovan’s value is largely tied to his defensive versatility. The term “super utility” gets thrown around a lot, but Donovan genuinely exemplifies that moniker. He’s played all four infield positions and both outfield corners in his MLB career (albeit only 65 innings at short and 150 innings at first base). Defensive metrics like Outs Above Average and Defensive Runs Saved tend to agree that he’s at least passable, if not a bona fide plus defender at most spots on the diamond (with third base being his best, metrics-wise). The industry largely agrees. Donovan took home a Gold Glove for his utility work back in 2022.

Nootbaar, 27, is also in his first trip through arbitration. He’ll come out marginally ahead of Donovan, perhaps in part a reflection of his lower asking price and superior totals in home runs (45 to 30), games played (392 to 374) and baserunning value (24-for-30 in steals to 12-for-21) in the early portions of their respective careers. In parts of four MLB seasons, Nootbaar is a .246/.348/.425 hitter.

Nootbaar is ticketed for regular work in the outfield this year, though his exact placement could depend on the trade status of Nolan Arenado. If the Cardinals succeed in moving Arenado, they can deploy Nolan Gorman regularly at third base and Donovan at second base. That’d open left field for Nootbaar. If Arenado stays in place, Gorman would probably see more time at second base, pushing Donovan to left field with more regularity. That’d likely lead to additional time in center for Nootbaar, barring injuries to Donovan or right fielder Jordan Walker.

Both Donovan and Nootbaar are controlled for an additional two seasons. They’ll be up for free agency in the 2027-28 offseason. With the Cardinals eyeing some kind of reset and refocus on player development, either could feasibly emerge as a summer trade candidate, but St. Louis has been staunchly against moving affordable/controllable players of this ilk. In fact, despite their proclamation of wanting to open more time for younger players, they haven’t parted with a single veteran this offseason. They also haven’t added any new pieces. While the front office has doggedly focused on trying to find an Arenado trade, there’s been no fruit in those negotiations.

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St. Louis Cardinals Brendan Donovan Lars Nootbaar

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39 Comments

  1. sean-11

    4 months ago

    Should’ve settled with both. Seems very shortsighted to go to a hearing with those two in particular. More penny pinching and still no move towards a reset. FO has been behind for a solid decade now

    7
    Reply
  2. laynestaley2002

    4 months ago

    Looks like Noot is buying dinner tonight.

    1
    Reply
    • 66TheNumberOfTheBest

      4 months ago

      Feed my guys
      (At the Pizza Hut)
      Jesus Christ
      (Deny your VISA)

      4
      Reply
      • laynestaley2002

        4 months ago

        Love this. I get it. Some won’t.

        1
        Reply
      • n2thecards

        4 months ago

        Solid Alice in Chains reference

        Reply
  3. thebirds

    4 months ago

    Yeah let’s “see what the young guys got” then piss them off so whenever they develop, they are ready to leave.

    3
    Reply
    • baseballpun

      4 months ago

      They’ll both be over 30 by the time they hit FA though

      3
      Reply
      • thebirds

        4 months ago

        The reputation will still be young. Other players take note of things like that.

        2
        Reply
        • baseballpun

          4 months ago

          If Masyn Winn gets a market-value extension offer in a couple years he won’t care that Noot and Donovon had to go through arbitration. He may decide he’s going to FA no matter what anyway because he’ll only be 27, but this arbitration class isn’t going to impact his decision.

          I don’t think it’s all that fair, by the way, that if you don’t establish yourself in the bigs until age 23 or 24 you’re basically screwed, but there’s a huge difference when you’re talking about guys like Masyn Winn who are going to be younger when they hit free agency than Donovon is the first time through arbitration.

          Reply
        • thebirds

          4 months ago

          Not taking about Winn. I’m talking about how the organization is being cheap and if they are not careful, they will tarnish their reputation. Forget about extending Winn. I’m talking any player wanting to play here. Players used to line up to come to St. Louis because of the reputation and how they go about things. Clearly that has changed and in the meantime, nickeling and diming young talent isn’t going to help.

          1
          Reply
  4. Flags in the wind

    4 months ago

    Name the last STL arbitration eligible player to stay past 6.000 service years.
    Noot and Donny already know the countdown.

    Reply
    • CardsFan57

      4 months ago

      The Cardinals always trade them before they leave for free agency.

      1
      Reply
    • Nacho Cheese

      4 months ago

      Its Paul Dejong. Kolten Wong prior to that.

      Reply
    • thebirds

      4 months ago

      That would be Tyler O’Neill, Jason Hayward, and Bobby Bonita. Sir.

      Reply
  5. bangarangbooty

    4 months ago

    Donovan, along with Contreras, is the clubhouse leader. Makes no sense to lowball him.

    4
    Reply
    • thebirds

      4 months ago

      How do you know that? You in the clubhouse? Donovan seems like a type of person that keeps to himself. Doubt he is standing on benches in the locker room getting the rest of the team pumped.

      Reply
      • 17dizzy

        4 months ago

        That’s where you’re wrong and bangarangbooty is correct.
        Donovan is a very positive clubhouse leader.

