ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - The Cardinals have announced that they have agreed to a two-year deal with Utility player Tommy Edman to avoid arbitration.
Edman was heading into the second year of arbitration and with the deal, it will buy out the remaining two years of his arbitration while still keeping him on track to head into free agency in 2026.
“We are pleased to announce today that we have agreed to terms with Tommy on a new two-year deal,” said Cardinals’ President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak in a press release. “Tommy’s strong fundamental play, athleticism and versatility remains a valuable asset that we view as an important part of our team identity.”
Edman was the long player among six who were arbitration-eligible for the Cardinals who could not agree with the team on the last day players who were arbitration-eligible could file for arbitration on Jan. 11.
Edman's camp reportedly filed at $6.95 million while the Cardinals filed at $6.5 million. The Cardinals, like most teams, have a file-trial approach when it comes to salary arbitration, meaning both parties were all but guaranteed to head to an arbitration hearing sometime in February unless a multi-year agreement was reached.
The Cardinals and Edman were luckily able to reach on, with the Cardinals having closed all their business when it comes to salary arbitration. The team can now prioritize the free agency market and look to potentially go after a reliever, a market that figures to be busy soon with Josh Hader rejoining the Houston Astros, the team that drafted him before trading him in July 2015.
Edman has been one of the more underrated Cardinals players on the roster since he was called up to the team in 2019. While he isn't the Cardinals' most dangerous hitter, his all-around ability from a basic league average hitting to his ability to be a plus defender at multiple positions has made him the second most valuable player on the roster, only behind 2022 NL MVP Paul Goldschmidt.
He will no longer have to worry about appearing in front of an arbitrator and hearing some rather uncomfortable stuff said about him in a hearing and focus on his recovery from the wrist surgery he underwent this off-season.
Edman told reporters during Winter Warm Up that the surgery has limited his ability to hit during the off-season but he was able to work on other baseball drills like fielding and baserunning. Edman is currently slated to be the Cardinals starting center fielder in 2024.
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