December 8, 200421 yr Cardinals, Morris agree to deal Eldred, Mabry sign; Matheny, Renteria offered arbitration ST. LOUIS -- The Cardinals and Matt Morris pushed it to the last possible minute, but Morris will be back with the Redbirds for one more season in 2005. The right-hander agreed to a one-year contract on Tuesday evening, barely ahead of the midnight ET deadline to offer arbitration to free agents. Other Cards signing one-year pacts were right-handed reliever Cal Eldred and utilityman John Mabry. St. Louis offered arbitration to shortstop Edgar Renteria and catcher Mike Matheny and still hopes to re-sign both Gold Glovers, while the Cards declined arbitration to right-hander Woody Williams, lefty Steve Kline and outfielder Ray Lankford. Offering Morris arbitration was not a viable option for St. Louis, so the team was left either to sign him by the deadline or let him go. The eight-year veteran has never played for any organization other than the Cardinals. "They still value Matt and like him, and obviously if healthy he's a tremendous asset," Morris' agent, Barry Axelrod, said on Tuesday afternoon. "And Matt is very comfortable in St. Louis." Clubs that did not offer arbitration to their free agents by the midnight ET Tuesday deadline lost all rights to negotiate with -- or sign -- those players until May 1. This effectively ends a player's relationship with his 2004 team. Once offered arbitration, players have until Dec. 19 to accept or reject salary arbitration. If the player accepts arbitration, he will return to the team for at least one year. If he rejects arbitration, the team can continue negotiations until Jan. 8. Perhaps more importantly, by offering arbitration, a club receives draft pick compensation if the player is signed by another team. Morris pitched 202 innings and won 15 games in 2004, but allowed 35 home runs to go along with his 4.72 ERA. He recently underwent arthroscopic surgery to clean up his right shoulder, and that may have changed the dynamics of his market dramatically. "It wasn't the easiest year for him, but he threw 202 innings and he got 15 wins and he pitched in a World Series," Axelrod said. "That's a whole lot better than most years most guys have. He struggled, and I think we've determined that it was partly, or largely, physically based, his inconsistency and his difficulties this year. That doesn't mean that he doesn't have positive feelings about the Cardinals and St. Louis and what can go on here." Eldred has been an effective reliever for two seasons with the Cardinals. In 2004 he went 4-2 with a save and a 3.76 ERA in 67 innings (52 appearances). Mabry enjoyed an outstanding season off the bench after not making the team out of Spring Training. He hit .296 with a .363 on-base percentage and .504 slugging percentage, 13 homers and 40 RBIs in 240 at-bats. (Cant say I'm surprised about this deal. Honestly, I thought we'd part ways but I believe he's getting a contract like Carpenter had last year)
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