RHP John Gant, Cardinals avoid arbitration

The Cardinals and right-handed reliever John Gant have reached a one-year, $2.1M agreement to avoid arbitration, Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets. His salary is fully guaranteed.

Gant had been projected to earn $1.5M to $1.9M in arbitration, so the actual salary he’ll make in 2021 isn’t too far off from that. The 28-year-old seems well worth the money he’ll make next season, as he has been a highly productive member of the Cardinals’ bullpen over the past few seasons.

Gant debuted in 2016 with the Braves, with whom he didn’t post great numbers that season. The Braves then traded Gant to the Cardinals in a deal involving Jaime Garcia, but he was hardly lights-out during his initial action in St. Louis. However, Gant has been an integral part of the Cardinals’ bullpen dating back to 2018. The 28-year-old owns a 3.46 ERA/3.81 FIP with 7.97 K/9, 4.52 BB/9 and a 46.6 percent groundball rate in 195 1/3 innings in the past three seasons. Next year will be Gant’s penultimate season of team control.