Cardinals agreed to terms with INF Nolan Gorman on a one-year, $2.655 million contract.

The flaw of arbitration is that you can be a pretty terrible player otherwise, but if you hit homers, you’ll get paid. Gorman, who was eligible for arbitration, was decent enough in 2023, but he’s hit .204/.284/.385 with a 36% strikeout rate and bad defense in 218 games the last two years. He’ll probably get another long look this season, assuming that the Cardinals trade Nolan Arenado and/or Brendan Donovan, but José Fermín and Thomas Saggese both project as better players at this point and top prospect JJ Wetherholt could crash the party soon.