National Baseball Report

Cardinals re-sign LaRue

7:25pm: Jason LaRue's contract is a one-year, $950,000 deal.

"Jason is a great fit for our ballclub in his current role," Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said Monday. "His veteran leadership both on and off the field is something we value highly."

Source: Associated Press - Minneapolis Star Tribune

5:55pm: The St. Louis Cardinals announced that they will re-sign backup catcher Jason LaRue for 2010.  Terms of the deal are unknown but the contract is most likely a one-year contract.

Source: Matthew Leach - Hot Stove Blog

Cuban umpire defects to United States

A top Cuban umpire defected to the United States.  Nelson Diaz arrived in Miami on Sunday with his wife and two daughters.  Diaz was selected to work the 2009 World Baseball Classic but Cuban officials did not let him go because they thought he would defect.  The first thing Diaz did when reaching the United States was place flowers at his mom's grave, who dies in Miami before he could see her.

Source: Yahoo! Sports

Postseason shares announced

The New York Yankees set a record for a postseason share at $365,053.  That amount broke the record held by the 2006 St. Louis Cardinals at $362,173.

The Los Angeles Angels voted to give the estate of the late Nick Adenhardt a full share.  Adenhardt was killed in a car accident in April.  The Angels' share was worth $138,039.

The players get 60 percent of the ticket money from the first four games of the World Series and the league championship series' as well as the first three games of the divsion series'.

Source: Associated Press - ESPN.com

Pirates outright Karstens and Thomas, release Diaz

The Pittsburgh Pirates outrighted pitchers Jeff Karstens and Justin Thomas and released catcher Robinson Diaz.  All three cleared waivers today after being designated for assignment ten days ago.  Karstens and Thomas remain Pirates' property and will be invited to major league Spring Training.

Source: Dejan Kovacevic - Piitsburgh Post-Gazette

Marlins leaning against arbitration for Johnson and Calero

The Florida Marlins are leaning against offering arbitration to first baseman Nick Johnson and relief pitcher Kiko Calero.  Both players are Type B free agents, so offering arbitration but losing the players would net the Marlins draft picks between the first and second rounds in 2010.  Johnson made $5.5 million in 2009.  Calero made $500,000 in 2009 but could get over $2 million in arbitration.

Source: Joe Frisaro - The Fish Pond

Mets sign Cora and Coste

The New York Mets re-signed infielder Alex Cora to a one-year, $2 million contract.  If Cora starts approximately 80 games a second year will be guaranteed.  Cora was limited to 82 games in 2009 because of thumb injuries on both hands.

The Mets signed catcher Chris Coste.  The cotnract guarantees him a spot on the 40-man roster but he is not guaranteed a spot on the 25-man roster when the season starts.

Source: Alden Gonzalez - MLB.com

Average salary just under $3 million

An annual report done by the players association says that the average major league player salary was just under $3 million in 2009.  The average of $2,996,000 was up 2.4 percent from 2008.  The New York Yankees had the highest average salary at $7.76 million, while the Pittsburgh Pirates had the lowest average salary at $790,000.

Source: Associated Press - Sports Illustrated

Pirates sign Ledezma

The Pittsburgh Pirates signed left-handed pitcher Wilfredo Ledezma to a minor league contract with an invitation to major league Spring Training.  Ledezma appears primarily in Triple-A for the Washington Nationals and Toronto Blue Jays in 2009.  He is 15-22 with a 5.17 ERA in his career.

Source: Rob Biertempfel - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Padres will not offer arbitration to Giles and Blanco

The San Diego Padres will not offer arbitration to free agents Brian Giles and Henry Blanco.  They do have interest in working out a contract with Blanco to bring him back for 2010.

Source: Corey Brock - Twitter

MLBP signs exclusive agreement with Topps

Major League Baseball Properties signed an exclusive agreement with Topps Company to make Topps the official baseball card of Minor League Baseball.  The agreement allows Topps to be the only licensed baseball cards for the minor leagues.  The agreement goes into effect on January 1, 2010.

Topps will also have exclusive use of the Pro Debut logo.  The first product will be the 2010 Topps Pro Debut Series 1 to be released in March of 2010.

Source: MiLB.com