Cardinals Reportedly Sign Star Player To Two-Year Extension, Avoiding Arbitration

St. Louis locked up an impact player

Scott Neville | Jan 22, 2024

Cardinals Reportedly Sign Star Player To Two-Year Extension, Avoiding Arbitration /

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St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals have been relatively silent since their addition of three starting pitchers to kick off the offseason.

Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak reportedly still is in the hunt for one more high-leverage reliever following the trade for right-hander Andrew Kittredge but nothing has come together so far.

While taking a break from external hires, Mozeliak was able to lock in a contract with one of his higher-performing position players for a couple of seasons.

"The Cardinals announced that they have signed Tommy Edman to a two-year contract to avoid an arbitration hearing," MLB.com's John Denton reported Monday. "The two sides were $450,000 apart when the arbitration deadline hit earlier in January. Edman is projected to be the team’s starting center fielder on Opening Day."

Not much changes for the outlook of either the team or player, as Edman already was under team control for the next two seasons. However, it's a step in the right direction regarding a possible longer-term extension down the road.

Edman is a league-average offensive player -- entering 2024 with a career 100 OPS+ -- and a suburb and versatile defender. St. Louis would be wise to keep him in-house for the long haul as the young core continues to develop around him.

For now, the two sides coming together on a price point for arbitration-eligible years is encouraging.

More MLB: Cardinals Superstar Reportedly 'Good Bet' To Land Extension Next Season

Published Jan 22, 2024

SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the St. Louis Cardinals for FanNation's "Inside The Cardinals" on Sports Illustrated. Before starting "Inside The Cardinals", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer. His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join FanNation and the Sports Illustrated Media Group as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." After a few months as the top Major League Baseball site in the program, Neville sought expansion and pitched "Inside The Cardinals," one of the newest additions to FanNation and the Sports Illustrated Media Group. The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Cardinals" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu