St Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals will look to repeat as National League Central champions in 2010. But to do that, it won’t be easy.

The Cardinals weren’t the only team in the Central to make moves acquire and key free agent signings this off-season.

The Brewers, Cubs, Astros and even the Reds made noise this off-season, all in hopes of chasing the Cardinals for the top spot in the division.

Below is how I see the NL Central shaping up, at least as we stand a little over a week before the first official spring game.

After an off-season full of speculation surrounding infielder Felipe Lopez signing with the St. Louis Cardinals, the deal finally became official on Friday.

The club agreed with Lopez on a one-year, $2 million contract with incentives on Friday, despite recent reports that the Cardinals weren’t looking to add another infielder before Spring Training.

Originally published at TwinsTarget.com.

This offseason saw a large number of free agents sign with new teams. Some teams were trying to fill holes while others were trying to take their team to the next level.

Whatever the reason, a lot of quality players found new homes. This is a recap of the signings with the most interesting fantasy implications.

The first signs of Spring Training arrived last week when pitchers and catchers took to the fields. It is that time of year when ‘hope springs eternal.’

Play will begin in the Grapefruit and Cactus leagues, and soon enough we will all be outside enjoying peanuts, cracker jacks, and baseball.

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, things looked pretty good for the St. Louis Cardinals. After all, it looked as if they were about to tie up the division series with the L.A. Dodgers.

Matt Holliday’s re-signing with the Cardinals was a victory on all fronts.  The Cardinals got the perfect protection for Albert Pujols and solidified their standing atop the NL Central. 

Holliday also won big time because his deal, seven years and $120 million, makes him this offseason’s only $100 million dollar man. 

A big deal has been made about the length of Matt Holliday's contract.  There's certainly a risk that his production could decline after age 35 or that a big injury will hit him.   But this is something the current Cardinals ownership and management have done when they want to lock down a player to be part of their core. 

They've done it with Jim Edmonds, Scott Rolen, Albert Pujols, and technically, Chris Carpenter.  The Cards added five years with an option to the one year with an option remaining on his previous deal.