ST. LOUIS -- The Cardinals and Matt Adams avoided arbitration on Thursday by agreeing to a one-year contract.
According to MLB Network Insider Jon Heyman, the deal is worth $2.8 million. Adams made $1.65 million last season as a first-year, arbitration-eligible player.
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The agreement comes one day before teams are scheduled to exchange salary figures with any arbitration-eligible players who remain unsigned. The Cardinals have four such players -- Trevor Rosenthal, Michael Wacha, Kevin Siegrist and Carlos Martinez -- still in limbo.
Though his contract is now settled, Adams can't say the same about his role. He projects to enter the season as the team's backup first baseman following the organization's decision to give the starting first base job to Matt Carpenter.
Adams is coming off a season in which he hit .249/.309/.471 with a .780 OPS. It wasn't the sort of bounceback season he hoped to enjoy following an injury-plagued 2015. Over the past two seasons, Adams has made a total of 111 starts at first base.