The Cardinals have re-signed 34-year old switch-hitting shortstop Rafael Furcal to a 2-year, $14 million dollar deal. Furcal played in 50 games for the Cardinals last year and he was 50 for 196 (.255 avg, .735 OPS) with 29 runs scored, 7 homers, 16 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. He played in 87 games overall for the Dodgers & Cardinals last year and he was 77 for 333 (.231 avg, .646 OPS) with 44 runs scored, 8 homers, 28 RBIs and 9 stolen bases. Furcal has now played in 1,484 games in his first 12 years in the majors and he is 1,685 of 5,965 (.282 avg, .756 OPS) with 990 runs scored, 108 homers, 536 RBIs and 302 stolen bases. This was a good move for the Cardinals as Furcal played pretty well for them last year.

The St. Louis Cardinals have selected 24-year old lefty swinging outfielder Erik Komatsu in the Rule 5 Draft from the Washington Nationals. Komatsu came into last year as the Brewers #14 prospect according to Baseball America. Komatsu played in 124 games in AA-ball for the Brewers & Nationals last year and he was 124 of 448 (.277 avg, .749 OPS) with 60 runs scored, 7 homers, 48 RBIs and 21 stolen bases. He has now played in 348 games in his first four years in the minors and he is 390 for 1,290 (.302 avg, .823 OPS) with 218 runs scored, 24 homers, 166 RBIs and 57 stolen bases. Komatsu is going to have a great shot of winning a job on the Cardinals’ bench next spring.

27-year old righty swinging OF/3B/1B Allen Craig is going to be out of action for 4-6 months after having knee surgery right around Thanksgiving. This is a big loss for the Cardinals as Craig could be out until May. He played in 75 games for the Cardinals last year and he was 63 for 200 (.315 avg, .917 OPS) with 33 runs scored, 11 homers, 40 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. Craig has now played in 119 games in his first two years with the Cardinals and he is 91 for 314 (.290 avg, .842 OPS) with 45 runs scored, 15 homers, 58 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. Craig is in line for a bump in P.T. this year, so the Cardinals hope he heals up quickly.