The St. Louis Cardinals officially announced on Twitter Monday that they’ve avoided salary arbitration with outfielder Jon Jay by agreeing to a 2-year contract, which is worth $10.975 million, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Jerry Crasnick of ESPN. Crasnick reports that Jay will receive a $1.25 million signing bonus and will earn $3.5 million in 2015, before earning $6.225 million in 2016, adding up to the $10.975 million total. Jay was projected to earn $4.5 million in salary arbitration by MLB Trade Rumors.
Jay, who will turn 30 in March, spent most of 2014 as the team’s regular center fielder and hit .303/.372/.3.78 with 3 home runs and 46 RBIs over 140 games while playing on a 1-year, $3.25 million contract. The five year veteran, who was drafted by the Cardinals in the second round of the 2006 draft, played much of the second half of the 2014 season with a wrist injury, which was taken care of with minor offseason surgery. Jay’s defense drastically improved in 2014, as he went from -10 defensive runs saved to +3 this past season, and his WAR (Wins Above Replacement) value doubled from 1.4 to 2.8 between the past two seasons. Jay is expected to be a lock for the starting job in center field in 2015 after competing with newcomer Peter Bourjos for the role last spring.
The Cardinal’s deal with Jay buys out his final two years of arbitration eligibility, and the team now has no pending arbitration cases.
Thank you for the Love! I am beyond excited Lets get it
— Jon Jay 2Js (@jonjayU) February 10, 2015
Feature image used under Creative Commons from Keith Allison. No changes made. Image license.
