Where Cardinals Stand As Arbitration Filing Deadline Arrives

It's going to be an intriguing day across Major League Baseball on Thursday.

The salary arbitration filing deadline day has arrived. What that means is that organizations and players have to exchange salary figures by Thursday afternoon. In the process, we will see plenty of arbitration-eligible players agree to terms with their current teams to avoid arbitration. If the two sides don't agree, they can go to a hearing to debate salary figures in front of a neutral party.

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One thing that we also typically see each year ahead of the filing deadline is trades around the league. This doesn't necessarily mean some sort of blockbuster swap, but teams typically at least look around and see who will come to terms, and where there could be some wiggle room. The St. Louis Cardinals have a handful of guys to watch on Thursday. The seven arbitration-eligible players for the Cardinals are JoJo Romero, Brendan Donovan, Lars Nootbaar, Andre Pallante, Matthew Liberatore, Nolan Gorman, and Alec Burleson.

The Cardinals have a big day ahead

Sep 23, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Brendan Donovan (33) celebrates his double against the San Francisco Giants during the fifth inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Eakin Howard-Imagn Images | Eakin Howard-Imagn Images

For the Cardinals, the thing to watch will be who agrees, and who heads to a hearing. On Thursday, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the Cardinals are having "ongoing conversations" but didn't have anything agreed to by Wednesday night.

"The deadline at noon St. Louis time for agreements invigorates negotiations around the majors and yields some finalized deals to avoid hearings," Goold wrote. "The Cardinals remained in ongoing conversations with agents for their arbitration-eligible players Wednesday but did not have any finalized agreements in place as of that evening.

"Team officials have previously expressed a preference for agreements, not hearings. The sudden animation of the market Thursday follows several weeks when it's mostly been stagnant."

The best-case scenario for the Cardinals is smooth negotiations and then the market picks up afterward. Goold noted that the Cardinals reached agreements with three of their six arbitration-eligible players last offseason. Of the Cardinals' group, Romero and Donovan have been the subject of endless trade rumors. If the Cardinals could get a deal over the finish line on Thursday, that would surely make things easier. No matter what, Thursday will be an interesting day around the league and hopefully a catalyst to get moves going.

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