Jose Pasen Suspension: St. Louis Cardinals Minor Leaguer Forced To Sit 50 Games

On Thursday, Major League Baseball announced that two minor league players have been suspended 50 games for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. One of the two is pitcher Jose Pasen, who is a prospect in the St. Louis Cardinals organization.

St. Louis Cardinals Minor League pitcher Jose Pasen has received a 50-game suspension after testing positive for metabolites of Nandrolone, a performance-enhancing substance. Pasen is currently on the roster of short-season Batavia of the New York-Penn League.

Related: Cardinals Vs. Reds Final Score: Wainwright Struggles, Reds Win 6-3

Pasen was 4-4 with a 4.45 ERA with Johnson City in the Appalachian League in 2011. Batavia's season does not begin until June of this year.

For more on the St. Louis Cardinals, drop by the Cardinals blogs Viva El Birdos or swing by SB Nation's MLB news hub, Baseball Nation. For a deeper look at the statistics of baseball, check out the sabermetrics blog Beyond the Box Score.

Cardinals 2012 Roster: St. Louis Signs Minor League Catcher Mitch Canham

The St. Louis Cardinals have agreed to sign catcher Mitch Canham, according to Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus. It's unclear what the terms of the contract are at this point, but Canham presumably is receiving a minor league deal and will be sent to one of the team's minor league affiliates.

Picked by the San Diego Padres with the 57th overall pick in the 2007 draft, Canham could never quite make the adjustments in the upper minors. After hitting .285/.384/.434 in the hitter-friendly California League as a 23-year-old in 2008, his numbers dropped with a promotion to Double-A the following year.

Since then, Canham has continued to struggle in Double-A, never quite making the necessary progress to reach the majors. He spent last season split between Double-A Midland and Triple-A Sacramento in the Oakland Athletics organization, hitting a combined .233/.314/.283 in 53 games.

For more on the St. Louis Cardinals, drop by the Cardinals blogs Viva El Birdos or swing by SB Nation's MLB news hub, Baseball Nation. For a deeper look at the statistics of baseball, check out the sabermetrics blog Beyond the Box Score.

Cardinals 2012 Roster: St. Louis Acquires Cedric Hunter, Sends Him To Triple-A

The St. Louis Cardinals have acquired outfielder Cedric Hunter from the Oakland Athletics in exchange for future considerations, according to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The Cardinals will assign him to Triple-A Memphis, giving the team some extra depth in the form of a versatile outfielder.

Hunter, 24, made his MLB debut with the San Diego Padres last season. That stint was short-lived, though, and the outfielder has spent most of the past two seasons playing in Triple-A. The A's claimed Hunter off waivers from the San Diego Padres during the offseason but they already have a plethora of outfield options.

In 2011, Hunter posted a .255/.322/.358 line with two homers and nine steals in 81 games for Triple-A Tucson. He hasn't had much success at that level since hitting .308/.375/.423 in a half-season of Double-A ball in 2010.

For more on the St. Louis Cardinals, drop by the Cardinals blogs Viva El Birdos or swing by SB Nation's MLB news hub, Baseball Nation. For a deeper look at the statistics of baseball, check out the sabermetrics blog Beyond the Box Score.

St. Louis Cardinals Opening Day: Kyle Lohse Is Game 1 Starter By Default

This probably isn't how Kyle Lohse or the St. Louis Cardinals wanted things to go down, but Lohse—who, for his part, did lead the World Series champions in wins (14) and ERA (3.39) last season—will be getting the Opening Day nod for the Cardinals as they play against the newly christened Miami Marlins Wednesday night. It's Lohse's second Opening Day start, and it's equally as strange as the first one he made, which came on a rainout; this year's comes after after Chris Carpenter's nerve issue put him on the 15-day disabled list to start the season.

So: It will be Lohse's job to keep the Marlins from lighting up their incredibly Miami-ish home run feature on opening night at their new retractable-roof stadium. In case you were wondering, he allowed 16 home runs in 188 innings last season.

Adam Wainwright, for his part, will still make his return to the Cardinals' rotation against the Milwaukee Brewers, on Saturday.

