Cards add Ellis as insurance for Wong

Source: St.迷你倉樂器 Louis Post-DispatchDec. 16--The Cardinals' search for a second baseman to complement and challenge rookie Kolten Wong ended swifter than they expected but landed the infielder they coveted.Mark Ellis and the Cardinals have agreed on a one-year contract that will be finalized and announced early this week after the veteran passes a physical. A source confirmed the agreement to the Post-Dispatch, which was first to report the deal Sunday morning on STLtoday.com.Ellis, 36, hit .270 in 126 games with the Los Angeles Dodgers last season, and he offers the righthanded bat at second base that the Cardinals wanted to pair with Wong.Ellis is viewed as a strong presence on the field and in the clubhouse, and the Cardinals repeated their interest to Ellis' representative last week in a discussion at baseball's annual winter meetings. The Cardinals had been unsure if he'd accept a part-time role. Ellis has had at least 400 plate appearances in each of the past 10 seasons he's played. He spent the past two years as the starter at second for the Dodgers, making $5.25 million in 2013. Los Angeles decided not to exercise a $5.75-million option on Ellis' contract and allowed him to become a free agent.Financial terms of his contract with the Cardinals were not available Sunday.The two moves the Cardinals made before Thanksgiving to trade third baseman David Freese and sign shortstop Jhonny Peralta have altered the look of their infield. General manager John Mozeliak has said one motivation behind the moves was to clear playing time for Wong, the team's first-round pick in 2011.Dealing Freese to the Los Angeles Angels for center fielder Peter Bourjos freed up third base for Matt Carpenter. An All-Star in his first season at second, Carpenter was drafted and developed at third base before moving to second for 2013. Carpenter's shift to third leaves Wong to win the everyday job at second.Wong, 23, hit .303 with 10 home runs 45 RBIs for Class AAA Memphis last summer. That earned him the organization's player of the year award. He struggled when given an opportunit迷你倉西貢 to join the lineup in the majors and moved into a bench role with sporadic playing time. He hit .153 with 12 strikeouts and three walks in 62 plate appearances in the majors, and his postseason was marked by being picked off first base to end a World Series game.The Cardinals sought what one official called "insurance" for Wong this winter, and Mozeliak described how the team might have to be "patient" to find it. The pace picked up over the weekend and the Cardinals have their three targets on the roster before Christmas. The second base market, headlined by Robinson Cano (who signed with Seattle) and Omar Infante (who has a deal with Kansas City), had only just started sorting itself out after clubs left the winter meetings last week. The New York Yankees are still looking for a second baseman.Ellis has a career average of .265 with a .330 on-base percentage, and he had nine consecutive seasons with at least 20 doubles before 2013. He offers an obvious righthanded bat to spell the lefthanded-hitting Wong against lefty pitchers. Ellis hit .282 with a .743 on-base-plus-slugging percentage (OPS) against lefties, and he hit .304 with a .792 OPS in games started by lefthanded pitchers. In the past three seasons, Ellis has hit .291 against lefties with a .774 OPS in 388 at-bats.Ellis rated as one of the best defensive second basemen in the game last season. According to Baseball Info Solutions, Ellis' 12 Runs Saved in the field ranked second in the majors. When comparing plays outside of a prescribed zone for the average second baseman against misplays within that zone, Ellis rated plus-14.The Cardinals were open to signing a righthanded-hitting third baseman for the bench and identified defensive versatility as a preferred trait. Ellis has played both shortstop and third base in the majors, though less than 65 innings at each position. Of his 1,362 games in the majors, Ellis has started 1,263 at second base.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Visit the St. Louis Post-Dispatch at .stltoday.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉將軍澳