The Cardinals have selected 27-year old lefty reliever/starter Ben Jukich in the Rule 5 Draft away from the Reds. Jukich pitched in 29 games (17 starts) in AAA-ball last year and he was 9-6 with a 4.10 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP. In 4 years in the minors Jukich has pitched in 98 games (74 starts) in which he is 34-19 with 2 saves, a 3.93 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. Jukich will have a shot this spring to make the Cardinals pitching staff most likely in the bullpen.

The Cardinals have signed 31-year old righty starting pitcher Brad Penny to a 1-year, $7.5 million dollar contract with a possible additional $1.5 million bucks in incentives. Penny pitched in 30 games (all starts) for the Red Sox & Giants last season and he was 11-9 with a 4.88 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. Penny has now pitched in 279 games (275 starts) in his 10-year major league career and he is 105-84 with a 4.14 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP. This was a good signing for the Cardinals as pitching coach Dave Duncan will work his magic with Penny who has the strongest arm on the pitching staff right now.

27-year old righty swinging catcher Yadier Molina tied Miguel Tejada for 23rd in the voting for the N.L. MVP Award. Molina played in 140 games for the Cardinals last season and he was 141 for 481 (.293 avg, .749 OPS) with 45 runs scored, 6 homers, 54 RBIs and 9 stolen bases. He has now played in 669 games in his six years with the Cardinals and he is 596 for 2,215 (.269 avg, .692 OPS) with 189 runs scored, 35 homers, 263 RBIs and 13 stolen bases. Molina had perhaps his best season in the majors in 2009 as he is a great handler of the pitching staff and he swung the bat pretty well. The Cardinals will expect that to continue in 2010 and beyond.

29-year old righty swinging LF Matt Holliday finished 16th in the N.L. MVP Voting despite only playing two months for the Cardinals. Holliday played in 63 games for the Cardinals last season and he was 83 for 235 (.353 avg, 1.023 OPS) with 42 runs scored, 13 homers, 55 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. He has now played in 854 games in his six years in the major leagues and he is 1,030 for 3,237 (.318 avg, .933 OPS) with 573 runs scored, 152 homers, 592 RBIs and 80 stolen bases. The Cardinals would love to bring back Holliday but he will likely be way out of their price range unless they dump a lot of players and that wouldn’t be smart.

The Cardinals have re-signed 35-year old righty swinging catcher Jason LaRue. LaRue played in 51 games for the Cardinals last season and he was 25 for 104 (.240 avg, .615 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 2 homers and 6 RBIs. LaRue has now played in 893 games in his 11-year major league career and he is 617 for 2,663 (.232 avg, .714 OPS) with 304 runs scored, 94 homers and 343 RBIs. LaRue did a good job backing up Yadier Molina last season and there is no reason not to think he will again in 2010.