After signing Skip Schumaker to a two-year extension, the St. Louis Cardinals have non-tendered infielder Ryan Theriot and tendered contract offers to relief pitchers Jason Motte and Klye McClellan, as reported by B.J. Rains of Fox Sports Midwest.
Theriot became a spot utility player after losing his starting shortstop job to Rafael Furcal in midseason, and with the recent resigning of Furcal, Theriot became expendable. A non-tender avoids having to deal with a possibly high salary arbitration figure for a glorified backup infielder. The 32-year old veteran hit .271/.321/.342 for the Cardinals in 2011 over 132 games.
The team still hopes to work on a longer contract with reliever Jason Motte to avoid salary arbitration. Motte pitched well for the Cards in 2011, posting a 2.25 ERA and offering a strong option out of the pen in the MLB playoffs. The team has also not lost faith in McClellan, who was left off the playoff roster for the World Series and Division series, but still had a contract tendered to him as well.
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