Non-Tender deadline is Tuesday Night

The St. Louis Cardinals have until Tuesday night to tender or non-tender a contract to six of their arbitration-eligible players.

Those players not tendered a contract will be automatically considered as a free agent.

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Entering the offseason, the Cardinals had six arb-eligible candidates but with the Jason Heyward trade, they acquired arb-eligible reliever Jordan Walden and had previously released Shane Robinson.

Walden joins outfielder Jon Jay, outfielder Peter Bourjos, starting pitcher Lance Lynn and catcher Tony Cruz in players that the Cardinals are likely to tender a contract. Lynn, of course, is in line for a big raise with his performance over the past few seasons.

With recent acquisitions of utility infielders Dean Anna and Ty Kelly, the Cardinals don’t really have a fit for Daniel Descalso. Factor in both Pete Kozma and Greg Garcia and it’s easy to see why Descalso is the odd man out. Through the arbitration process, Descalso would be paid a lot of money to serve as a backup infielder when the Cardinals can pay lesser money to the other players capable of doing the same job.

The infielder earned $1.29 million this season but hit .242/.333/.311 in 161 at-bats. Speaking with KMOX a few weeks ago, general manager John Mozeliak noted that perhaps Descalso was ready to move on.