Non-tendered by the 2002 World Champions, Al Levine agreed to a one-year, $950,000 contract with St. Louis on Thursday. Reportedly under the terms of the deal, only $600,000 of his salary is guaranteed, but he can make an additional $400,000 in incentives.

Levine threw more strikeouts last season than he had for a few seasons, but his walk rate took an even larger jump. The 34-year-old has never demonstrated strong command, and I don't expect that to change with the Cardinals. I'm quite disappointed in this acquisition, as there were several better pitchers on the market who will likely sign for comparable money.

Sources say that St. Louis is also close to signing Joey Hamilton as a bullpen fodder. Unlike the Levine acquisition, I support this pick-up. Hamilton should improve with a move to relief, as he'll be able to concentrate his efforts on fewer batters. While the Cardinals will need to be careful of the 32-year-old's usage patterns, the transition to the pen may also help Hamilton avoid injury, as he doesn't currently seem to have durability needed to start. However, his past rotation experience gives St. Louis additional options, if in 2003 they run short on starters as they did at times in 2002. Both Levine and Hamilton need to pass physicals before their contracts will be official.

In mid-December, St. Louis signed the arbitration-eligible Garrett Stephenson to a one-year, $800,000 contract. Stephenson recovered in record time from Tommy John surgery, only to fall victim to back and hamstring injuries, as well as a minor shoulder problem. Back injuries always trouble me, as they can easily become chronic. I'm highly worried about his ability to remain healthy and feel the Cardinals should consider using him in a relief role, as they are with Hamilton, since the 31-year-old wasn't a great pitcher before his injury problems. If he proves himself in the pen, they could always move him back to the rotation.

Meanwhile, Eli Marrero signed a two-year, $4.5M contract that will buy out his remaining arbitration years. The Cardinals found a career high number of at-bats for Marrero in 2002 by giving him more games out from behind the plate. As a result, his power became more evident. Unfortunately although he can take a walk, he doesn't have the best plate discipline so his BA and OBP lagged somewhat. However, the 29-year-old does offer St. Louis a moderate level of speed on the basepaths, which is unusual for even a part-time catcher.

Marrero's contract reportedly includes incentives for games caught, and the Cardinals do consider him to be a third catcher on the roster. Consequently while he prefers to play elsewhere on the field, we can expect him to catch a few games in 2003, while continuing in a utility capacity to maximize his plate appearances.

The Cardinals signed Eduardo Perez, who was also arbitration-eligible, to a $500,000 one-year deal. Perez is able to take a walk and has power skills similar to Marrero, but he's limited by a significantly lower contact rate. Generally, I'd prefer to see better offense from a bench player covering the corners of the infield and outfield.

The Cardinals have done an excellent job of signing pitchers to minor league deals this off-season. The right-handers they've acquired include: Jancy Andrade, Enrique Calero, Carlos Chantres, Jeremy Dodson, Cal Eldred, Todd Erdos, Juan Figueroa, Nelson Lara, Mike Lyons, Nerio Rodriguez, John Snyder, and Jay Yennaco.

St. Louis will be Andrade's first new club since signing with Baltimore out of Venezuela as a nondrafted free agent in 1995. The 24-year-old spent several years in rookie ball and missed 1998 due to injury, but he began to advance more quickly over the past couple seasons. In 145.1 IP with A+ Frederick in the Carolina League, where he spent most of 2002, Andrade compiled a 151:52 K:BB with 133 H and 13 HR allowed for a 3.84 ERA over 22 starts in 33 appearances. The Cardinals should keep him in AA for most of 2003, after which he'll likely deserve to be put on the 40-man roster allowing St. Louis to keep him at AAA in 2004 and giving them a rotation candidate for the 2005 season. His age prevents him from being a top prospect, but the Orioles definitely let an interesting pitcher slip away from them.

Kansas City drafted Kiko Calero out of St. Thomas University in the 27th round of the 1996 draft. He finished out that season in the Short-season Northwest League and then advanced directly to AA in 1997. Oddly although he performed surprisingly well in a full-season at Witchita, the Royals sent him down to the A Midwest League to start 1998 returned him to AA and then demoted him to the A+ Carolina League. Calero then spent the next three seasons at AA Witchita before finally receiving a promotion to AAA Omaha in 2002. At Omaha, he compiled a 109:35 K:BB with 112 H and 11 HR in 125.2 IP for 3.44 ERA over 18 starts in 20 appearances. His numbers don't shown any reason for him to have spent so much time in AA, nor do they explain why he failed to receive a call-up when the Royals were looking for pitchers last season and pillaging AA. As for why the Royals didn't retain Callero by placing him on the 40-man roster this past off-season, we can only presume that Kansas City GM Allard Baird is a secret member Jets and the Puerto Rican native Callero has ties to the Sharks. I don't think St. Louis will place the 27-year-old in the rotation out of Spring Training, but he should be at the top of the list to take over in case of any injuries.

The White Sox drafted Carlos Chantres out of high school in the 12th round of the 1994 draft. He left the organization after the 2000 season to sign with the Brewers when he was first eligible for free agency. The 26-year-old then signed with the Devil Rays for the 2002 season, but Tampa released him in June, at which point he returned to Chicago. Unfortunately, Chantres has not been able to master AAA. In 139 IP split between Durham and Charlotte in the AAA International League this season, he posted a 74:67 BB:K with 153 H and 16 HR for a 4.53 ERA. His previous two years at AAA don't look much different, so I don't expect him to contribute to the Cardinals, unless he moves to relief and experiences a sudden metamorphosis.

