St. Louis Cardinals sign Mark Reynolds, pending physical

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The St. Louis Cardinals have signed free agent 1B/3B Mark Reynolds pending a physical.

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CBS Sports baseball writer Jon Heyman reported the signing on Twitter.

Drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 16th round of the 2004 draft out of the University of Virginia, Reynolds has played eight seasons in the Major Leagues. He has a career line of .229/.324/.457 with 224 home runs and 613 RBI.

Reynolds’ best season came in 2009. It was the only season in which Reynolds finished in the top 20 voting for the National League MVP Award. He hit 44 home runs and drove in 102 runs but also managed to strike out 223 times that year.

Reynolds will be able to provide a power bat off the bench and could complement the left-handed Matt Adams at first base. At the same time, he’s a strikeout machine. He led the league for four consecutive seasons in strikeouts, including three seasons in which he struck out over 200 times.

If Reynolds is able to keep his strikeout numbers down, this could be a good signing for the Cardinals. Whether the power off his bat is more than able to compensate for the strikeout numbers remains to be season. Last year, Reynolds hit 22 home runs but also had a .196/.287/.394 hitting line.