Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported on Sunday, that the Cardinals may be close to acquiring veteran shortstop Ronny Cedeno. With Rafael Furcal coming off of a torn elbow ligament, the Cardinals don’t have much depth at the shortstop position. I’m not sure how much better an option like Cedeno is?
The Cardinals have Pete Kozma, who came up with a couple of big hits during last year’s postseason run, but has gained this reputation of being a light hitter and defensive liability despite being just 25 years old this April.
Cedeno was the Chicago Cubs next “can’t miss” shortstop from 2005-2008, but was quickly shipped to Seattle before the 2009 season with the emergence of Starling Castro. He landed in Pittsburgh midseason of ’09 and hit .258 that season. His best offensive year was last season when he hit .259 with New York. He made two errors in 72 chances at short. He actually played one more game at second base than short for the Mets (28-27).
Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak would not comment. Cedeno turns 29 on Saturday.