The Cardinals have signed 27-year old righty swinging catcher Mitch Canham to a minor league deal. Canham has played in 1 game in AAA-ball for the Cardinals so far and he was 0 for 4 with 2 whiffs. Canham played in 53 games in AA+AAA-ball for the A’s last year and he was 42 of 180 (.233 avg, .597 OPS) with 24 runs scored, 0 homers, 18 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. He has now played in 393 games in his first six years in the minors and he is 365 of 1,419 (.257 avg, .708 OPS) with 186 runs scored, 20 homers, 198 RBIs and 26 stolen bases. Canham is a big time long shot to play for the Cardinals in 2012.

The Cardinals have acquired 24-year old lefty swinging outfielder Cedric Hunter from the Oakland A’s for future considerations. Hunter played in 6 games for the Padres last year and he was 1 for 4 (.250 avg, .650 OPS) with 1 run scored. He also played in 81 games in AAA-ball last year with the Padres and he was 72 of 282 (.255 avg, .680 OPS) with 44 runs scored, 2 homers, 33 RBIs and 9 stolen bases. Hunter will likely be a backup for the Cardinals in 2012.

The Cardinals have designated 26-year old righty starting pitcher Adam Ottavino for assignment. Ottavino pitched in 26 games (25 starts) in AAA-ball for the Cardinals last year and he was 7-8 with a 4.85 ERA and a 1.60 WHIP. His only action with the Cardinals came back in 2010. He pitched in 5 games (3 starts) for the Cardinals last year and he was 0-2 with a 8.46 ERA and a 2.06 WHIP. Ottavino gave up a whopping 37 hits in his first 22 1/3 innings in the majors back in 2010, as he was pitching B.P. The Cardinals won’t miss Ottavino moving forward.

UPDATE: (4/3/2012) - The Cardinals have lost Adam Ottavino on waivers to the Colorado Rockies.

The Cardinals have released 25-year old righty reliever Francisco Samuel. Samuel pitched in 17 games (1 start) in Rookie+A+AA-ball last year and he was 0-3 with a 12.21 ERA and a 2.43 WHIP. Samuel pitched in 190 games (11 starts) in six years in the minors for the Cardinals and he was 13-20 with 59 saves, a 5.66 ERA and a 1.85 WHIP. No loss here for the Cardinals as Samuel was regressing in the minors.

The Cardinals have signed 35-year old righty reliever Scott Linebrink to a minor league deal. Linebrink pitched in 64 games (0 starts) for the Braves last year and he was 4-4 with 1 save, a 3.64 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP. He has now pitched in 607 games (6 starts) in his first 12 years in the majors and he is 42-31 with 8 saves, a 3.51 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. Linebrink will have a really good shot of winning a bullpen job this spring.