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.
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
Looks like Noot is buying dinner tonight.
Feed my guys
(At the Pizza Hut)
Jesus Christ
(Deny your VISA)
Yeah let’s “see what the young guys got” then piss them off so whenever they develop, they are ready to leave.
They’ll both be over 30 by the time they hit FA though
The reputation will still be young. Other players take note of things like that.
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.
Name the last STL arbitration eligible player to stay past 6.000 service years.
Noot and Donny already know the countdown.
Name the last guy to play out his 6 years and leave? Name the last 3.
Donovan, along with Contreras, is the clubhouse leader. Makes no sense to lowball him.
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.
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!
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.
Lars Nootbaar is not as good as a Zagnut, but better than a Charleston Chew.
It’s interesting that Nootbaar actually gets a slightly higher salary, as I think Donovan is a significantly more valuable player at this point.