While the St. Louis Cardinals avoided arbitration with a recently acquired relief pitcher, the Washington Nationals added two veterans to minor league contracts.
Jordan Walden agreed to a two-year deal with the Cardinals that runs through 2016 and has a club option for 2017, according to the team's Twitter account. The 27-year-old right-hander will earn $6.6 million over the next two seasons and the club option is worth $5.25 million. Walden, along with outfielder Jason Heyward, was acquired from the Atlanta Braves back in November in exchange for starter Shelby Miller and two minor leaguers.
The reliever will enter his sixth year in the MLB after spending three seasons with the Los Angeles Angels and two with the Braves. He earned All-Star recognition when he was 23 years old after going 5-5 with a 2.98 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 67 strikeouts in 62 games (60 1/3 innings). He notched a career-best in ERA (2.88) this past season with Atlanta and gave up only two home runs in 50 innings of work. Walden was entering his second year of arbitration eligibility before signing the two-year contract.
Also in the NL, the Washington Nationals have inked third baseman Ian Stewart and reliever Heath Bell to minor league contracts for 2015. Stewart can also play second base, so perhaps the Nats made this signing to see if the veteran can provide depth at second or third at some point in 2015. The team has a big question mark at second heading into next season and they've moved Ryan Zimmerman from third to first, so they need a potential backup in the event Anthony Rendon gets injured. Stewart, 30, has a career stat line of .229/.315/.415 with 61 home runs and 211 RBIs in 511 games. He's played in only 24 games over the past two seasons.
As for Bell, he spent most of 2014 in the minor leagues with the New York Yankees after going 1-1 with a 7.27 ERA and 1.85 WHIP in 13 games with the Tampa Bay Rays. Just a few seasons ago Bell was an All-Star closer, but his performance significantly declined after signing a lucrative deal with the Miami Marlins. From 2009-2011, the right-hander was 15-9 with a 2.36 ERA, 216 strikeouts and 132 saves with the San Diego Padres. The Nationals could find use for the 37-year-old as a middle reliever if he proves effective in the minors.
