Excerpt: "Offseason Catchup, NL Central"

"The Cardinals, just today, agreed to sign one more infielder, Mark Ellis. They got a great deal, committing just $5 million to an excellent defensive second baseman who has pop against left-handed pitchers. Ellis was miscast as the Dodgers' #2 hitter the past few years, yet still ran up bWARs of 2.5 and 3.0 at 35 and 36. Ellis is up there with Chase Utley as the best defensive second basemen of this era. For the Cardinals, he provides insurance and a platoon partner for Kolten Wong, and probably seals the move of Matt Carpenter back to third base. It's another nice tactical strike that serves to deepen a bench that was a problem in the postseason. I would absolutely rather have Ellis on this deal than Omar Infante on his, and I'm not sure I wouldn't rather just have Ellis period, money be damned."