He coupled a smooth defensive transition with his best offensive season, slashing .287/.341/.428 with a .769 OPS in 120 games with Double-A Springfield. Mercado, then followed with a standout showing in the Arizona Fall League. Gonzalez went 4–7 with a 4.33 ERA in 18 games (15 starts) for Class A Advanced Palm Beach last season. In 79 innings, Gonzalez struck out 72, walked 30 and posted a 1.37 WHIP. The Cardinals signed Gonzalez as a non-drafted free agent out of Venezuela in September 2012. Eligibility for the Rule 5 Draft is dependent upon how old a player was when he signed with the organization. Players who signed at the age of 18 or younger become eligible after five seasons. Those who were 19 or older have four years before they must be protected. This year's Rule 5 Draft is scheduled for December 14, the final day of baseball's Winter Meetings in Lake Buena Vista, FL. SS Aledmys Diaz, 27, was traded for minor leaguer (A-level, Midwest League) OF prospect J.B. Woodman, 22, in the Toronto Blue Jays organization, on December 1, dropping the 40-man roster number to 38. Diaz hit .259 with a .682 OPS in 79 games. Woodman, the Jays' second-round Draft pick in 2016, was Toronto's No. 28 prospect according to MLBPipeline.com. The left-handed-hitting outfielder batted .240 with a .699 OPS, seven home runs and eight steals in 96 games for the Class A Lansing in 2017. Woodman, who turns 23 on Dec. 13, has mostly played center and right field. Starter Michael Wacha, OF'er Randal Grichuk, and LH-reliever Tyler Lyons, all arbitration-eligible, were unsurprisingly offered contracts for next season. On December 5, the Cardinals signed RH starter Miles Mikolas, 29, in a two-year deal for $15.5 million. He had pitched in Japan (Yomiuri Giants) since 2015, with a record over 62 games of 31–13 with a 2.18 ERA, striking out 378 batters in 424 innings. In 2017, he had an 8.13 strikeouts/walk rate. He last pitched in MLB for the Texas Rangers in 2014. He was born in Jupiter, Florida, where the Cardinals hold spring training. On December 8, the Cardinals failed to acquire Giancarlo Stanton, 28, the reigning NL MVP (2017, .281 59 HR, 132 RBI), when he turned down the Cardinals' trade offer to him, because of his no-trade clause with the Miami Marlins.