The Cardinals have agreed to terms with left-handed reliever Arthur Rhodes, according to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (via Twitter).
Rhodes spent the season with the Rangers but was designated for assignment Aug. 2 and put on unconditional release waivers Monday. We first heard of St. Louis' interest in the 41-year-old Rhodes yesterday.
The Rangers will pay the remainder of Rhodes' 2011 salary, less a prorated portion of the Major League minimum, writes Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. As well, the Cards will have to send someone through waivers or add an injured player to the 60-day DL to make room for Rhodes on the 40-man roster, according to Goold. The deal won't be made official till Friday, according to B.J. Rains of FOXSportsMidwest.com (via Twitter).
Rhodes has posted a 4.08 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 8.7 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9 in his 20-year Major League career. He's been especially tough on lefties, holding them to .216/.282/.321 in 1,600 plate appearances. So, I assume he'll be used as a lefty specialist behind fellow left-hander Marc Rzepczynski, a former starter who can pitch for longer stints.
The addition of Rhodes continues what has been a significant overhaul for St. Louis' relief corps in the past few weeks, as the Cardinals acquired Octavio Dotel and Rzepczynski prior to the trade deadline and moved starter (and former reliever) Kyle McClellan back to the 'pen.
