(KMOX) - On Tuesday, St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Jack Flaherty faced hitters for the first time this year with live BP at Spring Training. But when he met with the media, his pitching was far from the main topic of conversation.
The focus was on the huge raise he "won" in an arbitration process against his club just a few weeks ago. He was awarded the $3.9-million base salary he argued for – which is more than what he earned in his first three MLB seasons combined.
“It sucks to have to look at something like that as a victory," Flaherty says. "You hope it would’ve taken care of itself, but sometimes that’s just the way things go."
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Thankfully for St. Louis, the process hasn't hurt his feelings.
"I don’t think it changed my relationship with the Cardinals at all," Flaherty says. "The arbitration process itself is pretty bad. It doesn’t account for inflation and salaries have gone up but they use comparisons from years ago.
"It’s not a fun process. It just sucks."
Flaherty, 25, may have to go through that process two more times under his current contract. Then, he'll become an unrestricted free agent after the 2023 season.
But he was asked if he'd be interested in reaching a long-term agreement with the Cardinals to possibly avoid that.
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"For me all I can control is that I take care of my business on the field and especially when I get on the mound," Flaherty says. "That's all I can try to focus on and try to do everything I can to help this team go out and win."
That answer is a lot different than what we've heard from beloved Cardinals players like Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina, who continued to state their desire to stay in St. Louis. But Flaherty is in a much different point in his career.
He finished fourth in the NL Cy Young voting in 2019 and still is considered one of the best young arms in the game. However, under last year's chaotic schedule he was 4-3 with a 4.91 ERA.
Flaherty was also asked if it's "inevitable" that he'll become a free agent when his current contract is up.
"I don't think it's inevitable," Flaherty says. "That's saying that things are already determined. And if you think I've looked two years forward then I don't think you know me."
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