St. Louis Cardinals Bench Help: Five Candidates

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Darwin Barney, INF

Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Anyone who’s watched a Major League playoff game ever understands how important solid defense is. One flub, and it’s over. Right, Bill Buckner? Daniel Murphy? Remember that shallow fly ball that handcuffed Matt Holliday in game one at Dodger Stadium a few years ago?

Enter 30-year-old free agent Darwin Barney, who has been floating around in the big league/triple-A neverland for the last year or so after anchoring the Chicago Cubs infield for five seasons. The Blue Jays DFA’d him this time. He was one of those low-ceiling college prospects who made it to the big leagues relatively quickly, and the St. Louis Cardinals sure could have used him last year as a late-inning replacement at any of the infield positions. Remember, this guy won a Gold Glove in 2012.