Spring Training Countdown: 7 Days Remaining

Seven days remain until pitchers and catchers report to Jupiter, Florida for Spring Training.
Oct 19, 2012; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman David Freese (23) stands on second base after hitting a double against the San Francisco Giants during the second inning of game five of the 2012 NLCS at Busch Stadium. Image Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports Oct 19, 2012; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman David Freese (23) stands on second base after hitting a double against the San Francisco Giants during the second inning of game five of the 2012 NLCS at Busch Stadium. Image Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
The best news about the Super Bowl having come to an end is that it means we are one day closer to pitchers and catchers reporting.

Over the weekend, the Cardinals announced that Marc Rzepczynski has agreed to a contract and the club was able to successfully avoid arbitration.

"“I think my stuff is good enough, and I hope [manager] Mike [Matheny] thinks it is, too, that I can pitch against anybody,” Rzepczynski said. “Having that sort of [starter’s] background, I know I want to go out there and pitch as much as I can. This will give me an opportunity to pitch an inning, and Randy will take care of the one-out situations.”"

As of now, David Freese is the only Cardinal that is holding out for arbitration. Whatever he does get, it will be quite the raise for him!

"When clubs and unsigned arbitration-eligible players exchanged figures in January, Freese submitted a number of $3.75 million. The Cardinals filed at $2.4 million. Freese earned $508,000 in 2012."

Meanwhile, workers at Busch Stadium are preparing for the start of spring training. They are packing up for Jupiter.

In the coming weeks, fans will get a good idea of what players will be starting out where. It’s a good bet that both Kolten Wong and Oscar Taveras will start the season with the Memphis Redbirds. I would be very surprised if they have not made their Cardinals debut by the end of the season.

It’s the starting rotation and bullpen that still need to be figured out. There are so many quality pitchers for the Cardinals that can start but there are only 5 slots. Would it be possible for the Cardinals to go to a six-man pitching rotation? In another universe, maybe that would be an option.