The Cardinals have signed 33-year old lefty reliever/starter Brian Tallet to a 1-year deal. Tallet pitched in 34 games (5 starts) for the Blue Jays last season and he was 2-6 with a 6.40 ERA and a 1.58 WHIP. He gave up 20 homers in only 77 1/3 innings for the Blue Jays last season. Tallet has now pitched in 223 games (36 starts) in his first 8 seasons in the majors and he is 16-23 with a 4.65 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP. The Cardinals are looking at using Tallet as a situational lefty and he just might excel in that role.

The Cardinals have acquired 30-year old righty swinging shortstop Ryan Theriot from the Dodgers for 27-year old righty reliever Blake Hawksworth. Theriot played in 150 games for the Cubs & Dodgers last season and he was 158 of 586 (.270 avg, .633 OPS) with 72 runs scored, 2 homers, 29 RBIs and 20 stolen bases. Theriot has now played in 663 games in his first six years in the majors and he is 696 of 2,452 (.284 avg, .704 OPS) with 355 runs scored, 16 homers, 182 RBIs and 104 stolen bases. Blake Hawksworth pitched in 45 games (8 starts) for the Cardinals last season and he was 4-8 with a 4.98 ERA and a 1.64 WHIP. He pitched in 75 games (8 starts) in two years with the Cardinals and he was 8-8 with a 4.07 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP. Theriot will be the new starting shortstop of the Cardinals and the price was right as I like this deal for St. Louis.

The Cardinals have signed 32-year old lefty reliever Raul Valdes to a minor league deal. Valdes pitched in 38 games (1 start) as a rookie last season with the Mets and he was 3-3 with 1 save, a 4.91 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP. Valdes whiffed 56 batters in 58 2/3 innings last season for the Mets but he walked 27 batters. If the Cardinals can get Valdes to throw more strikes they might really have something here.

24-year old righty starting pitcher Adam Ottavino and 25-year old righty swinging catcher Steve Hill have elected free agency over minor league assignments from the Cardinals. Ottavino pitched in 5 games (3 starts) for the Cardinals last season and he was 0-2 with a 8.46 ERA and a 2.06 WHIP. He also pitched in 9 games (all starts) in AAA-ball last season and he was 3-3 with a 3.97 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP. Ottavino was the Cardinals’ #11 prospect heading into last season according to Baseball America so they might regret this decision down the road.

Steve Hill played in 1 game for the Cardinals last season and he was 1 for 3 with a solo homer. Hill also played in 102 games in AA+AAA-ball last season and he was 107 of 395 (.271 avg, .874 OPS) with 62 runs scored, 24 homers and 92 RBIs. Hill will likely get a chance to make a team next spring as a backup.

28-year old righty swinging outfielder Nick Stavinoha played in 79 games for the Cardinals last season and he was 31 of 121 (.256 avg, .625 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 2 homers and 9 RBIs. He played in 147 games in 3 years with the Cardinals and he was 62 of 265 (.234 avg, .581 OPS) with 21 runs scored, 4 homers and 30 RBIs. The Cardinals might miss Stavinoha a little bit as he had some big hits off the bench for them last season.