Free Republic

The St. Louis Cardinals organization, and baseball fans everywhere, were saddened today to learn of the passing of Hall of Famer Howard “Bruce” Sutter at the age of 69. Sutter, who was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006, was just the fourth reliever enshrined, and the first player to have never started a game to be elected. Sutter was a six-time All-Star and the 1979 NL Cy Young Award winner. His uniform number 42 is one of 14 numbers retired by the Cardinals.

ESPN.com and the Associated Press, both citing unnamed sources, are reporting that the slugger has agreed to a seven-year contract worth $100 million. The Cardinals have not confirmed either report. Pujols, who will make the switch from left field to first base this season following the trade of Tino Martinez, was scheduled to have his arbitration hearing on Friday. He asked for $10.5 million, while the Cardinals countered at $7 million. ( full story , go to link).