The good, the bad, and the ugly of arbitration extensions for John Mozeliak

What do Matt Carpenter, Adam Wainwright, Stephen Piscotty, and Paul DeJong all have in common aside from being former Cardinals? Each player was given an extension to buy out his arbitration years.

Buying out arbitration years is like watching two double-edged swords meet head-to-head. For the teams, it's a bit of a gamble; they may save money in the long run if the player continues to develop well and beat out market value, but the team will be paying more than if they had continued to go through arbitration with that player.

For the player, he gets financial assurance for many years, but he could be sacrificing some money down the road if he were to continue to rise in performance. With Paul DeJong's extension having expired and Tommy Edman recently getting his contract extension, I wanted to take a look back at the good, the bad, and the ugly of arbitration extensions during John Mozeliak's tenure.

Unsurprisingly (possibly), John Mozeliak has actually done quite well in the aggregate when it comes to extending players during their arbitration eligibility. Players such as Adam Wainwright, Yadier Molina, and Matt Carpenter paid dividends after having their arb years bought out.

The chart below includes players who were given extensions, the year in which the extension was given, the terms of their contracts, their fWAR totals during their extension, and how many years of arbitration were bought out at the time. I'm only including extensions since Mozeliak's promotion to the head of baseball operations in October of 2007.

Mozeliak has given out eleven contract extensions to players during their arbitration years. Some have been extremely beneficial for the team, others have been so-so, and a couple have been ugly. Let's take a look at each of these and break down the after-effects of the arbitration extension.

The Good

Every player sans one had a positive fWAR total after being given a contract extension. That's good! The key to arbitration contracts is beating market value. For a large portion of these contracts, one Win Above Replacement varied in value from $6 million to $10 million. That's where it gets dicey. Was there surplus value provided by the player after signing his contract?

There are some obvious good contracts there. Yadier Molina, Adam Wainwright, Matt Carpenter, and Kolten Wong all provided great seasons after their extensions. Molina signed him after showing some offensive promise in 2007 (.275/.340/.368 slash line). Molina's defense was also starting to shine. During his contract, Yadi made it to three All-Star Games, received three Gold Glove Awards, and he even received MVP votes in 2009, not to mention a World Series victory in 2011.

Adam Wainwright signed his extension after cementing himself as a true starting pitcher in 2007. He started thirty-two games the year before his extension, and he only improved from there. During his extension, Waino went to one All-Star game (Tommy John held him out of the 2011 season), he placed third in Cy Young voting in 2009 and second in 2010, and his ERA was never higher than 3.20 during his contract.

The recently returned Matt Carpenter provided plenty of excess value during his arbitration extension. Carp received one of the longest extensions, and he provided the most value of anyone on this list. He made it to All-Star games during his contract, and he received MVP votes in 2015 and 2018. Carp led the league in doubles in 2015, and he was 30th in all of baseball in fWAR during the length of his contract.

Kolten Wong is the final "good" player to have received an extension during his arbitration years. Wong received a contract extension soon after his 25th birthday in 2016. Before his extension, he placed third in Rookie of the Year voting, but he was otherwise steady on both sides of the ball. His defense was his primary benefit, but he could hold his own on the basepaths and in the batter's box. His 2016 season was underwhelming (1.3 fWAR), but Wong would go on to receive two Gold Gloves and even see some down-ballot MVP votes in 2019. Overall, he accumulated 11.2 fWAR throughout the course of his contract.

The Ugly

John Mozeliak over-extended himself on three arbitration extensions during his tenure. The contracts given to outfielder Stephen Piscotty, first baseman Allen Craig, and outfielder/first baseman Jose Martinez went sour on Mozeliak very quickly.

Stephen Piscotty didn't exceed 5.0 fWAR during his contract, Allen Craig was a flat zero during his contract, and Jose Martinez was actually worth negative fWAR when his extension was all said and done. Stephen Piscotty signed a deal in April of 2017 after just one full professional season. The contract bought out his remaining pre-arb and arb years in addition to one year of free agency.

Piscotty's first year and a half in the league before his extension were strong, but injuries and underperformance limited his ability to reach his ceiling. After the Cardinals traded him in the winter of 2017, Piscotty was able to be closer to his mother who had ALS. Piscotty's first season in Oakland was great once again, but his mother passed away in May of 2018, and he wasn't able to rebound on the field.

Allen Craig was a late-round draft pick for the Cardinals. He was one of the heroes of the 2011 World Series run, and he had three strong offensive seasons between 2011 and 2013. Craig signed his deal in March of 2013 for five years and $31 million. His first year under the contract was good, as he racked up 2.5 fWAR. His next two seasons across St. Louis and Boston were both negative fWAR seasons for the first baseman/outfielder. Craig's heroics in the 2011 World Series won't be forgotten, but his contract extension soured very quickly.

Jose Martinez was the final extension during John Mozeliak's run of contracts to arbitration and pre-arbitration players. He signed a two-year, $3.5 million deal in February of 2019 to buy out his final year of arbitration and one year of free agency. Martinez wasn't known for his defense, and he didn't have a true position anywhere on the field, but the hope was that his offense would outweigh his defensive shortcomings. The relative cheapness of his contract also made it low risk.

Martinez's defensive inabilities were still present in 2019 and 2020, but his offense also plummeted. Eventually, Martinez was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays with Randy Arozarena for pitching prospect Matthew Liberatore.