Brendan Donovan hints at Cardinals' hypocrisy in arbitration case

The St. Louis Cardinals have begun to develop a reputation for pinching pennies, and that has extended to their tendency to take players to arbitration when they can't agree on a salary. Arbitration is a messy business, as utility player Brendan Donovan can now attest after he lost his case and will be provided a salary of $2.85 million instead of his requested $3.3 million. Donovan said he was "humbled" by the process, but he also mentioned that some of his supposedly valuable traits were used against him during the case.

Donovan seems to have done everything the Cardinals wanted since debuting for the team in 2022. He's played at third base, shortstop, second base, first base, right field and left field, and he's been named the team's emergency catcher as well. He won the inaugural Gold Glove Award for the utility position in 2022, and he holds the highest wRC+ of any player who has played at least 30 games at a minimum of five different positions.

Prior to Masyn Winn's emergence, Donovan also provided the Cardinals with security at the leadoff position, which the team had been lacking since Matt Carpenter held the role from 2013 to 2019.

It is a daunting endeavor to attempt to spin Donovan's plethora of contributions to the Cardinals as a negative, but the Cardinals seemed to achieve this feat. Perhaps the organization attempted to limit Donovan's value by saying that he wasn't elite defensively at any of the positions he plays. Maybe the Cardinals said that since Winn is now the leadoff hitter, Donovan is usually batting in a less valuable position in the lineup. And it's possible that the Cardinals pointed to Donovan's downturn in walks, which were a strength of his game before 2024, although he traded some of those walks for power output last season.

These are just guesses, and it's stunning that Donovan lost his case while Lars Nootbaar, who has struggled to stay healthy throughout his career, will earn $10,000 more than Donovan.

The Cardinals can't keep taking players to arbitration if they want those on the team to hold high opinions of the organization. Donovan is an incredibly valuable player, and although he said he not a disgruntled employee of the team, eventually the team is going to see a valuable player leave because of a few measly bucks that the Cardinals weren't willing to part with.