Jeremy Dodson is another player plucked from the Royals, who drafted him out of Baylor University in the 7th round of the 1998 draft. After four years of work as an outfielder, Kansas City sent Dodson to rookie-ball last year to work as a pitcher. He made eight appearances in the Gulf Coast League, pitching 12 innings and compiling a 4:8 K:BB with 17 H but no homers allowed for a 7.50 ERA. In 6 IP over 8 appearances with Spokane in the Short-season Northwest League, he had a 3:10 K:BB with 9 H and 1 HR allowed for a 16.50 ERA. While the left-handed hitter hadn't experienced much success as an outfielder, I don't expect the Cardinals to continue this pitching experiment. The 25-year-old can take a walk and has shown moderate power and speed skills, so an improvement in his contact rate at AA could give him the bump he needs to make it to the majors eventually as a reserve outfielder.

Cal Eldred didn't pitch in 2002 after suffering severe elbow problems for the past few years. I don't expect him to be sufficiently healthy to contribute to St. Louis in 2003, but perhaps he felt he could latch on to a little of the Andy Benes magic by signing with the Cardinals.

The Padres originally drafted Todd Erdos out of high school in the 9th round of the 1992 draft. He went to the Diamondbacks in the expansion draft in 1997. Then in 1998 Arizona traded him with Marty Janzen to the Yankees for Andy Fox. He returned to San Diego in 2000 when the Padres grabbed him off waivers from New York, and then signed with Boston as free agent for the 2001 and 2002 seasons. The 29-year-old reliever has spent parts of five seasons in the majors, but he has control problems at the big league level and has never displayed sufficient dominance.

The White Sox signed Juan Figueroa out of the Dominican Republic as a nondrafted free agent in 1995 and traded him to Baltimore with Brook Fordyce, Miguel Felix, and Jason Lakman for Charles Johnson and Harold Baines in 2000. Figueroa has thoroughly mastered A+ and after his third attempt at AA appears ready to move to AAA. However, I don't expect the 25-year-old to be ready to contribute to the St. Louis pen in 2003.

Nelson Lara signed with the Marlins as a nondrafted free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 1994. Florida then traded him to the Red Sox in 2001 for Aaron Holbert. Boston released him in July, and though he signed with Cincinnati, but the Reds released him in August. Lara signed with San Francisco in September of 2001 and spent most of 2002 at their A+ affiliate, where he compiled a 72:45 K:BB with 64 H and 7 HR in 82 IP for a 3.29 ERA in 13 starts over 20 appearances. While his development has been hindered by injury problems, the 24-year-old should receive an opportunity to tackle AA in 2003.

In 2002, Mike Lyons played for the same independent Northern league team from which St. Louis purchased Matt Duff prior to last year. Lyons was originally drafted by the Mets out of Stetson University in the 26th round of the 1996 draft. He worked his way up to AAA with New York, but then suffered a shoulder injury at the end of the 1999 season. When the Mets cut him rather than see him through his rehab, he was so irritated he left baseball until this past season. In 115 IP, the 27-year-old compiled a 95:24 K:BB with 116 H and 9 HR allowed for a 3.29 ERA. I expect the Cardinals to start him in AA, but he should move slower than Duff if he remains in a starting role.

St. Louis acquired Nerio Rodriguez from the Indians for Neil Simoneaux last season, and we discussed him a number of times. I'm pleased that they re-signed him but based on their past actions, I don't expect him to receive top consideration for spot starts.

Anaheim drafted John Snyder out of high school in the 13th round of the 1992 draft and then traded him with Andrew Lorraine, Bill Simas, and McKay Christensen to the White Sox for Jim Abbott and Tim Fortugno in 1995. Chicago then dealt Snyder with Jaime Navarro to Milwaukee for Jose Valentin and Cal Eldred. As a free agent prior to last season, Snyder signed with San Diego. The 28-year-old spent the season playing for their AAA affiliate at Portland, compiling a 93:50 K:BB with 156 H and 12 HR allowed in 144.1 IP for a 4.12 ERA in 25 starts over 26 appearances. His low strikeout rate makes me inclined to believe he should move to relief, however he'll provide the Cardinals with additional cushioning at AAA in case of injury to the major league staff.

Boston drafted Jay Yennaco out of Pinkerton Academy in the third round of the 1995 draft and then traded him to Toronto with Peter Munro for Mike Stanley. Toronto in turn dealt him to Chicago for Scott Sollmann. He tweaked his elbow playing winter ball prior to the 2001 season and missed the year after undergoing Tommy John surgery. He returned to the Red Sox organization last year to start last season, but they released him after only 4 appearances in which he compiled a 10:3 K:BB with 12 H and 1 HR in 8 IP for an 11.25 ERA at A+ Sarasota in the Florida State League. He then signed with Nashua of the independent Atlantic League, where he compiled a 55:37 K:BB with 79 H and 7 HR allowed in 86.1 IP for a 3.44 ERA over 9 starts in 37 appearances. Those numbers certainly aren't up to the same standard as he was displaying prior to the injury, but he should continue to rebound in 2003. I expect St. Louis to start the 27-year-old at AA and possibly advance him quickly, if he shows promise.