St. Louis Cardinals add four players to 40-man roster – MLB News
The St. Louis Cardinals have added four more players to their roster to protect them from Rule 5 Draft. The move was highly likely given the stature of the players in the Minor League, performing consistently to book a place in the St. Louis Cardinals.
Cardinals’ roster now stands at 39 players, with one short of completing the 40-man roster. The club is expected to complete it within next few weeks, if not days.
Those who have been protected from being selected in next month’s Rule 5 Draft are Michael Blazek, Keith Butler, Eric Fornataro and left-hander Kevin Siegrist. There were earlier some indications that the Cardinals will go for these players.
Michael Blazek, Keith Butler, Eric Fornataro and Kevin Siegrist had ended the 2012 season at Double-A Springfield. With that, the Cardinals also avoided the Major League Baseball deadline – which was to end at 10:59 p.m. CT.
According to the rules, clubs pay $50,000 to select a player in the Rule 5 draft which is held on December as the Winter Meetings in Nashville concludes. Provided the player does not stay on 25-man roster for the full season, he must be offered back to his former team for $25,000.
Fornataro who has been included to the roster had 57 appearances this past season, posting 2.39 with Springfield. In just over 67 innings, he had 41 strike-outs to his credit, coming forward as a formidable relief pitcher.
Blazek, on the other hand, played at Springfield and remained Cardinals' Number 13 prospect. Posting 4.16 ERA in 40 appearances, he has also had seven starts.
Siegrist had his stint in Arizona Fall League, posting 2.37 ERA in five starts out of six games that he played, holding 2-1 record.
Butler, on the other hand, had 25 saves to his credit and finished second in the Texas League with a 5-1 record, posting 2.76 ERA in his 53 appearances as a relief pitcher.
They all seem promising, ready to strike whenever they are given opportunity.
St. Louis Cardinals' manager Mike Matheny had previously shared his view about what he thought of the new players being added to roster.
“You never feel comfortable. You're constantly making adjustments anyhow, ... It's such a day-to-day thing because you never know who's going to be there struggling each day, especially when you've got new guys coming in. I'm sure they'll be new guys (next spring). There will be turnover.”
It looks like the Cardinals are doing their offseason work in a hurry to put together a solid line-up for the 2013 season.
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