When the St. Louis Cardinals made their unexpected surprise run to their 11th World Series Championship last season, they had a surprise face playing second base. For most of September and the entire post-season, defensive minded, switch-hitting Nick Punto played second base for the Cardinals. As of Wednesday afternoon, Punto officially will not be playing for the Cardinals at all in 2012.
Punto, who hit .278 with one home run and 20 RBI's for the Cardinals in 2011, signed a two year, $3 million contract with the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday.
While the Cardinals have done well to shore up the middle infield by resigning Rafael Furcal and Skip Schumaker, losing Punto to free agency is a huge blow. Here are three reasons why.
1. Punto provides maximum versatility as a bench player.
It is very unlikely, had the Cardinals retained Punto, that he would be an everyday player for the Cardinals in 2012. But, the slick fielding infielder gives his new team the epitome of versati...
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