Sometimes dreams are too hard to ignore. The Rockies offered more money, but Junior Spivey couldn’t pass up the opportunity to play for the St. Louis Cardinals, a team he grew up following.
Spivey agreed to a one-year, $1.2 million deal with the Cardinals Friday, pending a physical, according to his agent.
“The situations in Colorado and St. Louis were pretty much the same. He was going to have a chance to compete for the second base job,” agent Dave Stewart said. “What I didn’t know is that he watched the Cardinals as a boy in Oklahoma. That made a difference.”
The Rockies offered $1.3 million to Spivey, whom they viewed as an ideal utility player to spell Luis Gonzalez at second base and Garrett Atkins at third. With Spivey gone, Colorado will pursue White Sox free agent Willie Harris, though the Giants and Boston are more serious about landing the infielder.
Filling out the rotation, however, remains a Colorado priority with negotiations intensifying with starters Pedro Astacio, Byung-Hyun Kim, Shawn Estes and Ramon Ortiz.
Staff Writer Troy E. Renck can be reached at 303-820-5447 or trenck@denverpost.com.
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