St. Louis Cardinals Salaries and Contracts

Team Names: St. Louis Cardinals, St. Louis, St. Louis Browns

Seasons: 145 (1882 to 2026)

Record: 11410-10527, .520 W-L%

Playoff Appearances: 32

Pennants: 23

World Championships: 11

Winningest Manager: Tony La Russa, 1408-1182, .544 W-L%

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Team Future Payrolls

Buyouts are always shown when years are options ([*] for option details)

Team Future Payrolls
Name	Age	Yrs	Acquired	SrvTm	Agent	Contract Status	2026	2027	2028
Dustin May	28	7	Free Agency	6.059	Paragon Sports In...	1 yr/$12.5M (26) & 27 mutual option	$12M	$500k [FA-*]	FA
Lars Nootbaar	28	6	Amateur Draft	4.076	Wasserman	1 yr/$5.35M (26)	$5.35M	Arb	FA
Nolan Gorman	26	5	Amateur Draft	3.114		1 yr/$2.66M (26)	$2.65M	Arb	Arb
JoJo Romero	29	7	Traded	5.045	PSI Sports Manage...	1 yr/$4.26M (26)	$4.26M	FA
Andre Pallante	27	5	Amateur Draft	3.145	Wasserman	1 yr/$4M (26)	$4M	Arb	Arb
Ryne Stanek	34	10	Free Agency	8.038	MVP Sports Group	1 yr/$3.5M (26) & 27 team option	$3.5M	$0 [FA-*]	FA
Alec Burleson	27	5	Amateur Draft	3.029		1 yr/$3.3M (26)	$3.3M	Arb	Arb
Ramón Urías	32	7	Free Agency	5.025	Wasserman	1 yr/$2M (26) & 27 mutual option	$1.5M	$500k [FA-*]	FA
Victor Scott II	25	3	Amateur Draft	1.083					Arb
Matthew Liberatore	26	5	Traded	2.144			Arb (~$2.8M)		Arb
Yohel Pozo	29	3	Free Agency	1.052					Arb
Zack Thompson	28	3	Amateur Draft	2.072					Arb
Masyn Winn	24	4	Amateur Draft	2.045					Arb
Jordan Walker	24	4	Amateur Draft	2.044					Arb
Iván Herrera	26	5	Free Agency	2.034					Arb
Pedro Pagés	27	3	Amateur Draft	1.166					Arb
Jared Shuster	27	4	Free Agency	1.148					Arb
Kyle Leahy	29	4	Amateur Draft	1.140					Arb
Riley O'Brien	31	5	Purchased	1.129					Arb
Justin Bruihl	29	6	Purchased	1.112					Arb
George Soriano	27	4	Traded	1.095					Arb
Ryan Fernandez	28	3	Rule 5 Draft	1.090					Arb
José Fermín	27	4	Purchased	1.075					Arb
Richard Fitts	26	2		0.164					Arb
Hunter Dobbins	26	2	Traded	0.152					Arb
Thomas Saggese	24	3	Traded	0.144
Matt Svanson	27	2	Traded	0.116
Gordon Graceffo	26	3	Amateur Draft	0.091
Michael McGreevy	25	3	Amateur Draft	0.091
César Prieto	27	2	Traded	0.031
Nathan Church	25	2	Amateur Draft	0.043
Jimmy Crooks	24	2	Amateur Draft	0.031

	Willson Contreras traded to/from Boston Red Sox						$8M
	Nolan Arenado traded to/from Colorado Rockies						-$5M
Name							2026	2027	2028
Signed	Players With Guaranteed Contracts (does not include players with options)						*8
Dollars Committed	Value of Guaranteed Contracts (no options are exercised and includes buyouts)						*$39.6M	$1M

Contract Options	Players with any type of option							3
Option Values	Maximum value of options if all are exercised							$30M

Arb Eligible	Number of arbitration eligible players (1st-2nd-3rd-4th, "Arb" players = 3rds)							0-0-4-0	0-0-20-0
Arb Costs	Rough estimated value of all arbitration cases (uses 3-year averages for 1st yr, 2nd,..)						†$2.8M	$30.8M	$154M

Other Players	Additional Players Needed to Fill 25-man (no options exercised)							21	5
Other Costs	Estimate of Remaining Players Costs (based on 1-year avg of all pre-arb players)							$15.92M	$3.79M

Payroll (no options)	Est. Total Payroll w/o Options (Guaranteed + Arb + Other)							$47.7M	$157.8M
Payroll (options)	Est. Total Payroll w/ Options (Guaranteed + Options + Arb + Other)							$75.4M	$157.8M

* - This is not intended as an accurate payroll accounting for current. Trades are not prorated, new debuts are not added, incentives are not included.
† - 2026 arbitration projections are provided by Matt Swartz and MLBTradeRumors.com. Please check the link for a description of process and a lot more great transaction content.
All salary values are VERY unofficial. On occasion, we have estimated arbitration eligibility.
Future arbitration eligibility assumes players will play full major league seasons.
Signing bonuses are typically prorated across the contract, but in some cases may have been paid at the time of signing.
For information like contract history, contract incentives, and more, we heartily recommend Cot's Contracts
Unsigned players salaries are estimated based on the last three years of salary data:

$758.18k for pre-arbitration, $2.59M for 1st-year arb, $3.59M for 2nd-year-arb, $7.7M for 3rd-year-arb, $7.7M for 4th-year-arb.
Please let us know if you find any errors, updates, or corrections