ST. LOUIS (AP) — The St. Louis Cardinals and ace Jack Flaherty have not agreed to terms on a 2021 contract and they swapped figures for salary arbitration Friday.
The 25-year-old Flaherty asked for $3.9 million and the team offered $3 million. The sides can come to an agreement until an arbitrator hears their case and makes a decision next month. If left to the arbitrator, the ruling will go entirely to one side or the other — no settling in the middle.
After finishing fourth in NL Cy Young Award voting in 2019, Flaherty went 4-3 with a 4.91 ERA over nine starts during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. He made one postseason start, pitching one-run ball over six innings in a 4-0 loss to San Diego in the deciding Game 3 of their first-round series.
This is Flaherty’s first season eligible for arbitration, and he’s not eligible for free agency until after the 2023 season.
The Cardinals avoided arbitration by reaching one-year deals with outfielder Harrison Bader ($2 million), right-hander Alex Reyes ($900,000) and right-hander Jordan Hicks ($862,500).
Bader made a prorated $218,556 of his $590,100 salary last year. Hicks made $214,370 of $578,800.