        Reply
      • bangarangbooty

        4 months ago

        mlb.com/news/brendan-donovan-becoming-leader-with-…

        1
        Reply
  6. tominco

    4 months ago

    They did part with a veteran, Goldy. True, his contract was up, but they showed zero interest in retaining him. Hopefully, it’s true for Carpenter as well, but they might do something stupid as spring wears on.

    Reply
  7. playhard9

    4 months ago

    Now that they are both getting paid, the cheap ass ownership group will start to consider them tradable. Surprised that Nootbaar won his, with all his injuries. Donovan has been healthy and much more reliable to play. Mo just likes to piss off all the players even the ones that should be part of the core. Can’t wait til he is gone!

    2
    Reply
    • FrontOfficeStan

      4 months ago

      Mo deserves a lot of criticism, but they’re generally pretty smart when it comes to arbitration. This is just the business side of baseball and every organization does it.

      1
      Reply
      • playhard9

        4 months ago

        It’s not smart to piss off your best young players like Donovan, who they see as a team leader now. They also did this with Helsley last year. Just seems short sighted if they plan to keep these guys long term. The players all say the arb process is insulting so why risk it over fairly small differences?

        Reply
        • Kyle Pepperpants

          4 months ago

          Do players really get pissed about this? I understand why you would assume that, but I’ve also read before that the players get it when it comes to arbitration and they don’t get too upset about it.

          1
          Reply
        • Tigers3232

          4 months ago

          @Kyle I agree with what you are getting at here. I think this is generally overblown. Players understand it’s a business and they know what the process is and what it involves.

          1
          Reply
        • FrontOfficeStan

          4 months ago

          It is actually more short sighted to view it as a small difference. There are other years of arbitration and if there is no contract to avoid arbitration years then the higher the amount, the more they will get in subsequent arbitration. So, with Donavon at 2.85m instead of 3.35m, you can see something like 3.3 next year instead of 4m. Small savings today end up being larger savings later on.

          I get what you’re saying though. However, I’m not even sure if they plan on keeping him long term. I think most understand the business side of this.

          1
          Reply
  8. 66TheNumberOfTheBest

    4 months ago

    Lars Nootbaar is not as good as a Zagnut, but better than a Charleston Chew.

    1
    Reply
    • BlueSkies_LA

      4 months ago

      How about a Baby Ruth? A Will Clark bar?

      Reply
      • Lanidrac

        4 months ago

        The Baby Ruth isn’t named after Babe Ruth.

        The Oh Henry and the Reggie Bar were however named after baseball players.

        Reply
        • BlueSkies_LA

          4 months ago

          It seems in your striving for humor-free literalness you didn’t notice the lack of existence of the Lars Nootbaar or Will Clark bar.

          Reply
        • Bucket Number Six

          4 months ago

          I don’t think that’s true about Oh Henry but I do remember Hank Aaron endorsing it. I also remember the Reggie bar having a soapy after taste.

          Reply
        • Lanidrac

          4 months ago

          Yeah, the Clark Bar isn’t named after Wiil Clark, either.

          Connecting Nootbaar’s name to a theoretical candy bar is a decent joke. Following it up with misinformation about actual candy bars is just stupid and not funny at all.

          Reply
        • BlueSkies_LA

          4 months ago

          You must be great fun at parties. You certainly have a lot of unintentional entertainment value here.

          Reply
  9. Lanidrac

    4 months ago

    It’s interesting that Nootbaar actually gets a slightly higher salary, as I think Donovan is a significantly more valuable player at this point.

    3
    Reply
  10. Kenny14

    4 months ago

    Mo should have retired when his beard first showed signs of gray. Probably about 10 years ago. We wouldn’t be in this mess now.
    Certainly looks like Mo and the front office have not been playing in harmony the last few years. Spend spend spend and then slam on the brakes, after you gave all those no trade claused long term contracts.

    Reply
    • Lanidrac

      4 months ago

      There’s nothing wrong with Contreras’s or Gray’s contracts. The Cardinals would be in an even bigger mess if they didn’t have either of them.

      It was the Rockies who gave Arenado his contract, and that trade is still overall a massive win for the Cardinals.

      Mikolas’s last extension was certainly a mistake in hindsight, but it was for only two years and made sense at the time.

      Reply
  11. cards1985

    4 months ago

    Sounds backwards to me. Donovan should’ve won not Lars.

    3
    Reply
  12. Ed Edmonds

    4 months ago

    With the announcement today of the Pallante decision, the Cardinals have gone to a hearing with 7 players since 2021. They beat Donovan this year, Cabrera and Helsley in 2023, and O’Neill in 2022. Nootbaar and Pallante won this year and Flaherty won in 2021. So, in this decade the Cardinals have won 4 times, and the players have won 3 times. According to my research, the Cardinals have won 14 times and lost 9 times since their first hearing with Ray Sadecki in 1975. Prior to 2021, the only other hearing in this century was with Wacha in 2017. They went to hearings 5 times in the 1990s and 9 times in the 1980s including team wins against Vince Coleman (1989) and Ozzie Smith (1982).

    Reply
  13. KCMOWHOA

    4 months ago

    Royals should trade for either Donovan or Nootbar. Personally would go with Donovan because ability to play 3b or LF but either would work

    Reply
  14. MLBTR needs to hire editors

    4 months ago

    “Meanwhile” has to start the sentence, not come in the middle between commas.

    Reply

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