The St. Louis Cardinals signed third baseman David Freese to a one-year contract avoiding salary arbitration. The Cardinals have now come to terms with all arbitration eligible players.
Freese, 29, a St. Louis native and the 2011 World Series and National League Championship Series Most Valuable Player, is coming off a season in which he batted .293 with career high totals of 20 home runs and 79 RBI, earning him his first All-Star Game appearance in 2012.
Freese holds the Major League record with 21 RBI in a single post-season capping off a playoff run that ended in the Cardinals 11th World Championship in 2011. He was the hero of Game 6 of the World Series hitting a game-tying triple in the ninth inning before a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th inning.
The Cardinals acquired Freese in a trade with the San Diego Padres in December 2007 for outfielder Jim Edmonds.