Cardinals Exploring Lefty Relief Options

THURSDAY: Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch talks about the Cardinals’ pursuit of a lefty reliever:

Internal support exists for pursuing Beimel, but [GM John] Mozeliak recently denied making contact with Beimel’s agent, Joe Sroba.

Speaking of Beimel, Pirates president Frank Coonelly commented on him during an MLB.com chat yesterday:

He is someone who we have considered this offseason and have had discussions with his representative. To date, Joe has not been receptive to the type of contract we have discussed.

WEDNESDAY: According to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, the Cardinals are "exploring the remaining lefties on the free agent market."  So far this offseason they’ve imported Trever Miller, Royce Ring, Charlie Manning, and Ian Ostlund.  Perhaps they’re attracted to the possibility of a bargain, with three solid southpaws remaining on the market.

Rosenthal notes that Dennys Reyes’ agent Casey Close is telling teams his client is close to a decision.  Furthermore, he won’t be signing with Oakland.  The A’s could move on to Joe Beimel.  Rosenthal adds that the Cardinals are interested in Reyes as well as Will Ohman.