ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The St. Louis Cardinals experienced a mixed outcome in their initial salary arbitration cases, securing a victory against Brendan Donovan while conceding a loss to Lars Nootbaar. This outcome brings the total score for the teams to 4-3 with two arbitration decisions still pending.
Brendan Donovan was awarded a salary of $2.85 million after his demand of $3.3 million was denied. The arbitration hearing for Donovan took place on Tuesday, overseen by Jeanne Vonhof, Joshua Gordon, and Stephen Raymond. Meanwhile, Lars Nootbaar was granted his requested sum of $2.95 million, surpassing the team’s offer of $2.45 million. This ruling, made by arbitrators Janice Johnston, Allen Ponak, and John Stout, was issued after arguments were presented on February 5 and was held back to coincide with the Donovan decision.
The third case concerning the Cardinals involves right-hander Andre Pallante, who is requesting $2.1 million against the team’s offer of $1,925,000. A hearing took place on Wednesday, presided over by Walt De Treux, Paul Radvany, and Brian Keller, with a ruling anticipated on Thursday. All three of these Cardinals players are in their first year of arbitration eligibility.
Additionally, Washington first baseman Nathaniel Lowe is set for his final arbitration hearing later this week. Donovan, who recently celebrated his 28th birthday, had a strong season last year, achieving a batting average of .278 and posting career highs with 14 home runs and 73 RBIs, following a contract for $757,200 last year.
Nootbaar, now 27 years old, finished the previous season with a batting average of .244, capturing 12 home runs and 45 RBIs. He made his debut on April 12 after overcoming a rib injury and was out of action from late May until early July due to an oblique strain, with a previous salary of $761,000. Pallante, aged 26, recorded an 8-8 record along with a 3.78 ERA across 20 starts and nine relief outings during the last season and earned $756,900. His career stats read 18-14 with a 3.78 ERA in three seasons in the majors.
In other arbitration news, teams were successful in defeating New York Yankees reliever Mark Leiter Jr. who was awarded $2.05 million instead of his $2.5 million request. Additionally, Pittsburgh pitchers Dennis Santana and Johan Oviedo faced similar outcomes, receiving $1.4 million (instead of $2.1 million) and $850,000 (instead of $1.15 million), respectively. However, two players managed to prevail against the Los Angeles Angels: infielder Luis Rengifo, who received $5.95 million rather than his sought-after $5.8 million, and outfielder Mickey Moniak, granted $2 million over the team’s offer of $1.5 million.
