Cardinals, Flaherty still without deal, swap arb figures

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The St. Louis Cardinals and ace Jack Flaherty have not agreed to terms on a 2021 contract and they swapped figures for salary arbitration Friday.

The 25-year-old Flaherty asked for $3.9 million and the team offered $3 million. The sides can come to an agreement until an arbitrator hears their case and makes a decision next month. If left to the arbitrator, the ruling will go entirely to one side or the other — no settling in the middle.

After finishing fourth in NL Cy Young Award voting in 2019, Flaherty went 4-3 with a 4.91 ERA over nine starts during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. He made one postseason start, pitching one-run ball over six innings in a 4-0 loss to San Diego in the deciding Game 3 of their first-round series.

Flaherty was set to make $604,000 last year and ended up with $223,889 in prorated pay.

This is Flaherty's first season eligible for arbitration, and he's not eligible for free agency until after the 2023 season.

The Cardinals avoided arbitration by reaching one-year deals with outfielder Harrison Bader ($2 million), right-hander Alex Reyes ($900,000) and right-hander Jordan Hicks ($862,500).

Bader made a prorated $218,556 of his $590,100 salary last year. Hicks made $214,370 of $578,800.

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