TOWER GROVE — The arbitration wallop the St. Louis Cardinals have been bracing for this winter came into view Tuesday with the exchange of salary figures around baseball. The Cardinals two unsigned and eligible players, outfielders Rick Ankiel and Ryan Ludwick, each are guaranteed to receive significant raises. The salaries that an arbitrator will choose between — if the two sides do indeed get to a hearing, that is — are there for everyone to see. Every comma. Every zero.

• Ankiel put in for $3.3 million; Cardinals countered with a $2.35 million offer
• Ludwick submitted a $4.25 million request; Cardinals entered $2.8 million

A year ago at this time, Ankiel presented one of the most confounding arbitration cases. He was without a true comparable (I mean, beside Von McDaniel who had even tried, right?), and both sides stretched for their cases. One side went with Ankiel as similar to a … drumroll, please … backup catcher. This year, who’d believe it but Ankiel is the easy one. Ludwick, following a breakthrough year of 100-plus RBIs, 37 home runs and an All-Star invite, is a riddle in his first year of eligibility.

Back in November, I attempted to go line by line through a rough draft of the Cardinals’ payroll to get a real feel for how much money they had to spend in the free agent market. We had been told repeatedly that it wasn’t as much as simply the millions coming off the books in the forms of Mark Mulder, Jason Isringhausen, et. al. “An Audit of the St. Louis Cardinals’ Payroll” attempted to estimate the 2009 salaries of the arbitration-eligible players.

They were … well, not too shabby. Almost nailed the Aaron Miles and Chris Duncan deals.

The estimates ripped from the November blog:

Rick Ankiel, OF … $900,000 … Arb. est: $2.4 million … + $1.4 million

Ryan Ludwick, OF … $411,000 … Arb. est: $3.3 million … + $2.89 million

Aaron Miles, INF … $1.4 million … Arb. est: $2 million … + $600,000

Todd Wellemeyer, RHP … $1.0 million … Arb. est: $3.25 million … + $2.25 million

Brad Thompson, RHP … $414,000 … est. $855,000 … + $441,000

Chris Duncan, OF … $439,000 … est. $855,000 … + $416,000

The total kickup there after arbitration had its influence was estimated to be about $8 million. It is important to note here that arbitration is impervious to the economy. By rule, the arbitration process is immune to outside factors. The overall economic climate, the economic situation of the team and the economic market for the league cannot — by agreement — be considered. In this icy market, arbitration is a comfy blanket. And, in some cases, we’ve seen how free agents may regret their decision not to accept arbitration when offered in December.

With three of the above contracts finalized, one of the above players non-tendered and off to play second base for the Chicago Cubs and two pending, here is the updated matrix:

Rick Ankiel, OF … $900,000 … Arb. $3.3 million OR $2.35 million … + $2.4/$1.45 million

Ryan Ludwick, OF … $411,000 … Arb. $4.25 million OR $2.8 million … + $3.84/$2.39 million

Aaron Miles, INF … $1.4 million … Arb. est: $2 million … ZERO (Cubs: $2.2 million)

Todd Wellemeyer, RHP … $1.0 million … $4.05 million … + $3.05 million

Brad Thompson, RHP … $414,000 …  $650,000 … + $236,000

Chris Duncan, OF … $439,000 … $825,000 … + $386,000

The new spike in the Cardinals’ payroll, according to those salaries, is either going to be $9.9 million or $7.5 million depending on the outcomes of the arbitration cases with Ankiel and Ludwick. It has been 10 years since the Cardinals got all the way to a hearing, and this is the first time in memory that they actually exchanged figures for a Scott Boras client (Ankiel).

The purpose of arbitration is to spur a deal and not need the February hearings.

As mentioned before, Ankiel is the easier of the two to find a comparable. Think Gary Matthews Jr. Back in April 2004, Matthews was released by Atlanta, an act that you could argue is akin to Ankiel retiring as a pitcher. Matthews latched on with Texas. Ankiel latched on to the outfield. Two years later, at 31, Matthews hit 19 home runs and drove in 79 RBIs with a .313 average in 620 at-bats and became a free agent at the end of that season. He also played a strong center field. While he has the at-bats that Ankiel does not, the Cardinals’ center fielder counters with more power. In his final year of arbitration, Matthews turned a 17-homer, 55-RBI season in 475 at-bats into a doubled salary, from $1.1 million to $2.4 million. There’s the comparison.

You can see the shadow of Matthews in the Cardinals’ arbitration offer.

Ludwick is … Bubba Trammell (check out 2001)? Jason Lane? No clue. Any suggestions?

This much is clear, Ryan Howard is due a payday and it is incredible the Philadelphia Phillies continue to drag this into arbitration. He submitted an $18-million salary for the arbitration process, and the Phillies countered with $14 million. The Phillies offer is $4 million more than the record award Howard received last year. Saw that coming.

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Programming note: Later this week, I will pull off the annual vanishing act for vacation, and access to the blog may be limited because my access to the Internet may be limited. But there will be at least one entry before I depart. Thanks to all who joined the blog over the weekend for Warm-up info, and expect the same and more with the usual Spring Training deluge of coverage …

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