Cardinals agree to two-year deal with Jason Motte

The St. Louis Cardinals have agreed to a two-year deal with Jason Motte and avoided arbitration. Fox Sports/MLB Network insider Ken Rosenthal reports that the contract is for $12 million with performance bonuses.
Oct 17, 2012; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Jason Motte (30) celebrates defeating the San Francisco Giants in game three of the 2012 NLCS at Busch Stadium. The St. Louis Cardinals won 3-1. Image Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
With the Cardinals reaching a deal with Motte, it leaves Marc Rzepczynski and David Freese as the only remaining unsigned players eligible for arbitration. That said, the difference in price submitted by the Cardinals and Rzep’s agent is closer than that of Freese and the Cardinals according to Derrick Goold.

"Freese’s representative submitted a request for $3.75 million, and the team filed an offer at $2.4 million. If the negotiations cannot be resolved before a hearing, which could be scheduled for next month, the arbitrators will select one of those salaries for 2013."

Oscar Taveras, Kolten Wong, and Greg Garcia will be invited to the big league camp as non-roster invitees. At the moment, Garcia is expected to be the starting short stop at Memphis this season.

Carlos Beltran loves playing for the St. Louis Cardinals. Speaking to reporters this weekend at the annual Winter Warm Up, Beltran said that he has “to find out what the organization’s plans are” and added that “they don’t really have to come to me and explain it to me.”

This is Beltran’s final year of his contract with the Cardinals. With the rise of Oscar Taveras in the system and a ETA of late 2013 or the beginning of 2014, I have a hard time imagining Beltran with a spot on the team after the 2013 season.

Fox Sports Midwest will be re-airing their special on the late Stan Musial. They also offer clips of the special on the website. According to FS Midwest, Remembering Stan Musial will air at least two more times in the event that you missed the first viewing last night.

"The initial re-air dates are below:• Sunday, January 27 – 9:30 pm-CT• Tuesday, January 29 – 9:00 pm-CT (or immediately after MVC)"