Cardinals strike deal with Ryan Helsley, but what do arbitration stalemates mean for 3 others?

Of the six Cardinals players eligible to have their salaries for the coming season decided by arbitration, the one coming off the best season and due the largest raise reached an agreement, one that sets the stage for his free agency next winter.

Three of Ryan Helsleys teammates, meanwhile, could be headed for hearings as he faced earlier in his career and saw, firsthand, how they can be contentious.

Fresh off a club-record 49 saves, Helsley and the Cardinals reached a one-year deal for 2025 that will raise his salary $4.4 million over last year to $8.2 million, according to a source.

Helsley, a free agent at season's end, and fellow relievers John King and JoJo Romero finalized contracts with the Cardinals ahead of Thursdays deadline to swap salary figures the prelude to having an arbitration hearing determine the salary.

Romero signed for $2.26 million, per source, after his 30-hold season as the Cardinals top lefty setup man.

The Cardinals were unable to reach agreements with infielder Brendan Donovan, outfielder Lars Nootbaar, and starter Andre Pallante.

If the Cardinals stick with past practices, they will take each player to a hearing unless a multi-year deal can be agreed upon ahead of meeting with the arbiter.

I dont take it personal, Nootbaar said Thursday afternoon.

Its part of the business, and you know that going in.

The Cardinals and the agents for Nootbaar, Donovan, and Pallante exchanged salary figures Thursday; they were not yet public as of deadline.

All three have one-year contracts in place for 2025.

Their salary is just yet to be determined.

An arbiter will choose one of those salaries based on the arguments from each side.

Hearings will begin later this month.

Helsley lost his arbitration in 2023 with the Cardinals, just as outfielder Tyler O'Neill did the year before.

They both described the stress of the hearing, during which all teams win their case by talking about what a player has not done.

A year ago, the Cardinals failed to reach an agreement with infielder Tommy Edman ahead of the same deadline and yet used those talks as a springboard into a two-year agreement.

The Cardinals discuss multi-year deals with most of their arbitration-eligible players, offering the security of a contract to the player with the cost certainty the club prefers.

That is part of the negotiations.

Donovan and the club both expressed interest before the offseason start in discussing a multi-year deal for player the Cardinals see being part of the new clubhouse core.

Such contract talks can extend into spring training even after a hearing.

The Cardinals also appear to be taking a conservative approach with extended offers this winter ahead of next years transition of power from John Mozeliak at the helm to Chaim Bloom taking over as president of baseball operations.

The Cardinals, one of the few teams remaining yet to sign a free agent this winter, have spent most of the offseason shedding contracts or looking to trade them.

They remain in talks with a select few teams, including Boston, about All-Star third baseman Nolan Arenado.

The Cardinals are trying to move Arenado to a contending team of his wishes while getting some relief from the $74 million and three years remaining on his contract.

Arenado has a no-trade clause that gives him all of the power, and both the Cardinals and Arenados agent have expressed the possibility that hell remain with the team to start the season.

If the Cardinals do not find a fitting trade for Arenado, theyve received interest in starters Erick Fedde and Steven Matz that would allow them to shed salary.

The deals completed Friday are, effectively, the first payroll additions for the Cardinals of the winter.

Helsley, King, and Romero all received raises of varying degrees, and all three players headed toward hearings will also receive substantial raises.

Pallante and Nootbaar could see their salaries triple through the arbitration process, and Donovans could quintuple.

Arbitration is a system based on comparisons, service time, games played, performance, and roles.

Helsley saw one of the highest jumps for a reliever due to his season that hit all of those notes.

He set a club record for saves, was available throughout the season, and also scored well when it came to baseball card statistics (2.04 ERA) and advanced metrics (3.0 WAR).

Devin Williams, Milwaukees elite closer who was traded recently to the Cardinals, earned a raise of almost $4 million a year ago as one of the leagues top relievers with a 1.8 WAR.

Helsley outpaced that jump in part because it is his third and final year of arbitration eligibility and his overall season stood above.

Those same comparisons can make it difficult for teams and agents to come to terms when a player has had seasons interrupted by injury or changing roles which is the situation for all three Cardinals who did not reach agreements.

Nootbaar was limited by injury to 109 games and 405 plate appearances this past season, when he made $761,000, slightly more than the league minimum of $740,000.

The Cardinals are eager to clear playing time and keep their outfielder healthy for a full season, and that would provide the platform for a significant salary jump next year.

But because of injuries a divide can develop during negotiations between projected performance and actual performance.

Both Pallante and Donovan saw changes in their roles over the past few years, with Pallante reinventing himself as a starter the Cardinals plan to have in their rotation.

His past, however, is as a reliever, which factors into the Cardinals offer.

Pallante made $756,900 this past season and provided the Cardinals a fifth start with a 1.8 Wins Above Replacement (WAR).

That was good enough to earn him a share of the bonus pool Major League Baseball sets aside to reward players not yet eligible for arbitration.

Bonuses are given out for winning awards or receiving votes, and the money left over in the pool is divided between top performing players with fewer than three years of service time.

The amount of the bonus is based on a formula linked to WAR.

Donovan, who made $757,200 this past season, received a $424,722 bonus after his 3.2 WAR season.

His bonus was the second-highest for a Cardinals player, behind only rookie shortstop Masyn Winns $459,896 bonus.

Winn is not yet eligible for arbitration.

Pallante is eligible as a Super-2 player, which means he was at the upper limit of players with fewer than three years of service time but more than two.

King will see a raise from the $1-million agreement he reached a year ago in his first season of eligibility for arbitration.

Cardinals add lefty Horn from Tigers In addition to the deals completed Thursday, the Cardinals claimed lefty reliever Bailey Horn off waivers from Detroit.

Horn, who will turn 27 next week, appeared in 18 games last season for Boston.

He made his major-league debut with the Red Sox in June.

He had a 6.50 ERA and 13 strikeouts against 10 walks in 18 innings.

At the Class AAA level for two organizations in 2024, Horn was 4-3 with a 4.54 ERA in 30 appearances.

He struck out 50 and walked 24 in 39 2/3 innings.

He has 271 strikeouts in 213 1/3 minor-league innings.

The former Cubs farmhand joins his fourth organization in the past 12 months and will go immediately on the Cardinals 40-player roster.

That gives them 39 players on the major-league roster and one vacant spot..

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