The Cardinals have released Brian Falkenborg and Andy Cavazos. Falkenborg pitched in 16 games last season for the Cardinals and he was 0-1 with a 4.82 ERA and a 1.61 WHIP. Falkenborg has now pitched in 39 games in his major league career and he is 1-2 with a 5.74 ERA and a 1.67 WHIP. He should be able to find another job but Cavazos might not get another chance with the way he pitched last season. Cavazos pitched in 17 games last season for the Cardinals and he was 0-0 with a 10.35 ERA and a 2.15 WHIP. He pitched 20 innings last season and he allowed 27 hits, walked 16 batters and whiffed 15. The Cardinals won’t miss either of these guys one bit.

The Cardinals have signed Dewon Brazelton and John Wasdin to minor league contracts. Brazelton last pitched in the majors in 2006 for the Padres and he was 0-2 with a 12.00 ERA in only 9 games. Brazelton has pitched in 63 games (43 starts) in his major league career and he is 8-25 with a 6.38 ERA and a 1.68 WHIP. He has worked 271 innings in his career and he has allowed 305 hits, walked 151 batters and whiffed 145. Don’t expect anything from him in 2008! John Wasdin might get a shot to make the Cardinals bullpen as Dave Duncan sometimes gets big results out of pitchers like him. Wasdin pitched in 12 games last season for the Pirates and he was 1-1 with a 5.95 ERA and a 2.03 WHIP. Wasdin has now pitched in 325 games (65 starts) in his major league career and he is 39-39 with 7 saves, a 5.28 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP. Wasdin has now pitched 793.1 innings in his career and he has allowed 874 hits, walked 252 batters and whiffed 527.

Join Our Sports Forum Community: BlogLockers.com

The Cardinals have signed Jason LaRue to a 1-year, $850,000 dollar contract. It will be interesting to see how he plays for the Cardinals after the pathetic season he turned in last year for the Royals. LaRue played in 66 games last season for the Royals and he was 25 for 169 (.148 avg, .512 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 4 homers and 13 RBIs. LaRue has now played in 781 games in his major league career and he is 557 for 2,395 (.233 avg, .724 OPS) with 277 runs scored, 88 homers and 316 RBIs. LaRue will be a longshot to play better than Gary Bennett would have if the Cardinals picked up his option.

The Cardinals have elected to decline 2008 options for So Taguchi and Gary Bennett. Taguchi will get a $100,000 buyout instead of a $1.1 million dollar salary for next season. Taguchi played in 130 games for the Cardinals last season and he was 89 for 307 (.290 avg, .718 OPS) with 48 runs scored, 3 homers, 30 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. Taguchi played in 578 games in his career for the Cardinals and he was 359 for 1,267 (.283 avg, .727 OPS) with 178 runs scored, 19 homers, 154 RBIs and 36 stolen bases. The Cardinals will also be shopping for a backup catcher as Gary Bennett will be playing elsewhere in 2008. Bennett played in 59 games last season for the Cardinals and he was 39 for 155 (.252 avg, .621 OPS) with 12 runs scored, 2 homers and 17 RBIs.