Inside The Cardinals

Cardinals Agree To Win-Win $5.35 Million Deal With Lars Nootbaar

The St. Louis Cardinals made the right call...
Patrick McAvoy|
Aug 18, 2025; Miami, Florida, USA; St. Louis Cardinals right fielder Lars Nootbaar (21) celebrates with designated hitter Ivan Herrera (48) after the game against the Miami Marlins at loanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
Aug 18, 2025; Miami, Florida, USA; St. Louis Cardinals right fielder Lars Nootbaar (21) celebrates with designated hitter Ivan Herrera (48) after the game against the Miami Marlins at loanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

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St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals entered the day on Thursday with seven decisions to make.

The arbitration filing deadline is here and the Cardinals entered the day with seven players they had to file a salary number for in JoJo Romero, Brendan Donovan, Lars Nootbaar, Andre Pallante, Matthew Liberatore, Nolan Gorman, and Alec Burleson. The first domino of the day fell with the Cardinals avoiding arbitration with Pallante by way of a $4 million deal. For a hurler who very well could end up being in the rotation for the team in 2026, this is a fair value.

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St. Louis struck with a second fair value by avoiding arbitration with outfielder Lars Nootbaar on a reported $5.35 million deal, per FanSided's Robert Murray.

"Source: Lars Nootbaar and the Cardinals have agreed at $5.35 million to avoid arbitration," Murray wrote on X.

The Cardinals made a good move

St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbaar
Sep 6, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbaar (21) makes the catch on a fly ball to left field by San Francisco Giants catcher Patrick Bailey (14) in the second inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Vizer-Imagn Images | Tim Vizer-Imagn Images

Earlier in the offseason, MLB Trade Rumors shared their annual projections for arbitration-eligible players. Each offseason, the MLB Trade Rumors projections are viewed highly when it comes to arbitration-eligible players. This offseason, they projected Nootbaar to land a deal worth $5.7 million. The Cardinals came in $350,000 under that.

Early in the offseason, there was a lot of trade noise around Nootbaar. It seems to have quieted down. He had surgery on both of his heels this offseason to address Haglund's deformities. As of writing, the team hasn't given a concrete timeline for his eventual return.

The 28-year-old played in a career high 135 games in 2025 and slashed .234/.325/.361 with 13 homers and 48 RBIs. His offense took a bit of a hit in 2025, which may have been attributed to the pain in his heels. Regardless, $5.35 million is a fair price point for the production Nootbaar had in 2025. If he sticks around and can stay healthy in 2026, he has the potential to do much more as well.

All in all, a fair deal for both sides and always good to avoid an arbitration hearing.

More MLB: Cardinals First Arbitration Domino Falls With $4M Deal For Righty

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Patrick McAvoy
PATRICK MCAVOY

Patrick McAvoy's experiences include local and national sports coverage at the New England Sports Network with a focus on baseball and basketball. Outside of journalism, Patrick also is pursuing an MBA at Brandeis University. After quickly rising as one of the most productive writers on the site, he expanded his reach to write for Baseball Essential, a national baseball site in Sports Illustrated Media Group. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding Inside The Cardinals, please reach out to Scott Neville: nevilles@merrimack.edu

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