Cards likely to name closer

The Cardinals would prefer to name a closer from their group of relievers before the start of the season.

"Ideally," pitching coach Dave Duncan said, "what I would like to see is that over the course of the spring, somebody emerges that we have the confidence in to finish the games." MLB.com's Matthew Leach labels Chris Perez the early favorite, with Josh Kinney and Jason Motte also in the mix. Going relatively unmentioned is Kyle McClellan, who did a better job of protecting leads than any St. Louis reliever last season, even if most of his chances came in the seventh and eighth innings. McClellan, though, is viewed as a candidate to step into the rotation should Chris Carpenter or someone else miss the start of the season.

(rotoworld.com)