The Cardinals avoided what could have been one of the most intriguing arbitration cases in baseball by signing outfielder Rick Ankiel to a one-year, $900,000 deal.

Once a pitching phenom, Ankiel will come to spring training this season with a chance to be the Cardinals’ every day center fielder.

Most of Ankiel’s major-league service time was a lefthanded starter, causing a conundrum for his value because he applied for arbitration as a slugger. Ankiel, 28, returned to the majors this season and hit 11 home runs and drove in 39 RBIs in 172 at-bats. From the day he showed up to the end of the season, Ankiel led the team in homers and RBIs, while flashing a cannon arm in right field.

The power display in the big leagues was a continuation of his performance in Class AAA Memphis. In Triple-A for his first time as a position player, Ankiel finished tied for second in the Pacific Coast League with 32 home runs, though he had at least 40 fewer at-bats than the other leaders.

Ankiel also drove in 89 runs and slugged .568.

The day after Ankiel’s career night — seven RBIs and two home runs against Pittsburgh — a newspaper report linked Ankiel to receiving a shipment of human growth hormone. The commissioner’s office later ruled no punishment would be levied, but Ankiel slipped into a slump, going 16 games without a home run and contributing two RBIs in the skid.

Ankiel was originally drafted in the second round of the 1997 draft, was a national player of the year as a high school pitcher and was twice the organization’s pitcher of the year before injuries and erratic control led him to retire as a pitcher.

In 2005’s spring training, he picked up a bat and a glove to try his skills as an outfielder.

Ankiel’s agent, Scott Boras, said that Ankiel’s arbitration case was “interesting” and that extrapolated his numbers over an entire season to see a 30-homer, 100-RBI player. “What is a contribution like that worth to a team?” Boras asked, rhetorically.

The new contract was submitted Friday, the day teams and players are required to exchange salary figures for coming arbitration hearings.

Ankiel will receive a $25,000 bonus for every 50 plate appearances of more than 350. If he has 500 plate appearances – and as a starting outfielder, he likely would — he’ll make $1 million.

Catcher Yadier Molina and pitcher Todd Wellemeyer are the only Cardinals remaining on the roster who have not agreed to a salary. Both have applied for arbitration but a deal can be struck before their hearings.

dgoold@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8285

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