ST. LOUIS -- Outfielder Juan Encarnacion and second baseman
Junior Spivey agreed to contracts with the St. Louis Cardinals on
Friday, two more parts of the team's offseason rebuilding.
Encarnacion, who turns 30 in March, gets a $15 million,
three-year deal. Spivey, 30, gets a $1.2 million, one-year
contract. Both agreements are contingent on the players passing
physicals.
Spivey
Encarnacion
"We have had Encarnacion at the top of our list among free
agent outfielders this offseason," general manager Walt Jocketty
said. "Spivey is someone we have expressed interest in for the
past two or three seasons. He will be a strong candidate in what we
envision to be a quality competition for playing time at second
base."
Encarnacion gets $3.5 million next year, $5 million in 2007 and
$6.5 million in 2008. He hit .287 with 16 home runs and 76 RBI
last season for Florida, the best season of his eight-year career,
and is a career .268 hitter with 128 homers and 119 stolen base.
Spivey, who can earn additional money in performance bonuses,
split last season between the Milwaukee Brewers and Washington
Nationals, batting .232 with seven homers and 24 RBI in 77 games.
"He's good in your clubhouse," said his agent, former big
league pitcher Dave Stewart. "He's what I call an old-time player
in a young player's body."
Encarnacion is expected to replace the retired Larry Walker in
right field. The Cardinals also have a vacancy in left field after
Reggie Sanders left as a free agent, and St. Louis could use a
combination of So Taguchi, John Rodriguez or newly acquired Larry Bigbie there.
"We like his all-around makeup," Jocketty said of Encarnacion.
"He hits for power, runs very well and plays a solid outfield.
His addition helps us in getting a little younger in the
outfield, yet he's still a player who has significant playing time
and production at the major league level."
Last year's starting outfield featured Walker (38), Sanders (37)
and Jim Edmonds (34), the lone holdover.
Spivey was the Brewers' Opening Day second baseman for the
second straight season, appearing in 49 games before being traded
to the Nationals on June 10 for pitcher Tomo Ohka. He would be the
fourth starting second baseman in four years for the Cardinals.
Last year's starter, Mark Grudzielanek, signed with the Royals.
"With Spivey, [Aaron] Miles, and [Deivi] Cruz, joining our team
this offseason, we feel that we have a number of strong candidates
not only for second base, but also for needed depth off the
bench," Jocketty said.
Spivey missed 63 games with a broken right arm sustained in
batting practice in July.
Encarnacion, who previously played for Detroit, Cincinnati and
the Los Angeles Dodgers, is the second former Marlins player to
join the Cardinals this winter. The other is right-handed reliever
Braden Looper.
Earlier this offseason, the Cardinals signed left-hander Ricardo
Rincon; traded left-handed reliever Ray King to Colorado for Bigbie
and second baseman Miles; and signed backup catcher Gary
Bennett and Cruz to one-year contracts.
Nearly half of the roster will be changed from last season's
team, which won 100 games.