St. Louis Cardinals

Cardinals sign all four arbitration-eligible players to one-year deals

Published Jan. 12, 2018 4:18 p.m. ET

Marcell Ozuna will avoid the messiness of an arbitration hearing with his new employer.

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Cardinals won't need arbitration hearings to settle any player salary disputes this year.

Outfielders Randal Grichuk and Marcell Ozuna and pitchers Michael Wacha and Tyler Lyons -- the team's only arbitration-eligible players -- have all signed one-year contracts with the club, thus avoiding the need for settlement hearings.

Grichuk, 26, hit 22 home runs while batting .238 last season. His 153 extra-base hits since 2015 are second on the Cardinals only to Matt Carpenter (194) in that span.

Ozuna, easily the club's biggest offseason acquisition, can enter spring training without having endured a salary-arbitration hearing with his new club. Ozuna, who was obtained from Miami last month, is coming off a 2017 season in which he made his second consecutive All-Star team and won National League Silver Slugger and Gold Glove awards. The 27-year-old batted a career-best .312 with 124 RBIs (third in the majors) and 37 home runs (third in the NL).

Wacha, 26, went 12-9 with a 4.13 ERA last season. The right-hander matched his single-season career high with 30 starts and set a career best with 158 strikeouts.

Lyons, a 29-year-old left-hander, fashioned a 2.83 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in a career-high 50 appearances last season.