Cardinals Avoid Arbitration with Adams, Maness, Moss, and Rosenthal

The Cardinals announced that they have avoided arbitration with 1B Matt Adams, 1B Brandon Moss, reliever Seth Maness, and closer Trevor Rosenthal, all agreeing to one-year deals.

• Adams: $1.65MM
• Moss: $8.25MM
• Maness: $1.4MM
• Rosenthal: $5.6MM

 As I previously noted, MLBTR's Matt Swartz projected Adams to earn $1.5MM, Moss to earn $7.9MM, Maness to earn $1.2MM, and Rosenthal to earn $6.5MM.

Adams had an injury-plagued year in 2015 due to a torn right quad suffered on May 26 vs Arizona. Thought to be a season-ending injury, Matt was able to return in mid September for the team's stretch run and hit a long home run in his first game back in Cincinnati. In 60 games, Adams slashed .240/.280/.377 with 5 HR and 24 RBI.

Moss was acquired in July 2015 from Cleveland in a trade that sent highly-touted lefty Rob Kaminsky to the Tribe. In 51 games with St. Louis, Brandon slashed .250/.344/.409 with 4 HR and only 8 RBI. Between Cleveland and St. Louis, Moss slashed .226/.304/.407 with 19 HR and 58 RBI. As MLB Trade Rumors notes, Moss underwent major hip surgery following the 2014 season, and that may have contributed to his sub-par numbers with the Redbirds. Moss is a free agent after 2016.

Maness had another solid year in the St. Louis pen, going 4-2 with a 4.26 ERA in 76 games. Seth  recorded 46 strikeouts in 63.1 innings, while also picking up three saves. Maness' true value comes in inducing double plays. He relies heavily on his sinker and was able to induce 11 double plays.

Rosenthal had his best year as the Cardinals closer, going 2-4 with a 2.10 ERA and recording 48 saves. In 68 games, he pitched 68.2 innings and recorded 83 strikeouts versus 25 walks. This was a major improvement from 2014, where Trevor recorded 87 strikeouts versus 42 walks. Rosenthal altered his delivery in 2015 and pitched exclusively from the stretch, which shortened his delivery and made it more repeatable.