Cardinals agree to terms with outfielders Jon Jay and Peter Bourjos

ST. LOUIS, Mo., January 17, 2014 - The St. Louis Cardinals announced today that they have agreed to terms with outfielders Jon Jay and Peter Bourjos on one-year contracts for the upcoming 2014 season, thus avoiding salary arbitration.

Jay, 28, set career highs last season with 151 hits, 67 RBI and 27 doubles and had 40 multi-hit games for the second consecutive season. Jay's .293 batting average over the last four seasons (2010-13) ranks 9th among all MLB outfielders. Jay established a franchise record playing 245 consecutive games in the outfield without an error (8/25/11 - 7/29/13) and has a .995 fielding percentage, leading all Cardinals outfielders over the last four seasons. Jay was a 2nd-round selection (74th overall) by the Cardinals in the June 2006 free-agent draft.

Bourjos joined St. Louis in a trade on November 22, 2013, from the Los Angeles Angels, along with outfielder Randal Grichuk in exchange for infielder David Freese and pitcher Fernando Salas. The 26 year-old appeared in 55 games for the Angels in 2013 in an injury-shortened season. He was hitting .333 on June 30, before suffering a right wrist fracture. The speedy outfielder has 21 outfield assists in his three-plus years in the majors and has robbed five homers since 2010.

Infielder Daniel Descalso is the lone Cardinals arbitration eligible player that remains unsigned.