St. Louis Cardinals Roster: 25-Man Roster Set Ahead Of Opening Day

The St. Louis Cardinals' 2012 Opening Day roster was set Friday, after a series of moves guaranteed spots for Rule 5 outfielder (and amateur hip-hop producer) Erik Komatsu, perennial fifth outfielder Shane Robinson, and backup catcher Tony Cruz. The full roster—in flux pending the returns of Allen Craig and Skip Schumaker—shows a lack of depth at shortstop and second base, but plenty elsewhere. (Third base in particular; in addition to David Freese the Cardinals will head north with Daniel Descalso and Matt Carpenter.) Here's the full roster:

Starting Pitchers: Adam Wainwright, Jaime Garcia, Kyle Lohse, Jake Westbrook, Lance Lynn

The Lineup: Yadier Molina, Lance Berkman, Tyler Greene, David Freese, Rafael Furcal, Matt Holliday, Jon Jay, Carlos Beltran

The Bullpen: Jason Motte, Fernando Salas, Marc Rzepczynski, J.C. Romero, Kyle McClellan, Scott Linebrink, Mitchell Boggs

The Bench: Daniel Descalso, Tony Cruz, Erik Komatsu, Matt Carpenter, Shane Robinson

The biggest surprises: Bryan Anderson seemed to outplay Tony Cruz in the backup catcher derby, but he'll be playing every day in AAA Memphis instead; Scott Linebrink beating Eduardo Sanchez was another controversial move.

Cardinals 2012 Roster: St. Louis Adds Scott Linebrink To 40-Man Roster

In a somewhat surprising development, RP Scott Linebrink has worked his way from a minor-league deal to a likely Opening Day roster spot with the St. Louis Cardinals.

The 35-year-old Linebrink spent the 2011 season with the Atlanta Braves, pitching 54.1 innings with a 3.64 ERA and 4.30 FIP. After signing a minor league deal with the Cardinals, Linebrink then went on to pitch 9.2 innings in Spring Training with a 0.93 ERA, 2 strikeouts and 1 walk.

Linebrink, a 12-year veteran, has accrued 656.2 IP and a 3.51 ERA in his career. He earned $5.5 million in 2011 with the Atlanta Braves as a part of the final year of his 2008 contract with the Chicago White Sox.

For more on the St. Louis Cardinals, drop by the Cardinals blogs Viva El Birdos or swing by SB Nation's MLB news hub, Baseball Nation. For a deeper look at the statistics of baseball, check out the sabermetrics blog Beyond the Box Score.

St. Louis Cardinals News: Adron Chambers Optioned, Erik Komatsu Nearer Rule 5 Success

The St. Louis Cardinals' cavalcade of slap-hitting left-handed center fielders got shorter when Skip Schumaker went down with a torn oblique, and it's shorter still now that Adron Chambers has been sent to minor league camp, ending his bid at breaking camp with the big club. Chambers's exit means good things for Erik Komatsu, whose Rule 5 status means he has to spend the entire season on the 25-man roster lest he be placed on waivers.

The decision makes a lot of sense primarily because Chambers and Komatsu are so similar; Chambers, 25 this year, hit .277/.368/.415 with five triples and 22 stolen bases in AAA Memphis. Komatsu, 24, spent last season split between two AA clubs, where he hit .277/.367/.382 with 21 stolen bases. Both are burners, slightly old for their leagues, who don't make sufficient use of their speed; Komatsu projects a little better, but it's probably within the margin of error.

And if they're so close, why not just take Komatsu and keep both of them around? Shane Robinson, a right-handed version of same, is also in competition for that last spot.

The move is also good for backup infielder Matt Carpenter, who's reportedly sewn up a spot.

More St. Louis Cardinals news and updates from SB Nation St. Louis:

• Eduardo Sanchez was also cut, and I'm somewhat less sympathetic to performing roster shenanigans to keep him and Scott Linebrink around...
• We at SB Nation St. Louis would like to apologize for injuring Chris Carpenter.

St. Louis Cardinals' Eduardo Sanchez Optioned To AAA Memphis

St. Louis Cardinals reliever Eduardo Sanchez has been optioned to AAA Memphis; the Cardinals will break 2012 Spring Training with Mitchell Boggs and Scott Linebrink on the roster.