ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Cardinals won't need arbitration hearings to settle any player salary disputes this year.
Outfielders Randal Grichuk and Marcell Ozuna and pitchers Michael Wacha and Tyler Lyons -- the team's only arbitration-eligible players -- have all signed one-year contracts with the club, thus avoiding the need for settlement hearings.
Grichuk, 26,hit 22 home runs while batting .238 last season. His 153 extra-base hits since 2015 are second on the Cardinals only to Matt Carpenter (194)in that span.
Ozuna, easily the club's biggest offseason acquisition, can enter spring training without having endured a salary-arbitration hearing with his new club. Ozuna, who was obtained from Miami last month,is coming off a 2017 season in which he made his second consecutive All-Starteam and won National League Silver Slugger and Gold Glove awards. The 27-year-old batted a career-best .312 with 124 RBIs (thirdin the majors) and 37 home runs (third in the NL).
Wacha, 26, went 12-9 with a 4.13 ERA last season. The right-hander matched his single-season career high with 30 starts and set a career best with 158 strikeouts.
Lyons, a 29-year-old left-hander, fashioned a 2.83 ERA and 1.09 WHIP ina career-high 50 appearances last season.
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