# The Cardinals Salary Matrix - Link: https://www.nyrdcast.com/the-cardinals-salary-matrix/ - Published: 2018-04-04T07:00:09-05:00 - Author: Eugene Tierney Here are all of the St. Louis Cardinal salary obligations, including option buyouts, as they are guaranteed. Under the table, there will be some comments about options, bonuses, and other financial information. This will be updated constantly throughout the season. All figures in Millions **Contract notes:** **[Carpenter](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/carpema01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-):** $18.500 club option…$0.500 bonus for All Star selection… **[Cecil](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/cecilbr01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-):** Undisclosed award bonuses…full no trade clause… **[DeJong](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/dejonpa01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-):** 2024 has $12.500 club option with $2.000 buyout; 2025 has $15.000 club option with $1.000 buyout… **[Fowler](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/fowlede01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-):** includes $2.000M annual signing bonus over life of contract…bonuses include: $0.250 for MVP; $0.150 for second place MVP; $0.100 for third place MVP; $0.150 for World Series MVP; $0.100 for LCS MVP; $0.500 for each All Star selection, Gold Glove, LDS MVP; $0.250 for Silver Slugger…full no trade clause… **[Gregerson](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/gregelu01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-):** $5.000 club option; vests at $6.000 with 60 games pitched in 2019 or 130 games between 2018-2019…$1.000 annual bonus for games finished… **[Gyorko](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/gyorkje01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-):** $13.000 club option…the Padres are covering $2.500 in 2018 and $5.000 in 2019…option increases by $2.000 and buyout by $0.750 for All Star selections and top 10 MVP finishes… **[Holland](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hollagr01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-):** Bonuses include: $0.500 for each All Star Selection, World Series MVP, LCS MVP, LDS MVP; $0.250 for Rivera/Hoffman Relief Award… **[Norris](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/n/norribu01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-):** Undisclosed performance bonuses… **[Wainwright](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/wainwad01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-):** Bonuses include: $0.500 for each top 10 [Cy Young](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/y/youngcy01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-) finish, All Star selection, Gold Glove, World Series MVP, LCS MVP, LDS MVP; $0.250 for Silver Slugger…full no trade clause… **[Wong](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/wongko01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-):** $12.500 club option… ### Share this: * [ Facebook ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/the-cardinals-salary-matrix/?share=facebook) * [ X ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/the-cardinals-salary-matrix/?share=x) * [ Email ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/the-cardinals-salary-matrix/?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20The%20Cardinals%20Salary%20Matrix&body=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nyrdcast.com%2Fthe-cardinals-salary-matrix%2F&share=email) * [ LinkedIn ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/the-cardinals-salary-matrix/?share=linkedin) * [ Mastodon ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/the-cardinals-salary-matrix/?share=mastodon) * [ Nextdoor ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/the-cardinals-salary-matrix/?share=nextdoor) * [ Pinterest ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/the-cardinals-salary-matrix/?share=pinterest) * [ Reddit ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/the-cardinals-salary-matrix/?share=reddit) * [ Tumblr ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/the-cardinals-salary-matrix/?share=tumblr) ### Like this: Like Loading… ### _Related_ ## Comments ### By: Barnburnerbro - Link: https://www.nyrdcast.com/the-cardinals-salary-matrix/#comment-886 - Published: 2018-04-05T21:35:59-05:00 I know this might be basic, but is there a quick and simple definition somewhere of the arbitration and pre arbitration processes? ### By: Eugene Tierney - Link: https://www.nyrdcast.com/the-cardinals-salary-matrix/#comment-887 - Published: 2018-04-06T08:24:10-05:00 When a player is added to the 40-man roster, they are under team control for 6 years. The first 3 years are pre-arbitration; the club can set their salary. First year players typically get the MLB Minimum ($545k this season); typically they get small raises each year after. Years 4-6 are arbitration years, where the player had a little more say in his salary. The team and players have a deadline to submit their salary figure for the year, but can negotiate before and after this date. If a salary is not agreed upon, they will head to an arbitrator, where they plead their case for the figure submitted and the arbitrator will decide which salary the player will receive. Every once in a while, a player will be considered “Super 2”, which means their 3rd year in the league will be an arbitration year; it’s determined by service time, which is why you see some teams start ready prospects in the minors for the first few weeks of the season (Ronald Acuna of the Braves is an example of this).