Marmol agreed Monday to a three-year, $20 million contract with the Chicago Cubs and avoided salary arbitration. The Cubs announced the deal after their first workout for pitchers and catchers. Marmol will have a salary of $3.2 million this season, $7 million in 2012 and $9.8 million in 2013.

Marmol had 38 saves in 43 chances with a 2-3 record and 2.55 ERA last season. He had asked for $5.65 million in arbitration while the Cubs countered with an offer of $4.1 million. An arbitration hearing had been scheduled for Tuesday.

“I wanted to secure my life, my family, my career,” he said.

The 28-year-old Marmol took over the closer’s role in August 2009 and has converted 49 of 54 save chances since then.

“Great ones are hard to find. The numbers the kid put up,” general manager Jim Hendry said.

Marmol sometimes makes it exciting. He has experienced bouts of wildness during his career in which he has trouble finding the plate, hits batters and uncorks wild pitches with a herky jerky motion. The hard-throwing right-hander has plunked 35 batters, thrown 22 wild pitches and walked 252 in 385 1-3 innings during his career.

But he is often able to recover with the strikeout. He had a franchise record for relievers with 138 strikeouts last season, an average of 15.99 strikeouts per nine innings.

“I never worry about my control,” Marmol said. “I worry about three outs before they score on me. You work hard. That’s what you’re looking for: work hard and get better every day. You never stop learning.” Marmol has made 316 major league appearances, all but 13 in relief. He was signed by the Cubs as a non-drafted free agent in 1999 as a catcher/outfielder and was converted to a pitcher in 2002.

He started 13 games in 2006 before heading to the bullpen the following season where he excelled as a setup reliever with a 5-1 record and 1.43 ERA in 59 appearances. He made the All-Star team as a reliever in 2008.

“I grew up in this organization. I feel very proud,” Marmol said during a news conference.

Five players remain in arbitration, with hearings scheduled through Friday. Players and owners have split the two cases already decided, with Pittsburgh pitcher Ross Ohlendorf winning and Los Angeles Angels pitcher Jered Weaver losing.
 
Cardinals, Pujols extend contract deadline

The St. Louis Cardinals and representatives for Albert Pujols have agreed to a 24-hour extension to reach a new contract out of respect for Stan Musial.

The Cardinals Hall of Famer will be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in Washington on Tuesday and general manager John Mozeliak said Monday the club did not want to distract from Musial’s special day. Chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. and Mozeliak will accompany the 90-year-old Musial to Washington.

Pujols’ agent, Dan Lozano, originally set a Tuesday deadline, the first workout day for pitchers and catchers in Jupiter, Florida Mozeliak said the new deadline is noon (EST) Wednesday.

Pujols is due to make $16 million this season in the final year of his contract, with $4 million of the total deferred without interest.

The 31-year-old Pujols is seeking a contract, perhaps as long as a decade in length, that would make him one of the highest paid players in the major leagues and allow him to retire as a Cardinal.

Even if a deal can’t be reached by Wednesday, the Cardinals were hopeful of keeping the All-Star first baseman. Numerous times the last few seasons and again at last month’s Winter Warmup fan festival in St. Louis, Pujols has expressed his desire to stay with the Cardinals.

Pujols is the only player in major league history to hit 30 or more home runs in his first 10 seasons, belting 42 with 117 RBIs last year while finishing second in MVP balloting behind the Reds’ Joey Votto . He’s had 100 RBIs all 10 seasons, has scored 100 runs in all except one season, finishing with 99 runs in 2007, and has drawn 100 walks in each of the last three seasons.

DeWitt has referred to Pujols as “irreplaceable,” but he would be 41 at the end of a 10-year contract and presumably not nearly so productive.

Mozeliak would not characterize the tenor of the negotiations, sticking to an agreement about keeping the process private.

“Given the timing of everything we will remain quiet at this time,” Mozeliak said. “I don’t want to lead people on or characterize something one way or the other. Our approach has been pretty consistent since Day 1 and that’s to allow this to be done in a confidential state. Given we are only 48 hours from the deadline I’ll remain that way.”

Mozeliak said there was no frustration from the Cardinals’ side.

“No, not at all,” he said. “It’s a process. It’s an iconic player. When you experience going through this you learn a lot. Frustration isn’t coming from us.”

Neither Mozeliak nor manager Tony La Russa expect the Pujols situation to become a distraction if an agreement is not reached.