Cardinals sign Cody Eakin, Kyle Wiltjer, Travis Jankowski, Drew Stanton to new deals

FOX Sports reports the Cardinals have signed Cody Eakins, Kyle Lohse, Drew Stubbs, Kyle Stanton and Travis Janks to new contracts.

Eakins will receive $1.1 million, Kyle Stubbs $950,000, Drew Stubs $500,000 and Travis Stanton $850,000.

Stubs will make $2.3 million in 2017.

Stubs was the first free agent to sign a Major League contract with the Cardinals.

The 23-year-old was promoted to the majors last year after posting a .270/.346/.404 line in 523 plate appearances.

Stubbins is an outfielder for the Angels, and has a .290/.357/.407 line in 1039 plate appearances with the Double-A Corpus Christi Hooks.

Stubbs has been the Cardinals’ best defensive outfielder since he was promoted from Triple-A in 2016.

He hit .277/.354/.417 with five homers and 12 RBIs in 114 games.

Stanton was promoted last season from Triple A Fresno to help the Cardinals improve their defense.

The 28-year, 195-pound left-hander had a 2.55 ERA with 12 strikeouts in 35 innings for the A’s in 2017, but posted a 3.00 ERA with a 6.3 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 in 40 games.

Stanton, 27, is hitting .276/.352/.419 in 921 plate appearances this season with four homers and 11 RBIs.

Stanton had a 3-for-4, two-run home run in a game against the Phillies on June 10.

Stuckey is hitting a career-best .316/.377/.459 with six homers and 10 RBIs for the Cardinals this season.

He has been out since June 11 with a right elbow strain.

The Cardinals have been the most expensive team in the Major Leagues.

The team is on pace to spend $90 million on their Opening Day payroll of $85 million.

The Cardinals are expected to spend at least $50 million on the first $70 million in the 2017 campaign, which is $30 million more than they spent in 2016 and $22 million more on their payroll than they did in 2017 when they finished with the third-most payroll in baseball.

The Arizona Diamondbacks and New York Mets are the teams next two NL West rivals.

The Diamondbacks finished second to the Phillies in 2016 with a $95 million payroll.

The Mets finished third with a payroll of more than $120 million in 2018.