Carlos Beltran reaches a two year deal with the Cardinals

Matthew Leach of MLB reports the St. Louis Cardinals signed Calros Beltran to a two-year $26 million deal. Cardinals fans still have fond memories of when closer Adam Wainwright struck out Carlos Beltran, a Met at the time, looking in game seven 2006 NLCS. The Cardinals completed a major upset with that win, and went on to win the 2006 World Series.

Now Beltran will be joining the Cardinals. Even though Beltran does not play at the level he used to, he is still a very productive hitter if healthy. In 142 games last season, he hit .300 with 22 homer and 84 RBI. Plagued by injuries in 2009 and 2010, it was nice to see Beltran bounce back to a fraction of his former self. He never played over 81 games over those two years.

Beltran will provide a much needed spark for the Cardinals who lost their stud-hitter Albert Pujols to the Anaheim Angels. This time, Beltran will try to help the Cardinals win a championship directly not like in 2006.