The Cardinals have signed 66-year old manager Tony LaRussa to a 1-year deal with a mutual option for the 2012 season. LaRussa led the Cardinals to a 86-76 record (.531) which landed them in second place in the N.L. Central, 5 games behind the Reds. LaRussa has a 1,318-1,110 (54.3%) record during the regular season in 15 years with the Cardinals. He has won the N.L. twice as the manager of the Cardinals and he led them to a World Series Championship in 2006. LaRussa has now managed in the major leagues for 32 years and he has compiled a regular season record of 2,638-2,293 (53.5%) and a post season record of 59-51 (53.6%). LaRussa has won five league pennants and 2 World Series in his major league career. He has also been the Manager of the Year 4 times in his major league career including 2002 with the Cardinals. This was a good move for the Cardinals as LaRussa is a winner.

The Cardinals have signed 24-year old righty starting pitcher Bryan Augenstein off waivers from the Diamondbacks. He pitched in 25 games (22 starts) in AA+AAA-ball for the D-Backs last season and he was 6-9 with a 6.49 ERA and a 1.63 WHIP. Augenstein’s only major league experience came in 2009 in which he worked in 7 games (2 starts) and he was 0-1 with a 7.94 ERA and a 1.71 WHIP. He has a good arm but he is a extreme longshot to help out the Cardinals any time soon.

The Cardinals have quickly picked up Albert Pujols’ 2011 option worth $16 million bucks. The 30-year old righty swinging 1B turned in another fine year for the Cardinals in 2010. Pujols played in 159 games for the Cardinals this year and he was 183 of 587 (.312 avg, 1.011 OPS) with 115 runs scored, 42 homers, 118 RBIs and 14 stolen bases. Pujols has now played in 1,558 games in his 10 years with the Cardinals and he is 1,900 of 5,733 (.331 avg, 1.050 OPS) with 1,186 runs scored, 408 homers, 1,230 RBIs and 75 stolen bases. Despite not being in the Cardinals’ Top 10 in games played, Pujols is all over the Cardinals’ Record Book. Pujols is #7 in hits (1,900), #3 in runs scored (1,186), #3 in doubles (426), #3 in total bases (3,580), #2 in walks (914), #2 in homers (408), #2 in RBIs (1,230), #6 in batting average (.331) and #2 in OPS (1.050) in Cardinals’ history. Pujols has been the MVP of the N.L. 3 times and he has been in the Top Ten of the voting for the award every year he has been in the majors.